A detail of the Boston Bruins logo prior to Game One of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on May 09, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
Boston’s TD Garden will have a much, much different look this season. And it will begin in the stands, as the arena has ditched the signature black and gold seats (and green seats in the premium club) in favor of a blackout-style look from head to toe.
New look, who dis? ????
— TD Garden (@tdgarden) September 17, 2019
Nearly three months later, #TDGarden’s first round of upgrades are nearly complete, including all-new seats, HDX enhancements and Rafters, #BostonGardenSociety’s newest level of entertainment! #ExperienceLegendary
Learn more: https://t.co/LferEBcIyn pic.twitter.com/D6BGp6oqsy
The seats (which, from what we’ve gathered are a little bit smaller than the previous seats and will increase capacity) are just the first step, really. The Garden will also introduce a new scoreboard (it’s about 20 feet wider), and they are currently in the midst of completely redoing the ninth floor, which has been home to the press box and additional seating, to complete the “Rafters” experience and party deck.
The change has been met with some mixed reviews.
98.5 The Sports Hub’s Jim Murray, for instance, loves this switch.
The overwhelming response to this is peak Twitter & further proof that you could just write the word "The" & some idiot would find fault with it on here.
— Jim Murray (@bigjimmurray) September 17, 2019
The yellow seats were a hideous eyesore from day 1.
You know it, I know it, everyone knows it.
This is a great change. https://t.co/0Pw5oa0HPq
Personally, I don’t completely hate the all-black look, but it does strip away from the unique look the Garden had, with the gold seats paying tribute to the original Boston Garden. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the building shapes up to get a sense of how ‘Boston’ it feels beyond the somewhat generic look of an all-black backdrop.
Bruins fans will be the first to get look at what the completed parts of this “new” Garden has to offer, as the Bruins will play host to the Flyers in a preseason head-to-head next Monday night.