The Fleet Center is the banal and boring replacement to the beloved Boston Garden (1928-98). It plays host to NHL, NBA, and concert/special events. It is located just behind where the Garden stood, above the North Station Terminal on Causeway St. in Boston. It is accesible to the MBTA Green Line Elevated station, and of course, the Commuter Rail AMTRAK service out of North Station.
There are several things that the FleetCenter has in it's favor: Primarily it is an ultra-modern facility with lots of technology and conveniences such as escalators, air-conditioning, and comfortable seats. It also provides to it's customers a high-end array of concession choices and customer service areas. HOWEVER, it lacks much more than it provides for.
First, and foremost, the ticket prices for the mediocre NBA and NHL games are utterly outrageous, especially given the money the teams generate from those premium boxes. A person cannot go to a game like in the old days. You have to spend 60 bucks to get in the joint! It is virtually impossible for an average person to go to a game on those prices, never mind a family. Formerly these venues were palaces for the people, but now they are toys for the wealthy; no middle class family can pay this much for a hockey game or a basketball game!
Secondly, the concessions are totally for the yuppies. Sam Adams, corned beef sandwiches, pizza? I guess the well-to-do likes that stuff, but the average joe wants a bad hot dog and some watered down beer. Let's not even talk prices for these yuppified items.
Thirdly, the view: Sure the Garden had some obstructed seats ('course they were cheaper too), but it was built UP so that even in the upper balconies or in the back of the loge you were right on top of the game. Try to see a hockey puck on the ice at the Fleet from the back row without binoculars! It's impossible. The seats go back miles and you are nowhere near the action. This is what your 60 clams gets you: a comfy seat so far back you'll feel you're sitting in Middlesex County while the game is across the river in Suffolk.
Finally, the atmosphere at the FleetCenter is cold and sterile. Everything is generic and boring from the excess noise-advertisements blared over the deafening P.A. system to the architecture to the seats to the ceiling; this could be an arena in any city, for there is nothing Boston about the FleetCenter, certainly not in it's name. Crowds are dull suburbanites instead of voracious fans from the neighborhoods, because the FleetCenter closed and demolished the Palace for the People next door, and replaced it with a cash-eating, cookie cutter crap-hole for SUV-driving six-figure yuppies.



Recommended: Yes

Parking Availability: What A Nightmare
Seat Location: Mid Level