📍 Erie, Pennsylvania
🏒 Home of the Erie Otters
Erie, Pennsylvania, situated on the Great Lake of the same name, is known as the Flagship City and boasts more than a quarter of a million people. Plenty of premier events come through the city each year, with most happening at Erie Insurance Arena in downtown. The venue – built in 1983 and revamped a few times since – was designed for hockey, with capacity sitting at just over 6,700 for its primary tenant, the Erie Otters.
Sports have always been a part of life in Pennsylvania’s lakefront city, a longtime hub for hockey and the home of minor league baseball since the ’90s. For 13 years, it was the NBA G-League that served as the area’s premier professional circuit, hosting three different iterations of the Erie BayHawks from 2008-19. All three teams eventually relocated to Lakeland, College Park and Birmingham, respectively. Erie has also been home to a slew of indoor football teams, but it’s hockey that’s remained solidly at the forefront. When the Erie Civic Center opened in the early 1980s, the Erie Golden Blades of Atlantic Coast Hockey League became the first of several squads to thrill the city’s fans. After they folded in 1987, the ECHL’s Panthers took their place until major junior hockey arrived in the form of the Erie Otters in 1996.
The furthest south team in the Ontario Hockey League, the Otters have also been one of the OHL’s most successful. Clinching the J. Ross Robertson Cup on two occasions in 2002 and 2017, the Otters also made a run at the championship in 2015 with superstar Connor McDavid, who played in Erie from 2012-15. The team has also won several divisional and regular season titles over the last quarter century.
Completed in time for its 30th anniversary, Erie Insurance Arena underwent heavy renovations in 2013 to modernize the facility both inside and out. Spearheading the overhaul was Sink Combs Dethlefs, a noted hockey arena architect that also designed the homes of the Kansas City Mavericks, Texas Stars and Allen Americans. Including Erie, these four venues are ridiculously similar in design, layout and aesthetic appeal. Unfortunately, these similarities contribute to their collective status as unoriginal and unexciting venues. That said, the Erie Otters have a great gameday product and – despite being quite successful on the ice – championship-winning prices haven’t been passed on to fans, making an OHL game in the Flagship City a fantastic bargain.
Info Invasion
Parking: $5 in the parking garage at 8th & French
Nearby Venue(s): UPMC Park, PPG Paints Arena
In the Area: See why Erie is called “The Flagship City” at the Erie Maritime Museum
Stadium51 