Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena) opened its doors for the first time in 1910.
Matthews Arena (formerly Boston Arena) opened its doors for the first time in 1910.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
Picked-up pieces while waiting for the wrecking ball at the old Boston Arena …
⋅ Northeastern University’s Matthews Arena, the ancient sports palace formerly known as Boston Arena, is a humble building in a humble neighborhood. It’s a multipurpose athletics hall that for 115 years has been home to events featuring magic and star power on par with Fenway Park, both Boston Gardens, and the long list of gridirons that have housed your Patriots since their creation.
Sadly, it’s time to say goodbye to this bastion of New England entertainment that first opened its doors on St. Botolph Street in April 1910. The curtain falls for good Dec. 13, when the Northeastern men’s hockey team hosts Boston University at 7 p.m.
From the jump, the old Arena was a place for big names, often folks with three names: James Michael Curley, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, J. Edgar Hoover, and Jerry Lee Lewis all spoke/performed at the Arena. George Herman Ruth, a Red Sox pitcher and slugger of some renown, played pickup hockey games there during his baseball offseasons, circa 1914-18.
Ruth wasn’t the only champion hanging around St. Botolph Street in those early days. Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, and Joe Louis sat ringside for Arena prize fights, and Olympic skating champion Sonja Henie performed at an ice show in 1930. Later in the 20th century, the Rev. Billy Graham spoke at the Arena, as did General Dwight David Eisenhower.
The Bruins and Celtics — born in the winters of 1924-25 and 1946-47, respectively — both played their first home games in the big barn near Symphony Hall and Huntington Avenue.
It was at Boston Arena that the brand-new Bruins played their first Hub game on Dec. 1, 1924, beating the hated Montreal Maroons, 2-1. The game featured a third-period bout between Boston’s Herb Mitchell and Montreal winger Harry “Punch” Broadbent (“winding each other’s arms around each other’s heads,” according to the Globe’s John “Kevin Paul” Hallahan), but there’s no truth to the rumor that Harry Sinden accused the zebras of favoring Montreal.
Twenty-two years later, on the night that war hero JFK was first elected to Congress, the shamrock-festooned Celtics, who held their first training camp at the Boston Arena annex, opened their inaugural home season against the Chicago Stags on a parquet floor at the Arena. Seven of the Celtics’ home games were scheduled at the Arena that season because of scheduling conflicts with the Garden.
Celtics forward Chuck “The Rifleman” Connors shattered the Arena’s west-end backboard while showboating during pregame warm-ups for that 1946 lid-lifter. Arena organist John Kiley entertained the crowd while a replacement backboard was delivered from the Causeway Street gym. The Stags beat the Celtics, 57-55, and the Rifleman scored 8 points. No 3-point shots were attempted.
Bob Cousy (right) defends the Knicks' Max Zaslofsky at Boston Arena.
Bob Cousy (right) defends the Knicks' Max Zaslofsky at Boston Arena.Jack O'Connell/Globe Staff
Teddy Roosevelt spoke at a presidential rally at the Arena in 1912. Two months after his historic flight from New York to Paris, hero Charles Lindbergh was feted at the Arena in July 1927. FDR spoke there while running for his first term of office in 1932. Accompanied by Admiral Chester Nimitz, congressional candidate JFK appeared at an Arena veterans rally in 1946.
The Doors’ Jim Morrison got drunk while performing on the Arena stage in the spring of 1970. Legendary college basketball coach Jim Calhoun won his first game while coaching the Huskies against St. Michael’s at the Arena in 1972. Northeastern bought the building in 1979, and three years later it was renamed for benefactors George and Hope Matthews. The funeral of young Celtics star Reggie Lewis was held at Matthews on a hot August day in the summer of 1993. In February 1994, one month after she was clubbed on the knee at the US Championships in Detroit, Stoneham’s Nancy Kerrigan made her pre-Olympic comeback on the ice at Matthews.
The funeral for Celtics (and former Northeastern) star Reggie Lewis was held at Matthews Arena in August 1993.
