Houston Field House Houston Field House is the name of the multi - purpose arena / venue on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ( RPI ) in Troy , New York . It is the second oldest arena in the ECAC Hockey League behind Princeton University ' s Hobey Baker Memorial Rink . Until the opening of the Times Union Center in Albany in 1990 , it was the largest arena in the Capital District . Origins . Popular legend holds that Houston Field House was previously an airplane or Airship hangar for the United States armed forces during World War II . In reality , it originated as a warehouse for the United States Navy in Davisville , Rhode Island . Following the war , the federal government established the Veterans Education Facilities Program ( VEFP ) to help colleges build facilities to handle the increased enrollment of veterans returning from the war . One aspect of the VEFP was to offer buildings designated as " war surplus " to colleges and academic institutions who applied for them . Originally , the RPI Board of Trustees , led by then - RPI President Dr . Livingston W . Houston , sought a hangar from the VEFP in order to establish a " sports - civic arena " for the RPI campus and the city of Troy . Unfortunately , hangars were not considered " war surplus . " An investigation sponsored by the Board of Trustees discovered the warehouse facility in Rhode Island and applied under the VEFP to bring it to campus , despite the fact that its original design was not satisfactory for the creation of an arena . The VEFP underwrote both the cost of transporting the warehouse from Davisville to Troy and the cost to reassemble it upon its arrival . RPI , however , spent nearly $ 500 , 000 on its own to redesign the warehouse to its own specifications , including the re - fabrication of initial materials and the purchase of new materials . Construction was originally planned to be completed by June 1948 , however , inclement weather throughout the project pushed completion back 16 months to October 1949 . On October 13 , Houston officially opened the building as the RPI Field House as part of a ceremony honoring the Institute ' s 125th anniversary . Early history . A month later , on November 12 , 1949 , the RPI Field House hosted its first event , an Interfraternity Ball . On December 3 , 1949 , the first sporting event in the Field House ' s history took place as RPI defeated the New York State Maritime Academy 55 - 43 in basketball . A large impetus for the construction of the Field House was to create a home for the school ' s ice hockey team , which had played its first games in 1901 at Van Schaick Pond in nearby Cohoes , NY , and later played in various other locations in Cohoes and Albany , NY . From 1912 to 1938 ( with the exception of 1937 ) , the team played on an outdoor rink built every winter on campus along Sage Avenue , at the current location of Anderson Field . After the 1938 season , the team went into hiatus . Houston , an RPI alumnus who played hockey for RPI during his school years , originally sought to build the Field House as a means of returning hockey to campus . On January 10 , 1950 , the " Engineers " under legendary head coach Ned Harkness played their first game at home since 1938 , dropping an 8 - 2 contest to Middlebury . However , and possibly thanks largely in part to the construction of the Field House , Harkness would lead the Engineers to an NCAA championship only four years later in 1954 . On December 27 , 1951 ] , the Field House hosted the first annual RPI Invitational Tournament . The first tournament featured 8 schools playing 12 games over three days , and was won by Brown University . The following year , the tournament was cut to 4 teams playing a round - robin schedule over 3 days , which remained the tournament ' s format until 1982 , when it gained a 2nd - day consolation game / championship game format . Today the RPI Invitational is the nation ' s oldest in - season invitational tournament in college hockey . In March 1959 , the Field House hosted the NCAA tournament known today as the Frozen Four . North Dakota won its first of several NCAA championships , defeating Michigan State , Boston College , and St . Lawrence . Three of the tournament ' s four games went into overtime . Throughout the 1950s and 1960s , the RPI Field House was often referred to as " The Madison Square Garden of Upstate New York " . In its first two decades , it played host to more than 300 theatrical and musical events , countless hockey games , and several commencement ceremonies . Hockey Line . As the popularity of hockey grew , tickets became hot items among students . Owing to its origins as a military warehouse , most views were obstructed at at least some angle between the rink and the seats due to large support columns that held up the Field House ' s roof . This led to the birth of what is known simply as " hockey line . " Groups of people - usually members of various fraternities and sororities - take a place outside of the RPI Student Union building . Traditionally , the line began sometime during late July or early August prior to the beginning of Fall classes and continued until tickets went on sale in mid - September . People in line are allowed to buy up to eight tickets and can have people hold their place in line while they eat or go to class . Students set up beds , couches , television sets , and , more recently , computers and video games to pass the time as someone occupies each place in line on a 24 hour basis . Following the Engineers ' 1985 national championship victory , the Epsilon Iota chapter of the Psi Upsilon fraternity set a hockey line record by beginning the line on the very next day - March 31 , 1985 - and continuing the line through the summer until tickets went on sale on September 25 , 1985 — besting the previous record of 33 days with 178 days . Renovation and rejuvenation . In 1978 , a new tradition started that continues today - the annual Big Red Freakout ! event . This event fills the Field House with thousands of screaming fans , and there is a giveaway each year . Following Houston ' s death later that year , the Institute announced at the 1978 Commencement ceremonies that the RPI Field House would be known as Houston Field House in honor of Livingston W . Houston , president of RPI from 1943 to 1958 . 1983 brought several changes to the Field House . The Institute spent $ 2 . 5 million to renovate the building during the summer , including a support renovation which allowed the removal of all but four of the columns which had given rise to " hockey line . " New scoreboards were installed , and the ice surface was lengthened to a full NHL size . In 1984 , the NCAA tournament returned to Houston Field House for the first time since 1959 as the Engineers took on North Dakota . The Fighting Sioux , coming in as heavy underdogs , upset the homestanding Engineers on consecutive nights , ending the Engineers national title hopes . The next season , the Field House would host its final two NCAA tournament games as RPI dispatched Lake Superior State on their way to their second NCAA championship . Today ' s NCAA tournament games all take place at neutral ice sites with a minimum capacity higher than that of the Field House . The 1987 Big Red Freakout ! event featured plastic horns as the giveaway . These horns made Houston Field House reverberate with noise - so much noise , in fact , that the evening ' s opponent , Brown , filed a complaint with the NCAA . In turn , this led to the creation of what is today known as " the RPI rule " nationwide , which prohibits fans from bringing artificial noisemakers into NCAA events . In 1990 , the New York Islanders of the NHL moved their primary minor - league team to Houston Field House , naming them the Capital District Islanders . " CDI " played in the American Hockey League from 1990 to 1993 . In 1993 , the Capital District Islanders withdrew from the AHL , and became the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the International Hockey League . The Albany River Rats moved into town to play at the Knick / Pepsi / Times Union Center , as the former Utica Devils from the AHL . The RPI women ' s hockey team , a club team beginning in 1976 , hosted the AWCHA national women ' s club championship at Houston Field House in 1994 , winning the national championship , and in 1995 , when they finished in 3rd . The team became a varsity program later that year , and joined their male counterparts in NCAA ' s Division I in 2005 . During the 1998 - 1999 hockey season , a new four - sided scoreboard was added to the center of the Field House , replacing the scoreboards on the eastern and western walls . Houston Field House today . Today , the Houston Field House seats 4 , 780 for hockey games , and remains the largest capacity in the ECAC Hockey League despite a decrease from its capacity of 5 , 217 in 2008 . Its modern function is primarily as a home for the RPI men ' s and women ' s hockey teams to compete and practice , though several skating clubs also call the Field House home . The Capital District Selects of the Eastern Junior Hockey League ( EJHL ) also practice and compete at Houston Field House .