- Montreal Forum
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Montreal Forum /
Forum de MontréalPepsi Forum Location 2313 Saint Catherine Street West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Coordinates 45°29′25″N 73°35′5″W / 45.49028°N 73.58472°WCoordinates: 45°29′25″N 73°35′5″W / 45.49028°N 73.58472°W Opened November 29, 1924 Closed 1996 Owner Canadian Arena Company
Canderel Management and Pepsi (today)Construction cost $1.5 million
($20 million in 2011 dollars[1])Capacity Ice hockey: 17,959
Basketball: 18,575[2]Tenants Montreal Maroons (NHL) (1924-1938)
Montreal Canadiens (NHL) (1926-1996)
Montreal Junior Canadiens (QJHL) (1933-1961), (OHA) (1961-1972)
Montreal Voyageurs (AHL) (1969-1971)
Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL) (1972-1975)
Montreal Juniors (QMJHL) (1975-1982)
Montreal Manic (NASL Indoor) (1981-1982)
Montreal Roadrunners (RHI) (1994-1995)National Historic Site of CanadaDesignated: 1997 
The Montreal Forum under construction in 1924.
The Montreal Forum (French: Le Forum de Montréal) was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by Sporting News,[3] 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.[4]
Located at the northeast corner of Atwater and Ste-Catherine West (Metro Atwater), the building was historically significant as it was home to 24 Stanley Cup championships (22 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.
Contents
History
The Forum opened on November 29, 1924 at a total cost of $1,500,000 ($20 million in 2011 dollars[1]) with an original seating capacity of 9,300. It underwent two renovations, in 1949 and 1968.[5] When the Forum closed in 1996 it had a capacity of 17,959, which included approximately 1,600 in standing room.
By the time of the 1968 renovations, a centre-hung digital scoreclock, designed by the Day Sign Company of Toronto and similar to those that would be installed in the 1970s at Boston Garden and Chicago Stadium, had been installed. A new centre-hung scoreclock, designed by Daktronics, was installed in the mid-1980s and contained on each side a color matrix board.
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. Even at the reduced size, the rink could not immediately find financing. The Forum would eventually be 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 as youths.[6]
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.[7]
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. The 1980 NHL Entry Draft was hosted at the Forum. It would mark the first time that an NHL Arena hosted the event.[8]
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. The Stars' Guy Carbonneau, who had captained the Canadiens from 1989 to 1994 (including their 1993 Cup win), took the ceremonial opening faceoff. After the game, many previous hockey greats were presented to the crowd, most notably Maurice Richard (said to be the Canadiens' most beloved player of all time) who received a sixteen minute standing ovation from the crowd as he broke down in tears.[9] A symbolic torch was carried by Emile Bouchard out of the Canadiens dressing room to the playing surface. The flaming torch was passed on to each of the former Canadiens captains (Jean Beliveau, Yvan Cournoyer, Henri Richard, Serge Savard, Bob Gainey, and Carbonneau), and finally to the then-current captain Pierre Turgeon.[10] The next day, a parade was organized in which the torch was carried down the route to the Molson Centre (which has since been renamed the Bell Centre). Their first game at the new venue was against the New York Rangers, a game which the Canadiens won.
Other sport
The Forum also hosted other sports, including indoor soccer, boxing and tennis. The Forum was a site of five events in the 1976 Summer Olympics: gymnastics, handball (final), basketball (final),[2] volleyball (final), and boxing (final).[11] The gymnastics event included Nadia Comaneci's famous perfect 10, the first in Olympic history.
The Forum was the site of many major professional wrestling matches, as shown in the 1961 National Film Board of Canada documentary Wrestling (La Lutte).[12]
Notable events
On September 8, 1964, The Beatles performed at the Forum.
The Forum played host to The Rolling Thunder Revue Tour on December 4, 1975, headed by Bob Dylan.
In 1981, Canadian rock band Rush filmed (and recorded almost all of) their 1981 concert film and album, Exit...Stage Left.
