Editing KeyBank Center (section)

==Notable events==
[[File:KeyBank Center Bandits vs Rock 2025.jpg|thumb|263x263px|The venue's interior during a Buffalo Bandits game, January 2025]]

===Hockey===

The venue hosted its first Buffalo Sabres regular season home game on October 12th, 1996.<ref name="Buffalo News 20 Years">[https://buffalonews.com/2016/10/08/ah-memories-20-years-new-downtown-arena/ Ah, the memories: 20 years at the 'new' downtown arena] - Mike Harrington, Buffalo News, 8 October 2016</ref>

The arena hosted the [[1998 NHL Entry Draft]] and the [[2016 NHL Entry Draft]].

The arena hosted games three, four, and six of the [[1999 Stanley Cup Finals]]. 

In 2003, the arena hosted the [[2003 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament|Frozen Four]] NCAA Ice Hockey tournament. 

From December 2010 to January 2011, the arena hosted the [[2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships|IIHF World Junior Championship]] tournament. 

During the [[2012 NHL lockout]], the arena hosted several [[Rochester Americans]] games and continues to host occasional Americans games at the arena. 

In October 2014, the arena hosted its first [[Ontario Hockey League]] contest, a neutral-site game between the [[Erie Otters]] (who counted among its players marquee prospect [[Connor McDavid]]) and the [[Niagara IceDogs]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=728889|title=OTTERS TO HOST NIAGARA IN BUFFALO ON OCTOBER 22|website=NHL.com|access-date=21 January 2018}}</ref>

On December 29, 2018, the [[Buffalo Beauts]] hosted the [[Minnesota Whitecaps]] for the first [[National Women's Hockey League]] (NWHL) game played at the arena.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://buffalonews.com/sports/hockey/beauts-to-make-keybank-center-debut-hold-dec-29-twin-bill-with-sabres/article_7248e103-a53a-5a74-8774-4362a4a578ae.html|title=Beauts to make KeyBank Center debut, hold Dec. 29 twin bill with Sabres|website=buffalonews.com|date=July 23, 2018 |access-date=24 February 2025}}</ref>

In [[2019 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament|2019, the arena hosted the Frozen Four NCAA Ice Hockey tournament again for]] the first time in 16 years.

On February 23, 2025, the first [[Professional Women's Hockey League]] (PWHL) game in Buffalo was played at the arena between the [[Boston Fleet]] and the [[New York Sirens]]. The Fleet won 3–2 in front of 8,512 fans.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thepwhl.com/en/news/2024/november/18/pwhl-heads-to-new-cities-in-takeover-tour-of-neutral-site-games | title=PWHL Heads to New Cities in Takeover Tour of Neutral-Site Games | date=November 18, 2024 }}</ref>

===Basketball===

The NBA carried over their annual preseason contest from [[Buffalo Memorial Auditorium]] with annual [[Toronto Raptors]] preseason games at the new venue.

[[Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball|Canisius College]] played select home games at the arena from 1996 to 1998, moving there after decades at the Aud. However, they moved all games on campus to the [[Koessler Center]] after the 1997–98 season.

The arena has been home to the [[NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship|NCAA]] ([[2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|2000]], [[2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|2004]], [[2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|2007]], [[2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|2010]], [[2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|2014]], [[2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|2017]], [[2022 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|2022]]) and [[Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference|MAAC]] (1997, 1999, 2001, 2005) men's basketball tournaments. It will also host the NCAA in 2026. 

The arena was the centerpiece of a longshot bid to bring the [[National Basketball Association]] back to Buffalo by [[Vancouver Grizzlies relocation to Memphis|luring the Vancouver Grizzlies]]; the Grizzlies instead relocated to [[Memphis, Tennessee]] in 2001.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20010221/ctvnews84210?hub=OttawaHome |title=Buffalo joins cities trying to lure Grizzlies out of Vancouver |date=21 February 2001 |work=[[Canadian Television Network]] |access-date=28 August 2011 |archive-date=March 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310182718/http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20010221/ctvnews84210?hub=OttawaHome |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

===Professional wrestling===

KeyBank Center has hosted [[professional wrestling]] events from [[WCW]], [[WWE]], and [[All Elite Wrestling|AEW]]. This included TV tapings of ''[[Monday Nitro]]'', ''[[Raw is War]]'', ''[[SmackDown]]'', ''[[ECW (WWE)|ECW]]'', ''[[WWE Superstars|Superstars]]'', ''[[WWE Main Event|Main Event]]'', ''[[WWE NXT (TV series)|NXT]]'', ''[[AEW Dynamite|Dynamite]]'', and ''[[AEW Rampage|Rampage]]''. WCW produced the annual [[Ilio DiPaolo Memorial Show]] at the venue between 1997 and 1999.

In addition, the venue hosted several [[pay-per-view]] events including [[Fully Loaded (1999)]], [[Fall Brawl (2000)]], [[The Great American Bash (2005)]], [[Armageddon (2008)]], [[Night of Champions (2011)]] and [[Battleground (2013)]].

===Other sports===
On April 8, 2017, KeyBank Center hosted [[UFC 210|UFC 210: Cormier vs. Johnson 2]], which was the first UFC event held in Buffalo for over 20 years.<ref>{{cite web|title=UFC 210 at KeyBank Center|url=http://www.keybankcenter.com/eventX/467|publisher=KeyBank Center|access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-date=March 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322111521/http://www.keybankcenter.com/eventX/467|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Concerts===

Performances from [[Barenaked Ladies]]' October 9, 1998 concert at the venue are featured in their 1999 documentary ''[[Barenaked in America]]''.

[[Avril Lavigne]]'s May 18, 2003 concert at the venue was released as ''[[Avril Lavigne: My World]]''.

A live recording of [[Bruce Springsteen]] and the [[E Street Band]]'s performance at the arena in 2009 titled ''[[HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY, 11/22/09]]'' was released on December 24, 2016.