Copps Coliseum

See also: List of sports venues in Hamilton, Ontario

Copps Coliseum
Full name	Victor K. Copps Trade Centre and Arena
Location	101 York Boulevard Hamilton, Ontario
Coordinates	43°15′33″N 79°52′21″W / 43.25917°N 79.8725°W / 43.25917; -79.8725Coordinates: 43°15′33″N 79°52′21″W / 43.25917°N 79.8725°W / 43.25917; -79.8725
Broke ground	July 1983
Opened	November 30, 1985[1]
Owner	City of Hamilton
Operator	Hamilton Entertainment and Convention Facilities Inc
Surface	Ice
Construction cost	$42.7 Million ($81.3 million in 2011 dollars[2])
Architect	Sink Combs Dethlefs[3]
General Contractor	Joseph Pigott
Capacity	Concerts: 19,000 Ice hockey 17,383
Field dimensions	200 x 85 feet (expandable to 200 x 100)
Tenants
Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL) (1985–1988) Dukes of Hamilton (OHL) (1989–1991) Hamilton Canucks (AHL) (1992–1994) Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) (1996–present) Ontario Raiders (NLL) (1998) Toronto Raptors (NBA) (occasionally for home games) (1995–1997)

Copps Coliseum is a sports and entertainment arena, on the corner of Bay Street North and York Boulevard, in Hamilton, Ontario. Depending on event, the Copps Coliseum has a capacity of up to 19,000.

It is named after the former Hamilton mayor, Victor K. Copps.

Saturday Night Live has used an exterior of the arena in many ESPN Classic sketches.

History

It was started at 1983 and was completed in 1985 at a cost of $33.5 million, and an additional $2.3 million for a parking garage. The construction was overseen by local Hamiltonian, Joseph Pigott.^[4]

The scoreboard clock was originally from the Winnipeg Arena, purchased for $214,000. Although it was not brand new, the scoreboard clock met the needs of Copps Coliseum.

While Copps Coliseum was built in the hope that Hamilton could draw an NHL franchise, for the past 12 seasons, beginning in October 1996, Copps Coliseum has been home to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League. The Bulldogs, the top affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers (1996–2002) and the Montreal Canadiens (2002–present) have brought over 2 million fans to Copps Coliseum, and are the longest serving pro hockey team in Southern Ontario, aside from the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bulldogs are the sole primary tenant in the facility. On June 7, 2007, the Hamilton Bulldogs won their first Calder Cup Championship in franchise history at home in Copps Coliseum by defeating the Hershey Bears.

In 1986, the World Junior Hockey Championships were held in Southern Ontario, with Copps Coliseum used as the primary venue. In the decisive game, the Soviet Union defeated Canada 4-1.

In 1987, the arena was the primary host for the Canada Cup ice hockey tournament and was the site of Mario Lemieux's famous goal that beat the Soviets 6-5 in the decisive game. It hosted a number of games in the Canada Cup again in 1991 when Canada defeated USA in the finals.

On January 24, 1988, the arena hosted the World Wrestling Federation's first ever Royal Rumble. The Rumble was won by "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan.

In 1990, Copps Coliseum hosted the Memorial Cup. The tournament that year recorded the highest attendance for any single Memorial Cup game, on May 13, 1990 at 17,383 spectators. In that same championship game, the Oshawa Generals defeated the Kitchener Rangers by a score of 4 to 3 in double overtime on a goal by Bill Armstrong.

Though the Coliseum has never been able to attract a full-time NHL tenant, it did host a number of regular-season neutral-site games in 1992–93 and 1993–94. Most of these games featured either the nearby Toronto Maple Leafs or Buffalo Sabres.

In 1994, the Coliseum was one of the homes to the FIBA World Basketball Championships, along with Maple Leaf Gardens and SkyDome. On September 27, 1998, the arena hosted another WWF event called Breakdown: In Your House.

In 2007, from March 3 to March 11, Copps Coliseum hosted the Tim Hortons Brier, the annual Canadian men's curling championship. The coliseum will be hosting the West 49 Canadian Open, from September 20 to October 1.

In 2007, Waterloo billionaire Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of Research in Motion, made an offer to purchase the Nashville Predators for $220 Million US. His intention was to move the team to Hamilton and either use Copps Coliseum as a temporary home while a new state-of-the-art arena could be built, or to renovate Copps to bring it up to modern NHL standards. The bid was ultimately unsuccessful.

In 2008, it was announced that the Golden Horseshoe would be bidding for the 2015 Pan-Am Games, which would mean the venue would likely be part of the venue plan for the Games. On February 18, 2009, Copps Coliseum was identified as the proposed site for the volleyball competition for the Games.

In the spring of 2009, NHL franchise Phoenix Coyotes filed bankruptcy and Jim Balsillie immediately offered a rumoured $212.5 Million US, while stating he wanted to move the franchise to Southwestern Ontario.^[5] Balsillie has applied for a lease option which, should the relocation succeed, would invoke a 20-year lease for the team to play at Copps Coliseum.^[6][7]

On May 9, 2009, the Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator and others reported that that Hamilton mayor Fred Eisenberger was to meet with a second group interested in securing a lease. The group, led by Vancouver businessmen Tom Gaglardi and Nelson Skalbania, was interested in securing an interest in the Atlanta Thrashers and moving them to the Coliseum for the 2010-11 NHL season.^[8]

Also on May 9, 2009, the Thrasher's VP and GM Don Waddell had this to say to the AJC: "There is no truth to it... We are not a movable franchise. I have talked to our owners, and no one has had contact with any group.” He also had this to say to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: "I have spoken to our owners again today on this subject," said Waddell. "The Atlanta Thrashers hockey club is a vital part of the Atlanta area. We also own the Atlanta Hawks and have controlling interest in a 99 year lease with Philips Arena. Our franchise is not available to be moved, we will continue to be part of this community for many many years." Although that statement was not entirely true as two years later, the Thrashers eventually relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba after the Atlanta owners failed to find a local buyer for the franchise when they made to decision to sell the club.

On May 13, 2009 The Canadian Press reported on TSN.ca that Balsillie won the exclusive rights to Hamilton's Copps Coliseum until November after a unanimous vote by Hamilton city council. On May 29, 2009, Balsillie unveiled his plans to renovate the Coliseum into a state-of-the-art facility in anticipation of a NHL franchise coming to Hamilton.^[9] It's hard to say when these renovations will come to fruition since Balsillie ultimately lost his bid to buy the Coyotes.

Images

• 

  Copps Coliseum, Bay St., looking north

• 

  Copps Coliseum

References

1. ^ Dave Hall (November 30, 1985). "A Major League Gamble Rolls Today". The Saturday Windsor Star. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6QVFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3roMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3215,4090653&dq=en. 
2. ^ 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
3. ^ http://www.sinkcombs.com/news/awards.html
4. ^ "Hamilton Spectator: "The Greatest Hamiltonian". (II)". http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1143499813048&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1014656511815. Retrieved 2007-02-11. 
5. ^ http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=277664
6. ^ http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2009/14/c4026.html,
7. ^ http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2009/13/c3731.html
8. ^ http://sports.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090509.wsptthrashers_hamilton09/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home
9. ^ http://smr.newswire.ca/en/jim-balsillie/jim-balsillie-unveils-dramatic-revitalization-for-copps-coliseum

External links

• Official website
• OHL Arena & Travel Guide on Copps Coliseum