NHL Arenas: Ranking the Central Division Teams’ Homes

May 1, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view of the stadium exterior before game one of the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Central Division Arena #7: United Center (Chicago Blackhawks)

The Chicago Blackhawks may be the best team in recent history, but their home arena may well be the ugliest — besides Boston’s TD Garden, I can’t think of anything uglier right now. In the picture above, United Center doesn’t look terrible because of the big screens that make it look somewhat modern. Other than that, it looks a lot like Nassau Coliseum.

Remember Chicago Stadium, the Blackhawks’ original home? Personally, I don’t, because it was closed in 1994, before I was born. Anyway, judging by pictures, it looked much better than United Center. The Blackhawks moved in 1995, gaining about 2,000 extra seats in a more modern but worse looking arena.

So, Chicago might have the NHL’s ugliest arena right now. But, I have to ask: when the inside looks like the picture below, with your team hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup every few years, does the outside really matter? Probably not. Still nice to see Chicago at the bottom of a ranking for once.

May 23, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view before the start of game four of the Western Conference Final of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Anaheim Ducks at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Next: Central Division Arena #6