Every hockey fan has their favorite place to watch or play the game. Whether it’s a local pond, a backyard rink or your local team’s weathered arena, everyone’s got a second home.

That said, there are some arenas that are a little more special, a little more significant than others.

Unlike practically every other rink on this list, the Air Canada Centre has never had a hockey championship decided on its ice.

It is, however, the prototypical modern arena, used for hockey, basketball, lacrosse and concerts. It introduced many new architectural features, including special staggered seating designed to give the crowd the sense that they are looking down on to the ice, suites accessible from the ground floor, and restaurants in and out of the arena’s bowl.

The ACC’s owners, the Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment group are staying on the cutting edge too, incorporating a condominium project, a public square, a high definition television studio and a grocery store into the complex.

Currently the town hall for Hockeytown, USA, The Joe has seen the emergence of the only modern hockey dynasty: the Red Wings.

Built in 1979, Joe Louis Arena didn’t see a lot of playoff hockey on its ice until the emergence of the Steve Yzerman/Scotty Bowman Detroit teams. Since then, it’s been the most successful arena in hockey, housing four Stanley Cup champions between 1997 and 2008.

The Joe undoubtedly has one of the best atmospheres in hockey, from the giant inflatable octopus on the scoreboard to the always rowdy Detroit fans.

Home to the notoriously raucous Philadelphia Flyers of the 1970s, the Spectrum reflected the style of their primary tenants and their fans.

Not as graceful or ambitious as a lot of the other arenas on this list, the Spectrum instead earned a reputation as one of the toughest arenas in the entire NHL to play in, as the vicious Broad Street Bullies – and its equally vociferous patrons – made skating the Spec’s ice an intimidating prospect for any team.

The Spectrum also saw one of the most emotional games in hockey history when the Flyers became the first NHL team to defeat the vaunted Soviet Central Red Army team by a resounding 4-1 score on January 11, 1976.

The location of two Olympics, Lake Placid is forever synonymous with just one hockey game: the Miracle on Ice.

All hockey fans know the story, but it’s worth repeating. Against the stacked Soviet National Team, a team of collegiate and amateur Americans edged the heavy favorites 4-3 on February 22, 1980 in front of just 8,500 fans in the packed Field House.

It was a shocking end to a game that many considered a foregone conclusion. The USA went on to beat Finland 4-2 and win Olympic gold – the first time the Soviet Union had not been the top international team since 1964.

Up until this off-season, the infamous Igloo was the oldest arena in the NHL. The Consol Energy Center is soon to supplant Mellon as the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins and their three Stanley Cup Championships.

One of the most unique arenas in league history, it was the first major indoor sports stadium with a retractable roof. Although that flexibility wasn’t very practical, it did allow the Igloo to be a central plot point in hockey’s best action-suspense-thriller: Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Sudden Death.

Commonwealth Stadium is the home of the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos, but it earned its own special place in NHL history as the venue for the 2003 Heritage Classic.

Created to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers joining the league and the 20^th anniversary of their first Stanley Cup, they faced the greatest dynasty in hockey history: the Montreal Canadiens.

It wasn’t the first outdoor game in league history, but it did rekindle a love of outdoor hockey, leading to the annual Winter Classic game. The Heritage Classic, as an all-Canadian match, is set to return in 2011, this time in Calgary between the Flames and the Canadiens.

Although it has never hosted an official NHL game, the Luzhniki Palace of Sports has seen some of the greatest games ever played by NHLers – Games 5-8 of the 1972 Summit Series.

It was a major culture shock for Team Canada. The crowd was stone silent, not just when the visiting team scored, but even when the mighty Soviet team made a play. Also, in an odd twist, it was the Communist arena that introduced the idea of putting advertisements on a rink's sideboards.

 

Also known as Westmount Arena, this rink hosted the first two games in NHL history, both on December 19, 1917.
 

In a rare four-team double-header, the Montreal Wanderers edged the Toronto Arenas 10-9 for their only win of the season followed by a 7-4 Montreal Canadiens victory over the Ottawa Senators.

On January 2, 1918 a fire that started in the ice-cooling plant burned the arena to the ground, leaving the two Montreal teams without a home. The Habs moved to the Jubilee Arena, but the Wanderers were disbanded.

Not quite as storied as number one on this list, Maple Leaf Gardens is still pretty significant. It was home to the second- most Stanley Cup-clinching games in hockey history, and hosted the only Elvis concerts outside the United States.

Built during the great Depression, Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe had to pay the construction crews with shares in the arena and his hockey team. This made the Toronto Maple Leafs the first publicly-traded franchise in NHL history, leading to the current Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan ownership group.

Renovations are currently underway on the Carlton Cashbox as nearby Ryerson University plans to convert the hallowed rink into their athletics complex.

The Sporting News nailed it in 1996 when they declared the Montreal Forum “the most storied building in hockey history.”

Home to 24 Stanley Cup champions – 22 for the Canadiens and two for the Maroons – the Forum had seen some of the best hockey ever played, by some of the best players to ever lace up skates. The players who called this rink home could form their own Hall of Fame: Maurice and Henri Richard, Guy Lafleur, Jacques Plante, Patrick Roy – the list goes on and on.

Fans can now visit the mall that’s replaced it – the Pepsi Forum – and sit in original seats or stand at center ice.

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