The Eastern States Coliseum, better known as the Big E Coliseum, is a 5,900-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

West Springfield, Massachusetts West Springfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 28,835 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is also known as "West ...

History

Built as the Eastern States Coliseum in 1916, adding to the facilities for the annual

Eastern States Exposition The Big E, formally known as The Eastern States Exposition, is an annual fair in West Springfield, Massachusetts, which opens on the second Friday after Labor Day and runs for seventeen days. It is billed as "New England's Great State Fair," th ...

, the Big E Coliseum was the longtime home of the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were two separate minor professional ice hockey franchises, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The original Indians were founding members of the American Hockey Leagu ...

professional hockey team in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

, and later served as a part-time home to the

New England Whalers New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

hockey team while the team was in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

. In the 1940s through to the building of the

Springfield Civic Center The MassMutual Center (formerly Springfield Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center complex located in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, in the city's Metro Center. The arena opened in 1972 and the conventio ...

in 1972, the Coliseum frequently hosted local showings of the

Ice Capades The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and United States Figure Skating Championships, US National Champion figure skating, figur ...

and the

Ice Follies The Ice Follies, formerly known as the Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies, is a touring ice show featuring elaborate production numbers, similar in concept to Ice Capades. It was founded in 1936 by Eddie and Roy Shipstad and Oscar Johnson. In later ...

. It was for many years the largest capacity rink in western Massachusetts, and was the home arena of several local high school hockey teams as well as a prominent venue for regional and state high school tournaments. In 1991, the ice plant was dismantled and hockey games are no longer played there. The arena continues as a venue for

The Big E The Big E, formally known as The Eastern States Exposition, is an annual fair in West Springfield, Massachusetts, which opens on the second Friday after Labor Day and runs for seventeen days. It is billed as "New England's Great State fair, Sta ...

, and hosts Shriner circuses, equestrian shows and other local events. The Coliseum has often been the location for the draft horse World Championship Finals, serving as such in 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009, and has been a venue for rodeos.

Springfield Indians

The first game played in the new arena was a

Canadian–American Hockey League The Canadian–American Hockey League, popularly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional ice hockey league that operated from 1926 to 1936. It was a direct predecessor of the American Hockey League. For its first ten years the Can-Am's me ...

game on December 1, 1926. Boxing promoter

Tex Rickard George Lewis "Tex" Rickard (January 2, 1870 – January 6, 1929) was an American boxing promoter, founder of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and builder of Madison Square Garden (1925), the third incarnation of Madison S ...

dropped the ceremonial first puck. The

lost to the

Providence Reds The Providence Reds were a hockey team that played in the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAHL) between 1926 and 1936 and the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1936 to 1977, the last season of which they played as the Rhode Island Reds. The t ...

3–1. In 1933, the parent

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

decided to pull the franchise out of Springfield, but the Indians were back in the Coliseum for the 1935–36 season when Lucien Garneau transferred his

Quebec Castors The Quebec Castors or Quebec Beavers were two professional ice hockey teams based in Quebec City, Quebec from 1926 until 1928 and then from 1932 to 1935. They were both members of the Canadian–American Hockey League (CAHL). History The first te ...

club to Springfield. When World War II broke out, the Indians had to be suspended for the duration of the war due to the

grounds being commandeered by the

Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of quartermaster corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army Quartermaster Corps (''Σώμα Φροντιστών ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

for use as a depot. The Indians were back at the Coliseum for the 1946–47 season until 1972, when the team moved into the new

in downtown Springfield at the start of the 1972–73 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big E Coliseum Indoor arenas in Massachusetts Ice hockey venues in the United States Ice hockey venues in Massachusetts Springfield Indians Defunct National Hockey League venues World Hockey Association venues West Springfield, Massachusetts Rodeo venues in the United States Indoor soccer venues in the United States 1916 establishments in Massachusetts Sports venues completed in 1916 Sports venues in Hampden County, Massachusetts Hartford Whalers