That same year, British rock band Queen recorded and filmed their concert film, titled We Will Rock You (re-released as Queen Rock Montreal in 2007).
The live portions of Black Sabbath's video for the song "Zero the Hero" were filmed in 1983.
David Bowie performed during his Serious Moonlight Tour on July 13, 1983. This performance was recorded and broadcast on American FM Radio and other radio stations worldwide.
Billy Graham held his Montreal Crusade in 1990. This event was videotaped and broadcast on American and Canadian television stations and other TV stations worldwide.
After hockey
Montreal Forum National Historic Site of Canada Designated as a NHSC 1997 
The Pepsi Forum as seen in 2009.After the Canadiens left the Forum, the building was used to film arena sequences for the Brian De Palma film Snake Eyes.[13] It was then completely gutted and converted into a downtown entertainment centre called the Pepsi Forum, consisting of an AMC multiplex theatre, shops and restaurants. Centre ice has been recreated in the centre of the complex complete with a small section of the grandstand, along with a statue of a fan leaning forward in delight, while original seats are used as benches throughout the complex. A statue of Maurice Richard can be found next to the grandstand. On the Saint Catherine Street entrance there is a Quebec Walk of Fame consisting of Richard and Celine Dion. 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.
The building was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1997 because:
"it was arguably the country's most famous sporting venue... it also serves as an icon for the role of hockey in Canada's national culture... the Forum is the oldest of Canada's large-scale arenas and has, throughout its history, been the country's leading site for major indoor cultural, political and religious events.—Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, June 1997 [14]References
- Mouton, Claude (1987). The Montreal Canadiens. Key Porter Books.
- ^ a b Canadian inflation numbers based on data available from Consumer Price Index, by province (monthly) (Canada) Statistics Canada. Retrieved August 21, 2011 and Consumer Price Index, historical summary Statistics Canada. Retrieved December 7, 2010
- ^ a b Olympic Games Official Report-1976 Montreal, part I
- ^ "The end of an era. (the Montreal Forum)". High Beam Research. 1996. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18096190.html. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
- ^ Musée de la Civilisation de Québec (2001). "Famous Canadian Arenas" (HTML). Hockey: A Nation's Passion. Canadian Heritage Information Network. http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Hockey/English/Arenas/arenas.html. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
- ^ "Montreal Forum". Ballparks.com. 1996-2006. http://hockey.ballparks.com/NHL/MontrealCanadiens/oldindex.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
- ^ Mouton(1987), pp. 111–113
- ^ Mouton(1987), p. 114
- ^ The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D’Arcy Jenish, p.240, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
- ^ CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/hockeyhistory/episodesummary/09/post/biographies.html.
- ^ "HOCKEY;Blinking Back the Tears, Montreal Closes Its Forum". The New York Times. March 12, 1996. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/12/sports/hockey-blinking-back-the-tears-montreal-closes-its-forum.html.
- ^ 1976 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 2. pp. 138-43.
- ^ "Wrestling". Collection. National Film Board of Canada. http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=10852. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ^ "Stephen Burum - Snake Eyes". International Cinematographers Guild. 1998. http://www.cameraguild.com/interviews/chat_burum/Burum_SnakeEyes.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-21.
- ^ http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7464&pid=0
External links
Categories:- Indoor arenas in Canada
- Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada
- Montreal Canadiens
- Ontario Hockey League arenas
- Quebec Major Junior Hockey League arenas
- Sports venues in Montreal
- Volleyball venues
- Former ice hockey venues
- Defunct National Hockey League venues
- Defunct indoor arenas
- Former music venues
- 1976 Summer Olympic venues
- Music venues in Montreal
- Defunct sports venues in Canada
- PepsiCo buildings and structures
- National Historic Sites in Quebec
- 1924 architecture
- Olympic basketball venues
- Olympic boxing venues
- Olympic gymnastics venues
- Olympic handball venues
- Olympic volleyball venues
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