A Calgary teen has nabbed some special seats to an upcoming Flames game thanks to his painstaking efforts creating the city’s new arena entirely out of Lego. Cruz Paredes and his creation were featured in a Flames TV video posted to the team’s social media accounts on Monday. “It all started when I was about seven years old. My mom took the CTrain down to Chinook mall, and she surprised me — took me to the Lego Store and bought me my first set that got me passionate about Lego,” Paredes said. “Ever since then, I’ve continued to collect it.” Paredes, 16, decided to use Lego to create a replica of Scotia Place. “I love Lego, and the city of Calgary — and I’m a big Flames fan. When I saw the new renderings for the new arena, I decided to take it on as a passion project,” he said. Paredes covered all details, big and small, including the creation of about 100 trees — each one made from eight pieces. He also created about 200 Flames fans that can be seen streaming into the structure. Paredes says an exterior Flames logo featured on the arena is actually a Crocs Jibbitz. He says the entire arena is probably 6,000 pieces. Paredes says the lighting was one of the hardest parts to figure out. He built it using a thin strip of LED lights. Paredes says he’d like for the structure to be on display somewhere public where others can enjoy it. “It can’t sit on our dining room table forever,” he laughed. In the video, the Flames tell Paredes they are — with the help of their partners at Scotiabank — gifting him Scotia Perks Seats of the Game for the Flames’ home opener on Oct. 1 against the Seattle Kraken. The 2026-27 season is the last one in the Saddledome for the Flames, who will play in the new Scotia Place arena in 2027-28.
