Why is college hockey so popular in Boston?
It all traces back to a 115-year-old rink in the Fenway — and it won’t be around much longer.
Boston is a college hockey town, one of the biggest in America. Its legacy is as old as some of the universities themselves, but how did one city produce some of the best college hockey programs in the country — and how was it all under one rink?
Hockey’s roots in Boston date back to the 1880s, when locals played early versions of the sport known as roller polo, and then ice polo. By the late 1890s, the ice polo was growing in popularity at area high schools, Harvard, MIT, Tufts University and Boston College.
The hockey style that’s played today then took root, according to Stephen Hardy, author of “How Boston played: Sport, recreation, and community, 1865-1915.” The “Montreal” version introduced face-offs, offsides rules, and more puck control.
In 1897, Boston’s first organized hockey players — graduates of Harvard, MIT, and Brown University— formed the Cambridge Ice Polo and Hockey team. They played both outside and indoor games, a more “scientific” evolution of the ice polo style, Hardy said.
The transition from ice polo to hockey was “just sort of a natural evolution,” said Tom Burke, author of “Tales from the Boston College Hockey Locker Room.” Burke also happens to be the nephew of former Boston Bruins owner original Boston Celtics owner Walter Brown and grandson of original Boston Arena manager George V. Brown.
As outdoor play proved limiting, demand grew for an indoor rink. By 1909, construction began on Boston Arena (now new multi-purpose athletics facility in the same location that will open summer of 2028. In response to a Boston.com inquiry, Northeastern said it had not yet confirmed the date that Matthews Arena will be taken down, but the last scheduled game in the arena is Dec. 13.
“It’s the last arena of its type. We will never see its like again. You’re never going to see an arena built like that,” Burke said.
Boston’s deep history as a university and college town created the perfect environment for college hockey to thrive, according to Hardy. Hockey has just been around for a long time in the city, he said.
Matthews Arena is hosting its final season starting in October. Each of the four original college programs will be returning to the ice one last time.