📍 Cincinnati, Ohio
🏒 Home of the Cincinnati Cyclones

Cincinnati’s largest arena, which sits along the city’s riverfront directly next to Great American Ball Park, has been known by many names since opening in 1975. The venue is currently called the Heritage Bank Center and has been the home of many short-lived sports franchises over its long history. But the Cincinnati Cyclones have outlasted them all, maintaining a presence in some form on the riverfront for over 25 years and solidifying its status as the Queen City’s hockey team.

The Cyclones began in 1990 as an ECHL franchise that played at the iconic Cincinnati Gardens. Two years after their inception, the team moved to Birmingham – later becoming what is now the Adirondack Thunder – and the Cyclones name shifted to an International Hockey League franchise that would also take up residence at the Gardens.

In 1997, extensive renovations were done to the arena currently known as Heritage Bank Center and the Cyclones moved in. There, they played perpetual second fiddle to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, an AHL franchise that taken the Cyclones’ place at the Gardens. The IHL unfortunately folded in 2001, but the Cyclones name was far from dead. An inactive ECHL franchise – owned by a group based in Birmingham of all places – bought the name and set up shop on the Riverfront, marking the return of the league to the Queen City.

This version of the Cyclones – its third and final form – has also experienced some financial ups and downs. The team took a two season hiatus from 2004 to 2006, mostly due to a lack of revenue. In the 2004-05 season, the Mighty Ducks were the only hockey club in town, and following their move to Rockford at the conclusion of that campaign, the sport was dormant in Cincinnati until the Cyclones returned in the fall of 2006.

Heritage Bank Center also hosted Cincinnati Bearcats basketball for 11 years until the school moved their men’s and women’s programs to Cincinnati Gardens. After two years there, basketball relocated permanently to their new on-campus home – now called Fifth Third Arena – in the fall of 1989.

To this day, the Cyclones continue to excite the Tri-State region at Heritage Bank Center, a concrete shell of a building that’s in desperate need or renovation or replacement. Attempts have been made in recent years to allocate funds for enhancements or a new arena, but a deal of some kind has yet to be struck. The arena holds almost 14,500 and is one of the last remaining pro hockey barns that retains the 1970s cookie-cutter feel of venerable venues like Joe Louis Arena and the Nassau Coliseum.

With their home ice receiving constant criticism, the Cyclones try to drown out the noise about crumbling Heritage Bank Center with their top-notch atmosphere and traditions. The team does draw very well in spite of everything, often entertaining capacity crowds. One cool feature is the FanZam, which holds up to 10 people and takes lucky fans all around the ice before the game and during both intermissions. Unlike other teams that only allow groups or other special folks to ride the Zamboni, the FanZam is open to all fans who pre-purchase it as an add-on to their gameday experience. Fans are also encouraged – again, unlike at other venues who usually disapprove – to build towers of empty beer cups called “Beeramids” on the boards.

While it’s not entirely in disrepair – and its evident age is almost marvelous – Heritage Bank Center is one of the least comfortable and least flashy arenas in the ECHL. Whether it’s a new home or major upgrades to their current one, hopefully something can be worked out amongst team owners and city leaders to keep the Cyclones on the Riverfront for many more winters still to come.