1st Mariner Arena

This year's Baltimore Hockey Classic at 1st Mariner Arena has been canceled as the NHL announced Wednesday that it had canceled all September preseason games due to the ongoing lockout. Fans who bought tickets for the event, which was scheduled for Sept. 26, are entitled to a full refund at the original point of purchase. Despite issues with the ice surface at last year's inaugural Baltimore Hockey Classic, Arena officials described the event as a “walk-off home run,” and they expect to hold the event again in 2013.

Poor ice conditions at 1st Mariner Arena put a damper on the inaugural Baltimore Hockey Classic, the city's first pro ice hockey game in 14 years. Frank Remesch, general manager of 1st Mariner Arena, on Wednesday expressed optimism that the Washington Capitals would play another preseason game there in 2012. Still, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis wrote on his blog that “the people in Baltimore were really terrific to work with.” A Capitals spokesman said Thursday morning that the team isn't prepared to make any decisions on potential future preseason games in Baltimore at this time.

Site: 1st Mariner Arena When: Friday, 7:35 p.m. Video: mislnation.com Outloook: Call it rivalry weekend for Baltimore. While the Ravens travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers, the feeling is similar when the Blast plays the Wave. In a rematch of the past two Major Indoor Soccer League championships - both won by Milwaukee - the Blast will try to stay on its early-season roll and get the first jab in against the Wave. In its fast start, the Blast has shown selfless play, with a balanced offense and surprisingly poised performances from rookie goalkeepers Troy Hernandez and William Vanzela.

Officials at 1st Mariner Arena are close to finalizing a deal with the Washington Capitals to host an NHL preseason game for the second straight year. The second annual Baltimore Hockey Classic will be held Sept. 27. An announced sellout crowd of 11,082 packed the Arena last September for the first professional ice hockey game in Baltimore since 1997. The Capitals lost, 2-0, to the Nashville Predators. Despite issues with the ice surface during the game, the Capitals will return to the Baltimore market.

Current operator SMG is the winning bidder for a new five-year contract to run 1st Mariner Arena and oversee its potential renaming, according to a memo from the city's top purchasing agent. SMG's proposal awaits approval by the Baltimore Board of Estimates but has cleared the rest of the city's bidding process. The board will vote on the contract Wednesday. The Pennsylvania-based management company, which has operated the arena since 1999, beat proposals from Los Angeles-based AEG and Global Spectrum, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Comcast-Spectacor.

The Blast will open the 2012-13 season at 1st Mariner Arena against the expansion Chicago Soul on Nov. 3 at 7:35 p.m. In a rematch of the 2011 and 2012 Major Indoor Soccer League championship, the Blast will face the Milwaukee Wave for the first time on Nov. 16 at 7:35 p.m. in Baltimore. The two teams will meet four times during the 26-game slate, which was released Friday. The Blast and Wave will also square off on Dec. 22 and Jan. 12, both at 7 p.m. in Milwaukee, and in the regular-season finale on Feb. 23 at 7:35 p.m. in Baltimore.

The Baltimore Civic Center opened on Oct. 23, 1962, with the hometown debut of the Baltimore Clippers hockey team. This week, it celebrates the beginning of its 50th year with nine performances of "Disney on Ice. " In between, the arena has hosted the Beatles and Bruce Springsteen, circuses and monster trucks, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and televangelist Joel Osteen. "The unique thing about our building: history," said Frank Remesch, the general manager of 1st Mariner Arena . Fifty years after it opened, Baltimore's arena is among the world's top-grossing in its class.

Edwin F. Hale Sr., the Baltimore developer and former CEO of First Mariner Bancorp, filed a $5 million lawsuit Monday against the operators of 1st Mariner Arena , alleging they are improperly using billboards that belong to him. Filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court, Hale's suit names as defendants arena operator SMG Holdings of West Conshohocken, Pa., and the advertising firm that replaced him at the arena, Legends Sales and Marketing of...

The city's Board of Estimates on Wednesday approved a six-month extension of naming rights for 1st Mariner Arena . The spending panel awarded the temporary extension to Arena Ventures LLC, which is run byEdwin F. Hale, the former CEO of 1st Mariner Bank. The extension was listed as a "month-to-month" deal that begins June 30 and ends Dec. 31. Arena Ventures has been in charge of advertising at the arena since 2002 and selected 1st Mariner as the arena's title sponsor. The extension allows the city more time to issue a request for proposals for naming and advertising rights, once Arena Venture's contract expires at the end of the month, officials said.

Superstar rapper Lil Wayne and his prot���©g���© Nicki Minaj headline a star-studded lineup for the "I Am Music II" tour, which will come to Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena March 20, according to concert promoter Live Nation. The pair will be joined by Miami-based rapper Rick Ross and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. The tour, which will be Wayne's first tour since his prison release nearly three months ago, kicks off March 18 in Buffalo, N.Y., and ends May 1 in East Rutherford, N.J. The "I Am Music II" tour is also scheduled to stop at the Verizon Center in Washington on April 3. Wayne, a New Orleans native, has become a fan- and critic-favorite with his unique voice, witty lyrics and catchy beats.