Portland Winterhawks
Rink: Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Capacity: 12,888
Built: 1960
League: WHL
City: Portland, Oregon
Home Of: Portland Winterhawks
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: October 27, 2024 vs Everett
Unique Arena: #95
WHL Arena: #21
For some 25 years the Portland Winterhawks actually had two homes. One was the brand new (in 1995) Rose Garden that they shared with the NBA’s Trailblazers. But their true home and base of operations has always been the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which sits on the same plot of land as the now-named Moda Center next door. Portland’s Coliseum is really two almost separate structures, with an arena bowl of seats that is totally separated from the outside walls and roof of the facility. It’s like they had an open-air arena then placed a rectangle lid on over top of it. The outer structure has glass walls which has earned the arena the nickname of The Glass Palace. Sometimes the curtains around the top of the bowl are up and they allow natural light to flow into the arena, which is an amazing sight that I would love to someday see in person.
The Coliseum wasn’t exactly built with hockey in mind, and as such the sightlines aren’t exactly prime for puck. The seats on the sides are set a little further back from the ice than I personally like, but it’s not a terrible view. As you can see, the strangest part of the bowl is its shape. Seating goes much higher the closer you get to centre ice, but lowers into the corners and ends. In some sections where the back wall comes down and tightens up there are actually wooden benches wedged into spots where proper seats can’t fit. The seats in Portland don’t go down to ice level at all, as a moat separates the ice from all seating except for some temporary stands that are set up in each end and on the penalty box side.
As you can see here the odd shape of the structure in the lower bowl ends means that seats in the corners can have a bit of an obstructed view; it gets worse the higher up you go but there are no obstructions in the ends themselves or on the sides, just in the corners. Another bad obstruction is that the centre ice scoreboard doesn’t have penalty or shot info on it. There are two secondary boards hanging in the corners with that info, but if you are sitting in a corner where one is located, the main centre ice scoreboard blocks your view of the opposite secondary board and if you’re sitting high up, you’re behind the secondary board in your own corner.
My review of Portland thus far has been somewhat critical pointing out its flaws, but I actually loved this rink a lot. While I was disappointed with the smaller crowd (Portland at its best has amazing crowds) I fell in love with this place and its quirks. The concourse outside is immaculate, with beautiful views outside of the surrounding cityscape. There is tons of history on display, not just for the Winterhawks but of the old Portland Buckaroos from the old (other) WHL. The seats, while old and extremely worn down are very comfortable, with a ton of padding. The rink has that soul that you just don’t see in many modern-day arenas.
The Coliseum in Portland is on the US National Register of Historic Places, so unlike many old school barns it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. I’m thrilled that the Winterhawks have made it their only home since the end of the pandemic. I found myself just looking around during the game. While it has flaws for sure, it’s a fantastic old barn that should be part of the WHL/CHL long into the future.
