October 25, 2007: The Prudential Center Opens

October 25, 2007, 10 years ago: The Prudential Center opens, at 165 Mulberry Street in Newark, with a concert by Jon Bon Jovi.

Eventually, the address would be changed to 25 Lafayette Street. It is bounded by Edison Place on the north, Mulberry Street on the east, Lafayette Street on the south, and Broad Street on the west, although there is a row of buildings between Broad Street and the arena.

It replaces the Meadowlands Arena, in East Rutherford, known from 1981 to 1996 as the Brendan Byrne Arena; then until 2007 as the Continental Airlines Arena; and thereafter as the Izod Center. That arena had opened on July 2, 1981, with a concert by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. So it was somewhat appropriate that the replacement was opened with a concert by a later New Jersey rock and roll legend.

It has been home to the NHL's New Jersey Devils and Seton Hall University's basketball team since it opened. It was also a temporary home to the NBA's New Jersey Nets from 2010 to 2012, and the WNBA's New York Liberty in 2011 and 2012.

Its location, in the downtown of New Jersey's largest city, 3 blocks from Newark's version of Pennsylvania Station, makes it considerably more convenient an arena than the Meadowlands, which, until New Jersey Transit built the Meadowlands Rail Spur in 2009, was only accessible by 1 of 2 ways: Driving, or a bus that had to be picked up at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. Since 2007, a person wanting to see a Devils game can take the train, on NJT's Northeast Corridor or North Jersey Coast Lines; or a bus, the Number 67.

The Devils won 3 Stanley Cups, reached 1 other Stanley Cup Finals, and won 7 Division titles at the Meadowlands. Since moving into "The Rock," nicknamed for Prudential Insurance's use of the Rock of Gibraltar as a symbol, they have won 2 Division titles, and reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012 -- but have missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the last 5 years. And the building has replaced the Meadowlands Arena as New Jersey's leading rock concert venue.

The Devils opened the 2007-08 season on the road, because it wasn't clear that the arena would be ready when the NHL season opened -- and, as it turned out, it wasn't. They played the 1st game there 2 days later, losing 4-1 to the Ottawa Senators. Chris Neil scored the 1st goal, while Brian Gionta scored the 1st Devils goal. On Halloween, 4 days later, they got their 1st win in the new building, 6-1 over the Tampa Bay Lightning.