The Brandt Centre deserves a little more love
There was nary a vacant seat at the Brandt Centre on Sunday when the Regina Pats played host to the Red Deer Rebels in WHL playoff action.
The Brandt Centre was a magnet for anyone who has even a casual interest in the local majorjunior hockey team. The clamour for tickets was such that the last of the 6,484 seats was purchased more than 24 hours before the faceoff.
Clearly, several thousand people looked forward to the game. But was anyone appreciative of where it was played?
The facility, nearly 40 years old, is seemingly unloved. How often, if at all, do you hear anyone observe that the Brandt Centre is a wonderful place to watch hockey? Or anything, for that matter?
The arena is merely tolerated despite being the home of the wonder that is “Wiener Wednesday.”
Rarely, if ever, is any sentimentality attached to time spent in the former Agridome, which changed labels in 2005 when the Brandt Group of Companies (owned by the Semple family) purchased the naming rights.
Compared to many sporting facilities, the Brandt Centre is hardly the Taj Mahal despite significant upgrades. At the initiative of the team’s secondyear ownership group — Anthony Marquart, Gavin Semple, Shaun Semple, Todd Lumbard and Jason Drummond — a state-ofthe-art scoreboard and vastly improved lighting were installed during the 2014-15 season.
Various renovations also took place during the 19-year regime of the previous owner, Calgarybased Russ Parker. The arena has come a long way from the dark days when a ghastly brown fabric adorned part of the walls.
It matters not, in terms of perception. Perhaps the public has been jaded or influenced over the years by routine reportage of rancorous lease negotiations involving the Pats’ lease.
Remember the then-Regina Exhibition Association’s imposition of a $1 parking charge that had a detrimental effect on attendance and nearly forced the team to move to Swift Current during the 1985-86 season?
The likelihood is that some bad-news stories have contributed to a climate of indifference with regard to the Brandt Centre. It is just there, and nothing more, in the hearts and minds of many Regina hockey fans — or Reginans, period.
Are there imperfections? Absolutely. But the same can be said of Mosaic Stadium — the former Taylor Field.
Mosaic Stadium is far less fan-friendly than the Brandt Centre, but the looming closure of the beloved ball yard will leave many people tearstruck. The last season at Mosaic Stadium, which is to be replaced by a $278-million edifice of the same name on the exhibition grounds, will be a celebration in many respects.
The time will come when there is a sign-off season at the Brandt Centre. It is difficult to imagine anyone being weepy leading up to or during the final game at the orange-topped arena.
Saskatchewan Roughriders fans will flash back to precious time spent watching Glenn Dobbs, Ron Lancaster, George Reed, Bobby Jurasin, Darian Durant, et al, at a historic stadium. The lack of amenities or general comfort will be conveniently overlooked as sentiment carries the day. Long-standing ties will be difficult to sever, even as a spectacular new stadium nears completion and plans are being made for the dismantling of the old one.
I looked at Mosaic Stadium 2.0 while entering the Brandt Centre and marvelled at the pronounced contrast between the two primary sporting venues on the expansive Evraz Place complex. One of them looks palatial. The other one is the poor cousin.
Am I the only one who laments such a mindset?
I really, truly like the Brandt Centre. (Well, except for the Everest-like stairs to the press box.)
At 52, I vividly remember the days when Dennis Sobchuk, Ed Staniowski and friends played at Exhibition Stadium.
My late father, Alan Vanstone, also played for the Pats. He was the organist from 1971 to 1974.
Back then, Exhibition Stadium was like a second home. Nonetheless, there was the accompanying realization that only TNT could adequately fix the deficiencies.
Given the assortment of creatures that inhabited the Stadium, it was prudent to enter the premises with a game ticket and a hunting licence.
Obstructed-view seats were a fact of life due to the prevalence of pillars.
The plank-like seats typically turned the third period into an (ow) ordeal.
In November of 1974, plans were finally announced for a new sports and entertainment complex.
The Agridome opened in 1977, after an expenditure of $7.7 million. It was shocking to watch hockey in an arena that was devoid of pillars. The sight lines were, and still are, first rate.
The same applies to the entertainment.
At the Brandt Centre, the Pats have treated fans to the likes of Doug Wickenheiser, Dale Derkatch, Mike Sillinger, Jordan Eberle, Josh Harding and Adam Brooks.
Stars of the NHL — most notably Wayne Gretzky and Brett Hull — appeared during preseason games.
Maurice (Rocket) Richard, Guy Lafleur and other luminaries stopped by with touring oldtimers teams.
Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant and Bret (Hitman) Hart were automatic draws for wrestling fans.
Bob Hope and Jerry Seinfeld made people laugh.
And, oh, have there been concerts. Elton John, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Sheryl Crow, Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood, Motley Crue, Nickelback, et cetera.
How many enduring memories have been created in a venue that, for many, isn’t widely regarded as being anything special?
Count me among the appreciative minority.
As one who sat in an organ booth at Exhibition Stadium and prayed that the gasping heater would not seize up, I still appreciate the erstwhile Agridome and all it has to offer.
It is the ideal size for a junior hockey venue — not too big, not too small — with a scoreboard that is of big-league calibre.
And when the stands are packed, as was the case on Sunday and for three other games this season, this ’Dome away from home is an especially enjoyable place to be.
So let’s show it a little love for a change.