But Wait, There's More! Northeastern Announces More Games at Matthews Arena

To paraphrase the great Mark Twain, the rumors of Matthews Arena’s demise may have been greatly exaggerated. Earlier this week, Northeastern men’s and women’s hockey announced that they would be playing the 2025 portions of their upcoming schedules at their longtime home rink.

As has been widely reported on Stadium Journey and elsewhere, Matthews Arena is scheduled to be demolished and replaced with a new facility due to structural deficiencies. The facility, which has been in use since 1910, is the original home of the Boston Bruins, the Boston Celtics, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Beanpot Tournament, and has served as home to most of Greater Boston’s college and High School hockey teams at some point in their history. Today, Matthews Arena serves as home to Northeastern’s men’s and women’s hockey teams and the men’s basketball team.

In March, Northeastern submitted plans for a replacement for Matthews Arena. The review process and bureaucratic red tape pushed back the demolition and construction timeline, which will now start in 2026. With estimates of total construction time set at 30 months, the new facility will not be completed until the start of the 2028-2029 season.

So, what will the Huskies do in the meantime? The men’s basketball team will simply move over to the Cabot Center alongside the women’s team, as they did during the pandemic. The situation for the hockey teams is much more complicated. Although there is no shortage of suitable rinks in and around Boston, coordinating schedules with their tenants will be difficult. Northeastern may have to play a road-heavy schedule for two seasons before moving into their new home.

As it stands right now, the final hockey game at Matthews Arena is scheduled for Saturday, December 13 against Boston University. For visiting hockey fans who missed Matthews Arena’s farewell tour in 2024-25, this means, much like so many of our classic rockers, we have another chance to visit this grand old barn before it’s no more.  

Follow Paul Baker’s stadium journeys on Twitter and Instagram @PuckmanRI.