Forum de Montréal
| Forum de Montréal | |
|---|---|
| Le temple du hockey Le Forum |
|
|
|
| The Pepsi Forum in 2011 | |
| Data | |
| place | 2313 Saint Catherine Street West Montréal , Québec , Canada
|
| Coordinates | 45 ° 29 '24.5 " N , 73 ° 35' 5" W |
| owner | Canderel Corporation |
| operator | Canderel Corporation |
| start of building | June 24, 1924 |
| opening | November 29, 1924 |
| Extensions | 1949, 1968 |
| surface |
Parquet ice surface |
| costs | 1.5 million CAD (1924) |
| architect | John Smith Archibald |
| capacity | 17,959 seats (ice hockey) 18,575 seats (basketball) |
| Societies) | |
|
|
| Events | |
The Forum de Montréal ( English Montreal Forum ) is a former multifunctional arena at the Atwater metro station in Montreal , Québec , Canada . The forum was founded in 1924 for the hockey team the Montreal Maroons finished. From 1927 it was also the home ground of the Canadiens de Montréal from the National Hockey League , which were the main tenants after the Maroons were dissolved in 1938. Until 1996, the Canadiens played their home games there.
history
In Montreal, people looked with envy to Ottawa , where they had an artificial ice rink as early as the early 1920s. At the same time as the plans to re-establish a team for the English-speaking population, they also wanted to build a modern stadium in the city. The initiator of the project was William Northey , who was formerly president of the former Stanley Cup winner Montréal AAA . He was able to win over the idea from the influential Donat Raymond , who had the connections necessary to fund the project. As early as March 1922, the two spoke to the Canadian Pacific Railway . The president of the CPR Edward Beatty could be won for the project and within a year managed to get two more financially strong supporters with Herbert Molson from the Molson Brewery and his cousin William Molson , the founder of the Molson Bank . In spring 1923 the plans of the Montreal architect John Smith Archibald were discussed for the first time . With Léo Dandurand a representative of the Canadiens was involved, which was withheld from the public for tactical reasons. The Canadiens had just signed a six-year deal with the Mount Royal Arena , but they too knew it wasn't a permanent solution.
In June 1924 they had raised $ 400,000 to start building the Forum de Montréal, and so the implementation could begin. The construction time for the forum was 159 days, the construction was carried out for 1.5 million Canadian dollars by the Canadian Arena Company . The new building was opened on November 28, 1924 and had a capacity of 9,300 places.
In the early years, the derbies between the Maroons and the Canadiens were the highlights. The stadium was always completely sold out. With additional grandstands, there was space for over 10,000 spectators at these games. The Maroons were the first team to win the Stanley Cup in the Forum in the 1925/26 season . For the 1927/28 season, the Canadiens also moved from the Mount Royal Arena to the Forum de Montréal.
After renovations in 1949 and 1968, the audience capacity was expanded to 17,959 seats, 1,600 of which were standing.
The arena has hosted 22 Stanley Cups for the Canadiens and two for the Maroons. Only the Calgary Flames managed to win a Stanley Cup in the forum as an away team.
Over the decades this hall developed into the "Mecca of ice hockey" . This is also where the first game of the legendary Summit Series 1972 between the USSR and Canada took place, which the Soviets won 7-3.
In addition to ice hockey, other important events took place in the forum, for example during the 1976 Summer Olympics there were boxing, handball, gymnastics, volleyball and basketball competitions .
Concerts by bands like Rush , Van Halen and Queen were also recorded in the forum.
Moving and selling
But at some point the era of the forum also passed, and in 1992 a modern arena began to be built not far from the forum at Lucien-L'Allier train station in downtown Montreal. Although there was some resistance, the franchise was forced to rebuild by the new arena statutes of the NHL. On March 11, 1996, the Canadiens played for the last time in the forum, there was a big ceremony, among other things a torch was carried from the forum to the new Center Molson by almost all living Canadiens legends. The Habs won the game 4-1.
Further use
After the Canadiens moved, the forum was used for three years for junior championships and events. In 1999, PepsiCo bought the arena and converted it. Today there is a cinema and a number of shops in the Forum Pepsi , some seats and the sign of the old playing field are reminiscent of days gone by. In the entrance area there is a mark in the floor for every Stanley Cup won, a total of 24 plaques.
literature
- William Brown: The Montreal Maroons - The Forgotten Stanley Cup Champions Vehicule Press, 1999. ISBN 1-55065-128-5 (English)
Web links
- Lieu historique national du Canada Forum-de-Montréal on historicplaces.ca
Venues for the 1976 Summer Olympics