The funeral for Celtics (and former Northeastern) star Reggie Lewis was held at Matthews Arena in August 1993.Pam Berry, Globe Staff
If you played hockey in Greater Boston during the 20th century, you probably skated on the Arena’s original egg-shaped surface. My Groton pal Michael LaVigne, who played at Xavier High School with his twin brother, Peter, in the late 1960s, remembers celebrity wrestler Haystacks Calhoun attending Xavier-Austin Prep games at the Arena.
“It was the mecca for high school hockey for those of us who grew up playing in the 1960s,“ says former Arlington High and Harvard goalie Joe Bertagna. “There’d be doubleheaders featuring the odd scheduling of alternating periods for two different games. You’d see games scheduled with starting times of 2, then 2:30. Arlington would play its first period against Medford, then Newton would play its first period against Brookline. There’d be four sets of fan groups there all at once. We’d play our second period and then ice was made while we all enjoyed the marvelously greasy french fries in the lobby!”
Hockey programs at BC, BU, Harvard, MIT, and Northeastern had their roots on the Arena’s ice. Future US Senator Leverett Saltonstall scored an overtime winning goal for Harvard against Hobey Baker’s Princeton Tigers in 1914. The first Beanpot was played at the Arena in 1952.
More than a few old-timers this coming week will take to the ice for farewell skating sessions.
The Huskies played their final basketball game at Matthews last month, and the final women’s hockey game is Saturday against Boston College at 1 p.m. On Dec. 13, NU will celebrate the Arena’s rich narrative with representatives and alums from a century of hockey history (tickets for the finale are sold out). The Huskies will play the remainder of their 2025-26 “home” games at Bentley, Harvard, Lowell, Portland, Maine, and BU’s Walter Brown Arena, and hope to be in their new home at the same address for the 2028-29 season.
The Northeastern men's basketball team played its final game at Matthews Arena on Nov. 15.
The Northeastern men's basketball team played its final game at Matthews Arena on Nov. 15.John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
John Fish, Chairman and CEO of Suffolk Construction, is overseeing construction of the new building, and the demolition of Matthews.
“We are honored and privileged to be part of this,” says Fish. “Matthews is one of the most storied athletic environments in the history of Boston. As soon as the building is vacated and safe, we will start demolition. You’ll see the building coming down in January, but be assured that historic pieces of the old building will be integrated into the new building.”
Good to know. The small plot of land on St. Botolph Street — sandwiched between Mass Ave. and Gainsborough Street — is sacred space in the city of Boston.
⋅ Quiz: 1: Name six Patriots draft picks from 2016 or earlier who are still active in the NFL (none are still with the Patriots); 2. Name Willie Mays’s first and last big league managers (answers below).
⋅ The family of baseball is gathering in Orlando this weekend for the annual meetings, and Sunday night we’ll learn if the latest Veterans Committee produces any new Hall of Famers for next summer in Cooperstown. Results of the writers’ ballot will be announced in January, and I’m expecting Carlos Beltrán and maybe Andruw Jones to be elected. As for Sunday night in Orlando, it’s anybody’s guess who’ll emerge. The eight candidates (all rejected in 10 or 15 appearances on the writers’ ballot) are Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Don Mattingly, Fernando Valenzuela, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Delgado, and Jeff Kent. Sixteen individuals vote Sunday, and a candidate needs 12 votes to gain induction. Voters can vote for no more than three candidates. The voting committee includes seven Hall of Famers: Juan Marichal, Jim Kaat, Tony Perez, Ferguson Jenkins, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell, and Robin Yount. Looking at the makeup of the voting committee, it’s hard to imagine steroid-tainted Clemens, Bonds or Sheffield coming away with a dozen votes. If the committee included Hall of Famers David Ortiz, Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza, and Pudge Rodriguez, I’d have more hope for Clemens and Bonds. Not now. My money’s on Mattingly and Murphy making the cut Sunday night.
