Location | New Westminster, British Columbia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 49°12′54″N122°54′21″W / 49.2149°N 122.9058°W |
Operator | City of New Westminster |
Type | Lacrosse, Hockey |
Capacity | ~3500 |
Construction | |
Built | 1930 |
Tenants | |
New Westminster Salmonbellies (WLA) 1930–present New Westminster Bruins (WHL) 1971–81, 1983–88 |
Queen's Park Arena is a 3,500 seat multi-use arena located within Queen's Park in New Westminster, British Columbia. [1]
The arena was built in 1930 and opened on September 19. In its time, the Queen's Park Arena hosted the New Westminster Bruins of the Western Hockey League and British Columbia Junior Hockey League teams the New Westminster Royals and the Royal City Outlaws. It hosted the New Westminster Lacrosse teams for more than 75 years, including the multi-Mann Cup champion New Westminster Salmonbellies of the Western Lacrosse Association. [2]
The arena was also home to the professional New Westminster Royals, which played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League from 1945 to 1952 and the Western Hockey League from 1952 to 1959. [3] In 1949, team director Doug Grimston insisted on the continuation of a smoking ban at the arena, and stated that he would take financial responsibility for lost attendance. [4]
In 1967, the arena was used to hold a session of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Mainland and Vancouver Island colonies uniting. [5]
The Mann Cup is the trophy awarded to the senior men's box lacrosse champions of Canada. The championship is a best-of-seven, East vs West series played between the league champions of Major Series Lacrosse, the East, and Western Lacrosse Association, the West.
The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's box lacrosse team of Canada. The 2023 competition is in Edmonton, Alberta, from August 20–27.
New Westminster is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capital of the Colony of British Columbia in 1858 and continued in that role until the Mainland and Island colonies were merged in 1866. It was the British Columbia Mainland's largest city from that year until it was passed in population by Vancouver during the first decade of the 20th century.
The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in three incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952.
The Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) is a men's Senior A box lacrosse league with seven teams in British Columbia. The playoff championship team each season advances to the play against the Major Series Lacrosse champions for the Mann Cup. The championship is hosted alternately between Ontario and British Columbia each year.
John Arthur James "Jack" Bionda was a Canadian lacrosse and hockey player. He was a lacrosse superstar, dominating the sport throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. In hockey he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League between 1955 and 1959, mainly spending his career in the minor American Hockey League and Western Hockey League.
Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) is a Senior A box lacrosse league with 7 teams based in Ontario, Canada sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. The league championship team each year goes on to play against the champions of the Western Lacrosse Association for the Mann Cup in September. The championship is hosted alternately between Ontario and British Columbia.
Denman Arena was an indoor arena located in the West End neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. The arena was located at 1805 West Georgia Street at the northwest corner with Denman Street. It opened in December 1911 and was destroyed by fire in 1936. Its primary use was for ice sports such as ice hockey. It was the home ice rink of the Vancouver Millionaires professional ice hockey team, and was the location of the 1915 Stanley Cup championships. The arena was also used for other sports, musical performances, and public assemblies. It was an assembly point for Canadian servicemen during World War I. The 10,500-seat arena was the largest in Canada at the time, and introduced mechanically frozen or "artificial" ice to Canada.
The New Westminster Salmonbellies are a Men's Senior 'A' lacrosse team located in New Westminster, BC. Their home arena is Queen's Park Arena. They compete as part of the Western Lacrosse Association and have won the Mann Cup 24 times, most recently in 1991. The 1968–1972 teams were collectively inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2004.
The New Westminster Royals was the name of several professional ice hockey teams based in New Westminster, British Columbia, first established in 1911 for the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). Though nominally based in New Westminster, the team played its home games at the Denman Arena in nearby Vancouver, as an arena was not available; the team would never play a PCHA home game in New Westminster as a result. They won the inaugural PCHA championship in 1912, though financial difficulties saw the team relocated to Portland, Oregon in 1914 and become the Portland Rosebuds.
The Surrey Eagles are a junior ice hockey team based in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Coastal Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at South Surrey Arena.
New Westminster is a city in the Canadian province of British Columbia; formerly the colonial capital (1858–1866).
Frederick James "Mickey" Ion was a Canadian professional lacrosse player and ice hockey referee. He was referee-in-chief of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) and later the referee-in-chief of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Gogie Stewart was a multi-sport athlete from British Columbia, notably a former Canadian soccer player and lacrosse player. He was a three-time national soccer champion with Canadian clubs Vancouver City FC (1950) and Westminster Royals FC as well as a two-time national lacrosse champion with Vancouver Burrards (1949) and Nanaimo Timbermen (1956). He was one of Canada's starting inside forwards during FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1957. After his retirement, he became an honoured member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame.
There have been a wide variety of sports in Vancouver since the city was founded. Team sports such as ice hockey, lacrosse, and Canadian football have extensive history in the area, while the city's relatively mild climate and geographical location facilitate a wide variety of other sports and recreational activities.
The British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League is a junior box lacrosse league based in British Columbia, Canada. The BCJALL is one of three leagues that constitute as Junior A within the Canadian Lacrosse Association as the highest level of junior, ages 16 to 21 years old, box lacrosse in Canada. The BCJALL currently consists of eight (8) teams located throughout the Lower Mainland (6) and Vancouver Island (2). Regular Season play begins the last week of April through to the first week of July. Teams compete annually for the British Columbia Provincial Championship, with the winner moving on to play for the Minto Cup, the Canadian National Championship.
Nenad Gajić is a lacrosse player for the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League and the New Westminster Salmonbellies of the Western Lacrosse Association.
Harry Preston was a Canadian field hockey and lacrosse player who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics. He grew up in Surrey and attended Queen Elizabeth High School before studying at the University of British Columbia.
Curtis Manning is a Canadian professional indoor lacrosse transition who plays for the Calgary Roughnecks in the National Lacrosse League, wearing #10. Since turning professional in 2010, he has played for the Roughnecks for his entire NLL career. Manning has represented Team Canada in field lacrosse, helping them win silver at the 2010 World Lacrosse Championship.
Douglas George Grimston was a Canadian ice hockey administrator who served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1950 to 1952. He oversaw the establishment of the Major Series for the Alexander Cup and implemented a new deal for player contracts in senior ice hockey, in response to the Allan Cup championship being dominated by a small group of teams who sought to protect themselves from professional leagues recruiting their players. He opposed the National Hockey League wanting its junior ice hockey prospect players on stronger teams, which led to limits on the transfer of players to keep balanced competition for the Memorial Cup. After the 1952 Winter Olympics where the Canada men's national ice hockey team won the gold medal, Grimston recommended withdrawal from Olympic hockey since European nations would never agree to ice hockey rules which allowed physical play. Grimston later accused International Ice Hockey Federation vice-president Bunny Ahearne of financially exploiting of the Edmonton Mercurys on a European tour, which led to a physical altercation between them.
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