![]() | |
![]() | |
Location | Laval, Quebec |
---|---|
Coordinates | 45°33′21″N73°43′18″W / 45.5558°N 73.7218°W Coordinates: 45°33′21″N73°43′18″W / 45.5558°N 73.7218°W |
Public transit | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Owner | City of Laval |
Operator | Evenko and Harden |
Capacity | 10,062 (main arena; hockey) 2,500 (olympic rink) 500 (practice rink) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 2014 |
Opened | 2017 |
Construction cost | $200 million |
Architect | Lemay |
Tenants | |
Laval Rocket (AHL) (2017–present) Les Canadiennes de Montreal (CWHL) (2018–2019) | |
Website | |
Official Website |
Place Bell is a multi-purpose arena in Laval, Quebec, Canada. The complex includes a 10,000 seat main arena which is the home of the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League and two smaller community ice rinks, one of which has Olympic size ice.
Then-mayor of Laval, Gilles Vaillancourt, announced the project on February 13, 2012. [1] [2] The facility is managed by Evenko, the same company that operates the Bell Centre in Montreal, home of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. As in the case of the Bell Centre, the naming rights for the Laval arena were acquired by Bell Canada. [3] The cost of the project roughly doubled since it was first announced. Originally announced by Vaillancourt in 2012 to cost $92.6 million, the estimate was revised less than a year later to $150 million. In March 2014, Laval's new mayor Marc Demers estimated that the cost of Place Bell would double to $200 million, because of costs not factored by the previous administration. The Government of Quebec committed to contributing $46 million; Demers asked that the province assume more of the costs, as it did for other arena projects. [4] [5]
Initial plans called for the arena to be built in the city's Quartier de l'Agora district, next to the Laval courthouse, but the unstable soil in that location led to a move. In October 2012, the city announced that the project would be located adjacent to the Montmorency station of the Montreal Metro Orange Line.
Construction started in late 2014 and was completed in 2017. [6] [7]
On 11 July 2016, the Montreal Canadiens announced it would relocate its American Hockey League affiliate, then known as the St. John's IceCaps, to Place Bell in 2017. [8] On 8 September 2016, the Canadiens announced the team would be named the Laval Rocket. [9]
On 20 September 2018, it was announced that the Les Canadiennes de Montreal of the Canadian Women's Hockey League would be moving to the arena complex from Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard playing both in the main rink and the community rink. [10] The Les Canadiennes also moved their daily operations and training camp into the complex. They played one season at Place Bell before the league and team ceased operations in 2019.
The Montreal Canadiens, officially le Club de hockey Canadien and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Since 1996, the Canadiens have played their home games at Bell Centre, originally known as Molson Centre. The team previously played at the Montreal Forum, which housed the team for seven decades and all but their first two Stanley Cup championships.
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the league has an affiliation agreement with one NHL team. When NHL teams do not have an AHL affiliate, players are assigned to AHL teams affiliated with other NHL teams. Twenty-six AHL teams are located in the United States and the remaining six are in Canada. The league offices are located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and its current president is Scott Howson.
Montreal Forum is a historic building located facing Cabot Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by Sporting News, it was an indoor arena which served as the 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. Today most of the Forum building is now a multiplex cinema at first as AMC Forum managed by AMC Theatres and later by Cineplex Entertainment as Cineplex Cinemas Forum.
Joël Bouchard is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League with eight teams for parts of 11 seasons. He was most recently the head coach of the American Hockey League's San Diego Gulls, the minor league affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks.
Mary Brown's Centre is an indoor arena and entertainment venue located in downtown St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The arena opened in May 2001, replacing Memorial Stadium. At full capacity the arena can seat 7,000 people.
Sylvain Jean Lefebvre is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman who played on five National Hockey League teams from 1989 to 2003. He won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. Lefebvre was most recently an assistant coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Centre Étienne Desmarteau is a multi-purpose complex with two ice rinks in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Les Canadiennes de Montréal were a professional women's ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2007 as the Montreal Stars, they competed in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) in every season. The team appeared in and won the Clarkson Cup the most times out of any CWHL teams with four championships.
The Robert Guertin Centre is a multi-purpose arena in the Hull sector of Gatineau, Quebec, with a capacity of 4,000 capacity. It was built in 1957.
The St. John's IceCaps were a professional ice hockey team based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. They were members of the North Division of the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team was originally affiliated with the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets from 2011 to 2015. However, beginning in the 2015–16 AHL season, they became the top affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) after the Jets relocated their franchise back to Manitoba and the Canadiens moved the former Hamilton Bulldogs franchise to St. John's. The IceCaps were the second AHL team to be in St. John's, after the Toronto Maple Leafs' affiliate, the St. John's Maple Leafs from 1991 to 2005.
Nikita Sergeevich Scherbak is a Russian professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for HC Slovan Bratislava of the Slovak Extraliga.
Charles Simard-Hudon is a Canadian professional ice hockey Winger currently playing with the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 122nd overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
The 2017–18 AHL season was the 82nd season of the American Hockey League. The regular season ran from October 6, 2017, to April 15, 2018. The 2018 Calder Cup playoffs followed the conclusion of the regular season. The Toronto Marlies won their first Calder Cup in seven games over the Texas Stars.
The Laval Rocket are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) as an affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Montreal Canadiens. Based in Laval, Quebec, Canada, the Rocket play their home games at Place Bell.
Anthony Richard is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for the Laval Rocket in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Jérémy Grégoire is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for the Vienna Capitals of the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). Grégoire was drafted 176th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
Cale Fleury is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). Fleury was selected 87th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
Justin Barron is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 25th overall by the Colorado Avalanche during the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
The Trois-Rivières Lions are a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The team began play in the 2021–22 ECHL season, with home games at Colisée Vidéotron. They are affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League and Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League.
Corey Schueneman is an American professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing for the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL).