Rochester Americans
Rink: Blue Cross Arena
Capacity: 10,662
Built: 1955
League: AHL
City: Rochester, New York
Home Of: Rochester Americans
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: January 5, 2024 vs Cleveland
Unique Arena: #75
AHL Arena: #5
The Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial (as it’s formally known) was built in the mid 1950s and got a major renovation in 1998. What stands today is an older building with all the modern amenities that most fans could ask for. The arena sits in the heart of downtown Rochester on the banks of the Genesee River. There is a large parking lot on the south side of the arena that should suffice, as well as lots of street parking around. The main entrance is on the opposite side of the building from where this photo was taken. It is a large glassed in entrance at street level where the main team store is fully stocked with tons of gear. Once past the store you go up a large staircase to the main concourse level, which actually dips a tad lower in that end of the building. The building has also been home to the NLL’s Rochester Knighthawks since 1995.
The main bowl of the Blue Cross Arena is set up in a U shape, with seats at the bottom of the U extending farther up into the rafters of the building. At the top of the U there is a bar set up at ice level, with tables and a few rows of regular seating above that. Above those seats is a balcony (where this photo was taken from) with seats at a much steeper angle than the main bowl. There is a main concourse that is halfway up the bowl under the seats, but also another concourse at the same level within the seating bowl which makes getting around the rink a bit easier.
All the seats in Rochester are padded heavily and quite comfortable with all of the seats (except the ones in the bottom of the U bowl) having stained wooden arm rests, which looks very nice. The main bowl is a tad shallow for my taste, hence why I bought my ticket in the end balcony for a higher angle view. That said, as I wandered around the view from most of the bowl appears to be pretty good, even if it’s set back a little farther. Suites run down the two sides of the rink at the top of the bowl, with a couple more at the top of the U.
As you can see in this photo, one of the building’s oddest quirks is that the main video scoreboard is way off centre and is actually hung over one of the blue lines. It’s a great modern scoreboard but it definitely looks odd and might be hard to get used to, but I would imagine it doesn’t bother locals that much.
The Americans are one of the oldest franchises in the AHL, dating back to 1956. It has historically been a very unstable league with teams being moved around at the whims of NHL parent clubs, but Rochester is one of the historic franchises and in a way is the AHL in its purest form. Set on its own in a mid-sized American city, with NHL affiliation but with its own identity and branding, a rich history and large fanbase who love their Amerks. I’ve been told when it’s totally full the building absolutely rocks with noise. The game I attended had just under 7,000 people, and it wasn’t a rocking house, but it wasn’t a library either. The atmosphere was good, and the fans were knowledgeable and into the game. I loved my experience in Rochester and won’t mind coming back sometime soon at all.
