The Montreal Forum was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by Sporting News^[1], it was home of the National Hockey League's Montreal Maroons from 1924 to 1938 and the Montreal Canadiens from 1926 to 1996. The Forum was built by the Canadian Arena Company in 159 days.

Located at the northeast corner of Avenue Atwater and Rue Ste-Catherine Ouest (Metro Atwater), the building was historically significant as it was home to 26 Stanley Cups (24 of the Canadiens and two of the Montreal Maroons, for whom the arena was originally built). It was also home to the Montreal Roadrunners and Montreal Junior Canadiens.

History

The Forum opened on November 29, 1924 at a total cost of $1,500,000 with an original seating capacity of 9,300. It underwent two renovations, in 1949 and 1968 ^[2]. When the Forum closed in 1996 it had a capacity of 17,959, which included approximately 1,600 in standing room.

Construction

The idea to build the Forum in 1923 is credited to Sir Edward Beattie, president of the Canadian Pacific railway. At the suggestion of Senator Donat Raymond, William Northey developed a plan for a 12,500 seat capacity rink. Plans were scaled back for financial reasons to a rink of 9,300 seats. At the reduced size, the rink could not find financing. The Arena was financed by H. L. Timmins. The site selected was the site of a roller skating rink named the Forum, and the name was kept. The site had previously been the site of an outdoor ice hockey rink, used by Frank and Lester Patrick, Art Ross and Russell Bowie.^[3]

Ice hockey

While hosting the Canadiens and Maroons on Thursdays and Saturdays, the Forum also hosted the Quebec Senior Hockey League, featuring the Montreal Victorias, Montreal Royals and the Montreal Canadiens amateur team on Wednesdays and Sundays. The Quebec Junior Hockey League played on Monday nights, the Bank League on Tuesdays and the Railways and Telephone League played on Friday nights.^[4]

The Montreal Forum hosted Memorial Cup games in 1950, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973 & 1976, with the Junior Canadiens winning on home ice in 1970. In 1972 The Montreal Forum hosted game 1 of the famous "Summit Series" between Team Canada and the USSR, the USSR won the game 7-3.

Only two visiting teams ever won the Stanley Cup on Forum ice: the New York Rangers did so in 1928, defeating the Maroons, while the Calgary Flames defeated the Canadiens in 1989.

On March 11, 1996, the Montreal Canadiens played their last game at the Montreal Forum, beating the Dallas Stars 4-1 on a Monday night. The game was televised on TSN and TQS in Canada, and on ESPN2 in the United States. After the game, many previous hockey greats were presented to the crowd. Five days later, the team had settled into their new home, the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre), as they took to the ice, and celebrated with another win, against the New York Rangers.

Other sport

The Forum also hosted other sports, including boxing, tennis and wrestling. The Forum was a site of 5 events in the 1976 Summer Olympics: gymnastics, handball, basketball^[5], volleyball, and boxing. The gymnastics event included Nadia Comaneci's famous perfect 10, the first in Olympic history.

Notable events

Music

In 1981, Canadian rock band Rush filmed (and recorded parts of) their 1981 concert film and album "Exit...Stage Left" here on their Moving Pictures Tour. That same year, British rock band Queen recorded and filmed their concert film We Will Rock You at this venue (re-released as Queen Rock Montreal in 2007). On April 19, 1984, Van Halen performed here, and were filmed by a fan, one of the few concert videos of their 1984 Tour.

After hockey

After the Canadiens left the Forum, the building was used to film arena sequences for the Brian de Palma film Snake Eyes ^[6]. It was then completely gutted and converted into a downtown entertainment centre called the Pepsi Forum, consisting of an AMC multiplex theater, shops and restaurants. Centre ice has been recreated in the centre of the complex while original stands are scattered throughout. On the Saint Catherine Street entrance there is a Quebec Walk of Fame consisting of Céline Dion and Maurice Richard. Both were on hand for their bronze star's respective unveiling. The Atwater street entrance has a large bronze Montreal Canadiens logo surrounded by 24 bronze Stanley Cup banners cemented into the sidewalk. Inscribed in French are the words "Forever proud". The entire building is themed after the Forum's storied history with special emphasis on the Montreal Canadiens.

References

Notes

External links

• Farewell to the Montreal Forum

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