Blades

Saskatoon Blades

Arena Name: Saskatoon Arena
Capacity: 4500
Built: 1937
Address: 115 19th St. E. Saskatoon, SK S7K 7Y8
Ice Surface Size:
Last Game: 1988
Demolished: 1988

WHL

 The Site of Saskatoon Arena

Saskatoon Arena

 What's the Arena Like?

Saskatoon Arena opened in downtown Saskatoon in 1937. Located on the banks of the Saskatchewan River just east of the Sid Buckwold Bridge, it was an Art Deco building that reminds me in pictures of the Garden City Arena in St. Catharines, which opened the year after – it has the same barrel roof, support columns, and wooden seats. The Saskatoon Blades played there up to the opening of SaskPlace in a field in the middle of nowhere in 1988, after which Saskatoon Arena was promptly demolished.

The historic photos on this page are courtesy of the Saskatoon Public Library.

 Inside Saskatoon Arena

Saskatoon Arena

 What's It Used for Today?

The site of Saskatoon Arena is currently occupied by Clinkskill Manor, a seniors’ residential complex, and an office building called RiverCentre I. In a wonderful bit of irony, the street in northern Saskatoon leading to SaskPlace, which used to be called Saunders Ave, was renamed Bill Hunter Ave in 1982 for the man who once tried to move the St. Louis Blues to Saskatoon. A road constructed through the former Saskatoon Arena site was then named Saunders Place… even though Bill Hunter was strongly against building SaskPlace where it was and wanted it downtown, not far from Saskatoon Arena!

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Last Revised: October 31, 2021