10 things you didn’t know about the Oilers' home arena Rogers Place

We're sure there are plenty of Edmonton Oilers fans, who still miss Rexall Place, Northlands Coliseum or whatever they prefer to call the team's previous arena. However, we're also convinced the majority of them will also admit Rogers Place is a far superior place to watch their beloved Oilers play hockey.

For new and existing fans alike, there will be a lot that they are unfamiliar with, when it comes to where the Oilers play these days. Here are 10 things that you may or may not know about their current home:

Money, money, money ...

1) The original cost for building the arena was estimated to be around $450 million. However, further negotiations were forced to take place between the city of Edmonton and the Katz Group, as costs continued to increase due to a number of circumstances.

2) In the end, the cost for the entire project was set at $613.7 million. As per edmonton.ca, the cost was split up as follows: Community Revitalization Levy ($231 million), EAC lease funding ($137.8 million), ticket surcharge on all events at Rogers Place ($125 million), other city funding ($92.2 million), EAC and ICE District Joint Venture cash funding ($27.7 million).

3) As per rogersplace.com, at the time of its opening on Sept. 8, 2016, Rogers Place had the largest true high-definition centre-hung scoreboard in the NHL. However, just over a year later this was replaced by the Prudential Center in New Jersey, where the Devils play.

4) The first ever event held at Rogers Place, was Keith Urban's "Ripcord World Tour 2016". It took place on Sept. 16, 2016, and also featured guests Dallas Smith and Maren Morris.

Actual hockey

5) The first hockey game at Rogers Place took place on Sept. 24, 2016, but featured the Edmonton Oil Kings rather than the Oilers, with an attendance of 18,102. The Oil Kings' Trey Fix-Wolansky scored the first goal in the arena early in the second period, and the home side went on to defeat the Red Deer Rebels 4-3 after a shoot-out.

6) The Oilers' first NHL regular season at Rogers Place was on Oct. 12, 2016 in front of a crowd of 18,347, with the game fittingly taking place against their longtime Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames.As per icedistrict.com, a pregame ceremony saw Wayne Gretzky's statue being unveiled outside the Arena, after it had been moved from the old Northlands Coliseum/Rexall Place.

7) As for the actual game, Pat Maroon scored the first goal just 70 seconds into the contest versus the Flames. Connor McDavid also had three points and was named the game's First Star, as the Oilers went on to win 7-4 in a goal-fest.

8) The move to Rogers Arena acted as a good luck charm of sorts for the Oilers, as in 2016-17 they qualified for the playoffs for the first time after a 10-season drought. They did lose they first ever playoff game at Rogers Place, 3-2 in overtime versus the San Jose Sharks on Apr. 12, 2017, but picked up their first playoff win at the arena two days later in game two, by the score of 2-0.

9) During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rogers Place was selected as one of two arenas to hold the 2020 NHL playoffs, with the other being Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Edmonton was the hub city for Western Conference teams specifically, with Rogers Arena also the host for the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final.

10) The Oilers have a proud history, which includes eight trips to the Stanley Cup Final since they entered the NHL for the 1979-80 season (the most appearances by any NHL team since that season). However, this past season was the first time Rogers Place hosted Stanley Cup Final games, with the Oilers winning two of their three home contests.

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