A look at the NHL arenas that have undergone name changes

After looking at how many NBA arenas have changed names in their lifespans, it turns out that new monikers are even more common in the NHL.

With NBA and NHL playoffs right around the corner as spring gets underway, one aspect that seems to stump fans and media members alike every postseason is the constant name-changing that many involved arenas go through.

Since corporate naming rights became widespread in North America in the 1990’s, they’ve become among the most coveted advertising tools for brands, with lucrative contracts handed out to companies paying top-dollar, likely winning a closed-door bidding war in the process.

As such, it should come as no surprise that most arenas and stadiums across the country bear the name of a bankable company, recognizable or not.

While MLB teams have been relatively slow to adopt the practice of constantly changing stadium names, 14 of 30 stadiums have still changed names at some point in their lifespan.

The figure jumps up to 18 of 30 NBA arenas that have changed names at some point, with an even further increase to the 21 of 32 NHL arenas that have undergone at least one name change.

Though often correlated, corporate naming rights and arena/stadium name changes are not exactly one and the same. The United Center and American Airlines Center have held their names for the entirety of their lifespans despite being named for a corporation, while Madison Square Garden is the only venue to not bear a corporate name.

It should also be noted that arenas that underwent name changes prior to becoming NHL arenas are not included in this list, leaving out Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle and Delta Center in Utah, both of which went under a handful of different names in their pre-NHL days.

With many of the league’s busiest arenas come playoff time having gone under several different names, here’s a look back at the former titles each active NHL arena bore at some point:

*Denotes arena also hosts NBA team

1. Amerant Bank Arena – Florida Panthers

• National Car Rental Center (1998-2002)
• Office Depot Center (2002-2005)
• Bank Atlantic Center (2005-2012)
• BB&T Center (2012-2021)
• FLA Live Arena (2021-2023)

2. Ball Arena* – Colorado Avalanche

• Pepsi Center (1999-2020)

3. Bell Centre – Montreal Canadiens

• Molson Centre (1996-2002)

4. Benchmark International Arena – Tampa Bay Lightning

• Ice Palace (1996-2002)
• St. Pete Times Forum (2002-2012)
• Tampa Bay Times Forum (2012-2014)
• Amalie Arena (2014-2025)

5. Bridgestone Arena – Nashville Predators

• Nashville Arena (1998-1999, 2007, 2009-2010)
• Gaylord Entertainment Center (1999-2007)
• Sommet Center (2007-2009)

6. Canada Life Centre – Winnipeg Jets

• MTS Centre (2011-2017)
• Bell MTS Place (2017-2021)

7. Canadian Tire Centre – Ottawa Senators

• The Palladium (1996)
• Corel Centre (1996-2006)
• Scotiabank Place (2006-2013)

8. Capital One Arena* – Washington Capitals

• MCI Center (1997-2006)
• Verizon Center (2006-2017)

9. Crypto.com Arena* – Los Angeles Kings

• Staples Center (1999-2021)

10. Enterprise Center – St. Louis Blues

• Kiel Center (1994-2000)
• Savvis Center (2000-2006)
• Scottrade Center (2006-2018)

11. Grand Casino Arena – Minnesota Wild

• Xcel Energy Center (2000-2025)

12. Honda Center – Anaheim Ducks

• Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (1993-2006)

13. KeyBank Center – Buffalo Sabres

• Marine Midland Arena (1996-2000)
• HSBC Arena (2000-2011)
• First Niagara Center (2011-2016)

14. Lenovo Center – Carolina Hurricanes

• Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Center (1999-2002)
• RBC Center (2002-2012)
• PNC Arena (2012-2024)

15. PPG Paints Arena – Pittsburgh Penguins

• Consol Energy Center (2010-2016)

16. Rogers Arena – Vancouver Canucks

• General Motors Place (1995-2010)
• Canada Hockey Place (2010 Winter Olympics)

17. SAP Center – San Jose Sharks

• San Jose Arena (1993-2001)
• Compaq Center (2001-2002)
• HP Pavilion (2002-2013)

18. Scotiabank Arena* – Toronto Maple Leafs

• Air Canada Centre (1999-2018)

19. Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary Flames

• Olympic Saddledome (1983-1995)
• Canadian Airlines Saddledome (1995-2000)
• Pengrowth Saddledome (2000-2010)

20. TD Garden* – Boston Bruins

• FleetCenter (1995-2005)
• TD Banknorth Garden (2005-2009)

21. Xfinity Mobile Arena* – Philadelphia Flyers

• CoreStates Center (1996-1998)
• First Union Center (1998-2003)
• Wachovia Center (2003-2010)
• Wells Fargo Center (2010-2025)