Tri-City Americans
Rink: Toyota Center
Capacity: 5,694
Built: 1988
League: WHL
City: Kennewick, Washington
Home Of: Tri-City Americans
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: October 28, 2024 vs Edmonton
Unique Arena: #96
WHL Arena: #22
Hockey in the desert in the CHL? How can that be? But if you’re like me and thought Washington state meant forests and mountains, you would be severely mistaken. Enter the Tri-City Americans and the Toyota Center, which has called the desert landscape of Kennewick and the Tri-Cities area of southeastern Washington home for over 35 years now. The Toyota Center exterior kind of reminds me of the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan, though a bit bigger (and once inside, better) as well. It’s a pretty unimposing building in the middle of suburban hell (though I was thankful for the short walk from the hotel). It wouldn’t be classified as a true old-school barn but it’s far from the entertainment centres and multipurpose facilities we mostly see today.
The Toyota Center is a mostly no-frills rink with fantastic sight lines for hockey. That’s because the rink was built specifically for the Tri-City Americans when they moved to Kennewick in 1988. It’s a hockey arena first and foremost, regardless of whatever other events are held there. The rink just got a small renovation as well which saw all new seats and lighting installed. The arched roof gave me some Sudbury Arena vibes, and it feels closer to an old school arena than it does a new clone.
Like some other US division teams in the WHL, Tri-City doesn’t have a traditional centre ice scoreboard, but rather two hanging in each end of the building on the wall. I like this setup a tad better than the single end board setups you see in Spokane or Wenatchee. It’s still a flaw in my book, but not as bad as it could be if you just had one.
All the the new seats are done up in team colours, which looks nice, and there are a lot of team colours and history on display in the concourse. The concourse is a tad cramped and dark. On the main entrance side there is low drop-down ceiling due to the suites above, which gives it a bit of a claustrophobic feel. The team store is also very small even by CHL standards, but is packed with a solid amount of Ams gear. The opposite side of the rink however, the concourse has windows to the outside and no overhang, so it feels a bit brighter and more open over there despite it still being a tad cramped.
Despite a small crowd for a rare Monday night game, the fans in attendance were very loud and knowledgeable which gave off a better atmosphere than a crowd of that size had any right to have. It helped we saw an incredible game with the hometown Ams winning 6-5 in OT to boot. I would imagine with a larger crowd the place must rock.
The Toyota Center isn’t going to win any awards or blow anyone away, but it is a solid arena that seems to be kept up well as it closes in on its 40th birthday in a few years (it opened 11 days before I was born so… fuck). It gives off an old school vibe, but has just enough of the modern-day comforts that wouldn’t make it a pain in the ass to return to every weekend if you happened to be a season ticket holder. I really liked Tri-City and I hope they can find that elusive championship someday.
