Everywhere Lindsay Berman goes, she hears another story about Matthews Arena. After all, its storied rafters have hosted everything from the Boston Bruins to Beanpot finals, concerts by legendary musicians and addresses by prominent politicians. 

After 115 years, Northeastern will tear down the building — formerly known as the Boston Arena — and replace it with a new state-of-the-art athletic facility at the end of this year. The decision was made as a result of the facility’s increasing structural issues, including an unsturdy foundation. 

Beyond hosting both the Northeastern men’s and women’s hockey programs, along with men’s basketball games, the arena is steeped in Boston history. Matthews was where the first NHL game and the first Celtics games were played. Athletics programs at nearby schools like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Boston College and Boston University have all called the arena home at some point, and stars such as Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash have performed on its stage.

Now, generations of Northeastern athletes and students are grappling with the loss of a place they consider a second home.

“I remember the first time I skated there, just looking up at the wooden roof and feeling like I couldn’t believe that that’s where I was going to be playing hockey every day,” said Berman, an assistant coach and former forward on the women’s hockey team. “And I was just so excited to show it off to friends and family who came to visit me while I was playing.” 

Built in 1910, the arena went through several owners before Northeastern purchased it in 1979. It was officially named Matthews Arena in 1982 after former Chairman of the Board of Trustees George Matthews and his wife Hope Matthews, benefactors of the athletics program. It’s the world’s oldest multipurpose athletic building still in use, and is the oldest arena in use for ice hockey.

When Berman was just 16 years old on a scouting visit to Northeastern, a university she knew hardly anything about, it was Matthews that sealed the deal. It was there she saw crowds at women’s games, notched her first collegiate goal and later heard countless stories from Bostonians about its long history. 

Years later, Matthews is also where her 2-year-old daughter skated for the first time. From her freshman year in 2007 to her return as a coach in 2018, Matthews has felt like a home away from home to Berman. 

“The building means so much to so many people across so many different walks of life, whether they’re in the Northeastern hockey community or the Boston community,” Berman said.

“My first day [as a coach], I walked into the hockey offices on the other side feeling like, ‘I can’t believe this is where I’m going to work every day.’” 

Vinny Borgesi, a senior defender on the men’s hockey team, started at Northeastern in 2022 and is now captain for the 2025-26 season. He knows that many spectators attend games just to see the historic building.

“I was lucky enough and fortunate enough to step into this building every day and play games and hang out with my best buddies in this rink every day,” Borgesi said. “I can say for the rest of my life that I played at Matthews Arena.” 

He got a taste of the building’s history when the Bruins’ centennial anniversary in 2025 brought legends Brad Marchand and Willie O’Ree into the locker room. 

“To see that kind of person walk through our doors and come into our locker room and talk to our group of guys — that’s what’s special about this place,” Borgesi said.

When Borgesi tells Bostonians he plays for Northeastern hockey, he is used to hearing stories and questions about the arena. Those interactions make him feel more grateful to play there. 

“It’s a building that every time you walk into it, you feel lucky to be a part of it. It’s such a historic place to the point where you know it’s talked about a lot,” he said.

The DogHouse, Northeastern’s student fan section, has cheered from the second floor of the arena for years, screaming its official chants. From spectators taking their shirts off in overtime to thanking the announcer in unison, the section is renowned for its dedication to tradition.  

“The first game I ever saw at Matthews went to overtime. I think I was probably scared, like, ‘Why is everyone taking their shirts off?’ That whole experience of really being thrust into it — that has a special moment in my heart,” said DogHouse leader Misha Ankudovych, a fourth-year data science and economics combined major. 

Two years later, Ankudovych is part of an effort to make the final season in Matthews feel special, including putting up vintage DogHouse posters.

“We want to make good memories. It is an honor to be leading the DogHouse in the last era of Matthews,” Ankudovych said. 

After 27 years as an official organization, the DogHouse is used to going on the road — cheering the Huskies as they play across the country —  and it’s not planning on dying out once Matthews is gone. 

“We always try to be the loudest in the building wherever we are, and I think that culture will continue and expand,” Ankudovych said. 

When Northeastern’s Athletic Director Jim Madigan first visited the university as a freshman on the men’s hockey team in 1982, Matthews was the first building he walked into. Now, after nearly three decades at Northeastern as a player, coach and administrator, he knows every inch of it.

“I know all the nooks and crannies of the building and took pride in learning about all the history of the building going back to 1910,” Madigan said. 

He still remembers punching his ticket to the Frozen Four at Matthews against Bowling Green State University in 1982. After an overtime win on home ice, the crowd erupted in what Madigan described as a “magical moment.”

“It was ice-storming. People were coming over the glass. They were coming down, opening gates and coming on the ice and celebrating with us,” he said. 

Now, Madigan is overseeing the demolition of the arena he’s always loved, a moment that’s bittersweet for Berman as well. Unlike many of the players she has coached, she’ll stay to see the new facility come to life. 

“There’s just so much momentum for us and so much to be excited about, and I think a new building is going to bring more people to it,” Berman said. “Everybody’s going to want to see it. Everyone’s going to want to be a part of it. And hopefully we can put the product on the ice to keep people coming back.”

Northeastern is increasing the number of home hockey games at Matthews by two for the women’s team and four for the men’s team in the upcoming semester to give the teams one last chance to admire the arena’s brick walls and wooden rafters.

“The building goes away, but the moments and memories stay with us,” Madigan said. “That’s part of us. That’s our soul. We’ve experienced that. So that stays forever.”