⋅ Speaking of Halls of Fame, Bob Kraft managed to edge out the Buddy Parkers and Ralph Hays of the world, and Kraft’s name will be formally put forth as a “contributor” when 50 Hall voters convene at the Super Bowl in February. This means more to Kraft than all the corrugated cardboard in the world, and it’ll be a tense few days leading up to the announcement on the eve of the Super Bowl. Kraft is going to be in direct competition with Bill Belichick, who is nominated as a coach. Both could get in, which would make for a big bowl of awkward in Canton, Ohio, next summer. But what if one gets in and the other doesn’t? Could be a whole new episode for “The Dynasty.”
⋅ Giants rookie Jaxson Dart is a fun young quarterback but shockingly stubborn regarding his risk-taking. He was almost Mo Lewised by Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss Monday night, but insisted, “Look, this is football. I’m going to get hit if I’m in the pocket or outside the pocket. I feel like I played this way my whole entire life … We’re not playing soccer out here. You’re going to get hit.“ Swell. But it sure feels like he’s in for a short career.
Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart took a number of big hits in Monday night's loss to the Patriots.
Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart took a number of big hits in Monday night's loss to the Patriots.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
⋅ Bertagna will auction off about 30 of his sports-themed needlepoint works to benefit the Sports Museum Dec. 16 at the Prince restaurant on Route 1 in Saugus. There will be great food, and a Q-and-A session moderated by CBS’s Lesley Visser, prior to a live auction of select needlepoints portraying some of the greatest sports moments in New England history. It’s $60 at the door, which covers your food and a donation to the Sports Museum. Open to the public. Spots limited. RSVP to Bertagna at j2b2hockey@gmail.com.
⋅ Shedeur Sanders is the 42nd quarterback to start for the Browns since the franchise was reborn in 1999.
⋅ Meanwhile, Deion Sanders has officially run the Colorado football program into the ground. Fraud Deion went 3-9 with the Buffs this year and the university is projecting an athletic department deficit of $27 million. Deion makes $10 million annually.
Deion Sanders's Colorado Buffaloes went 3-9 this season.
Deion Sanders's Colorado Buffaloes went 3-9 this season.David Zalubowski/Associated Press
⋅ Folks at Boston College should be asking themselves how they let young star football coach Bob Chesney get away. After stints at Salve Regina and Assumption, Chesney went to Holy Cross, where he won five Patriot League championships and got to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs four times in six seasons. Chesney was right in BC’s backyard when he went to James Madison in 2024 (20-5 over two seasons, 11-1 this year), and next he’ll reportedly be taking over at UCLA.
⋅ Holy Cross president Vincent Rougeau sang the national anthem at Fenway Park before the Crusaders’ 42-7 win over Georgetown two weekends ago.
Wonderful performance of the National Anthem by Holy Cross president Vincent Rougeau.@holy_cross @HCrossFB @tgsports pic.twitter.com/jpiFr10V71
— Jennifer Toland (@JenTolandTG) November 22, 2025
⋅ After the Lions were stuffed by the Packers at Ford Field on Thanksgiving, the headline on the front page of the Detroit Free Press read, “At Least We Had a Halftime.” Evidently the locals were thrilled with Jack White and Eminem’s intermission performance.
⋅ Congrats to former Walpole Porker Tina (McDavitt) Mattera, who recently earned her 300th victory as field hockey coach at Tufts. The Jumbos beat Johns Hopkins, 2-1, in overtime to win the NCAA Division 3 national title. McDavitt-Mattera was a Globe All-Scholastic and Player of the Year when the Porkers won a second straight state title in 1995. She was Boston University captain in 1999.
⋅ RIP Dave Morehead, who died Nov. 23 at the age of 82. Morehead famously tossed a no-hitter against Cleveland late in the ghastly 1965 Red Sox season, on a day when only 1,247 bothered to show up at Fenway. He also won five games for the 1967 Cinderella Sox, who changed everything around here.
⋅ Quiz answers: 1: Jimmy Garoppolo (2014), Joe Cardona (2015), Jacoby Brissett, Ted Karras, Elandon Roberts, and Joe Thuney (2016); 2. Leo Durocher (1951 New York Giants), Yogi Berra (1973 New York Mets). Both World Series teams.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.