Providence Bruins (American Hockey League) @ Amica Mutual Pavilion (Providence, RI)
A quick look at one of the AHL’s most historic markets
About a year ago, I posted a bunch of old things from hockey games I went to back in 2023. However, there are two arenas I visited back then that I actually didn’t write about - mostly as I wasn’t sure what to say.
I don’t know if/when I’ll be getting back to these arenas, so I figured I’d do my best to write about them now, and since today is the date of the Providence Bruins home opener, I figured I’d publish it today.
The Providence Reds were one of the AHL’s founding teams, but left in 1977 (and are now, in essence, the Hartford Wolf Pack). Fifteen years after the departure of the Reds, the mayor of Providence convinced the ownership of the Maine Mariners to move down, and the Providence Bruins (or “P-Bruins” as I will mostly refer to them from here on out) made their debut in 1992 (as the AHL affiliate of the NHL Bruins)1. Outside of the team winning the Calder Cup (the AHL’s league championship) in 1999, there’s not much to say about them (though apparently they once hired the youngest organist in sports history)2. One last thing: in all my years following the NHL, I can recall a bunch of fairly high Bruins draft picks that ended up getting "stuck" in Providence (though as I've said before, this also goes for a LOT of AHL players).
The building the P-Bruins call home was opened in 1972 as the Providence Civic Center to host Providence College men's basketball, as the team had outgrown their on-campus arena (which now hosts the women’s team). The Reds did spend a few seasons here before leaving town, and between their departure and arrival of the P-Bruins, the arena also hosted, among other things, the first few Hockey East tournaments. It is my understanding that the building underwent massive renovations at some point during the 2000s, and my only visit was in 2023, so I don’t exactly have much of a reference for how the building was back in the day versus how it is now.
Having said that, however...I feel there’s not much to say about the place (which is why I never ). It's basically your "run of the mill minor league arena" with a full seating bowl and concourse (only ONE mind you, as it's about midway up the seating bowl but uses staircases by the entrances for the upper sections). Having said THAT, however, I came here for a preseason game and ended up sitting right behind the benches, which was interesting (or at least it was cool seeing the players slide down after shifts)3.
I am mildly ashamed to report that to date, this is one of the few hockey games where I didn't stay until the end - it went to overtime, but I wanted to get home, so I left at the end of regulation4. As I recall, Providence ended up winning (though I don't remember if a shootout was required), but again, it was a preseason game, so it TECHNICALLY didn't count for anything...
MERCH
You might be surprised to learn that there is a full fledged store here - and when I say that, I mean an actual space meant for retail and not just a booth on the concourse! I recall it having both P-Bruins and Providence Friars merchandise when I went, but I don’t remember if there was more of one or the other. There were also other merchandise kiosks on the concourse - I can’t remember how many there were, but I RECALL seeing at least two of them (outside of the main store).
In the past, the P-Bruins only sold old game worn jerseys on their online team store5, but a year or two ago, started selling other items online (and seemingly STOPPED selling game-worn jerseys). They did have a table at the game I went to where they sold these game worn jerseys, however, and I bought one which came with a certificate of authenticity - something I have NEVER received for any of the other player-used items I've gotten for ANY team (though there's reasons I never received certificates for a few of them). I know I've mentioned this game worn jersey at least once on this blog, and I must say that it is MASSIVE and MUCH heavier than most other jerseys I own despite it being what is essentially size XL (it is the same size as the game worn jersey I got in Bridgeport FWIW)...
Footnotes
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There’s a Maine Mariners in existence currently, but they’re an ECHL team with no connection to the old Mariners outside of the name. Coincidentally, they’re the Bruins’ ECHL affiliate. ↩
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I guess I COULD mention last season, but... ↩
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I do have ONE photo I took from the game, but it's not very good and is a cropped Instagram story, so I ended up not including it. ↩
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Another one of these games is the Rangers game I went to a few weeks ago - I didn't want to miss my train so I left before the game ended, but I'd already seen the Rangers blow a 3-0 lead and no additional goals were scored after I left (not even an empty netter, as I saw that the Rangers had pulled their goalie when I checked at a bar in Penn Station). ↩
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The AHL has a "central" store where they sell merch for all 32 teams. I bought a replica P-Bruins jersey here, but the quality of it scared me away from buying CCM replicas for a while... ↩