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Auditorium de Verdun | |
Address | 4110, boulevard LaSalle Montreal, Quebec H4G 2A5 |
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Coordinates | 45°27′45″N73°33′43″W / 45.462448°N 73.561878°W |
Public transit | De L’Église |
Owner | City of Montreal |
Capacity | Hockey: 3,795 seated (4,114 total) |
Opened | November 28, 1939 |
Tenants | |
Montreal Alliance (CEBL) 2022–present Montréal Victoire (PWHL) 2024 Montreal Force (PHF) 2022–2023 Montreal Junior Hockey Club (QMJHL) 2008–2011 Verdun Dragons (LNAH) 2001–2006 Montreal Dragons (NBL) 1993 Verdun Collège Français (QMJHL) 1991–1994 Verdun Juniors (QMJHL) 1982–1984 Verdun Éperviers (QMJHL) 1977–1981 Verdun Maple Leafs (QMJHL) 1920s–1972 |
The Verdun Auditorium (French: Auditorium de Verdun) is an arena located in the borough of Verdun, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The building was constructed in 1938 and holds 4,114 seats. The largest arena in the west end of Montreal, the complex is also home to Arena Denis Savard, a small minor-hockey rink, attached to its side. The Auditorium has hosted various Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) teams, including the Verdun Juniors, Verdun Éperviers, and Verdun Collège Français. In 1993, it hosted the Montreal Dragons for their lone season in the short-lived National Basketball League. Since 2022, it has been the home to the Montreal Alliance of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). The Auditorium was slated to become the home arena of Les Canadiennes de Montréal in 2019; however, the CWHL folded in May of that year. [1] In November 2023, it was announced that Verdun Auditorium would become the new home of Montréal Victoire of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) starting in 2024. [2]
On January 25, 2008, the QMJHL approved the sale of the St. John's Fog Devils to Montreal businessman Farrel Miller, [3] who relocated the team to Montreal, where it was known as the Montreal Junior Hockey Club. In Summer 2011, the team moved to Boisbriand to become the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
The auditorium also hosted a concert by Nirvana on November 2, 1993. This was the band's last show in Montreal before frontman Kurt Cobain died five months later. [4]
The Verdun Auditorium has hosted professional wrestling events, [5] including shows promoted by Johnny Rougeau's All Star Wrestling, the Vachon Brothers' Grand Prix Wrestling and Lutte Internationale, and was the location of the first World Wrestling Federation event to be held in Montreal, though that event drew poorly against the better-established Lutte Internationale. [6]
Major upgrades of the arena were undertaken in 2018 with plans for completion in 2020. [7] These $42 million renovations made upgrades to the safety of the facility, as well as a restoration of the brick façade.
In May 2022, the arena hosted the first home game of the CEBL's Montreal Alliance. The Alliance won 80-70 over the Scarborough Shooting Stars in front of a near-sell out crowd. [8]
On July 20, 2024, TNA Wrestling held their 2024 edition of their annual Slammiversary pay-per-view at the Verdun Auditorium followed by tapings for their Impact! and Xplosion weekly shows the following day. [9]
Bell Centre formerly known as Molson Centre, is a multi-purpose arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened on March 16, 1996, it is the home arena of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Montreal Forum. It is owned by the Molson family via the team's ownership group Groupe CH, and managed via Groupe CH subsidiary Evenko.
The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. Officially the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League until 2023, the league includes teams in Quebec and the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.
The Cornwall Royals were a junior ice hockey team based in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1969 to 1981, and the Ontario Hockey League from 1981 to 1992. This team shared its name with other Cornwall Royals teams that played in the QSHL, MMJHL, or OHA-B.
The Halifax Forum is an arena and multi-purpose facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Its uses include sporting events, bingo, ice skating, concerts and markets. It was built in 1927 on the site of the former Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition which was badly damaged by the Halifax explosion in 1917. It opened on 26 December 1927 and incorporated the first artificial ice surface east of Montreal. It is the second biggest arena in Nova Scotia, and the fifth biggest in Atlantic Canada. The building was added to the Canadian Register of Historic Places in 2003.
Agganis Arena is a 7,200-seat multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, on the campus of Boston University, built on the location of the former Commonwealth Armory. It is home to the five-time national champion Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey team. It is named after Harry Agganis, a football and baseball player for BU. The ice hockey rink is named Jack Parker Rink, after the legendary BU hockey player and coach. The arena is part of Boston University's John Hancock Student Village, which also includes dormitories and the university's five-story Fitness and Recreation Center.
The Paul Sauvé Arena was an indoor arena located at 4000 rue Beaubien Est in Montreal, Quebec, in its Rosemont district. Built in 1960 and demolished in 1992–93, the arena had a capacity of 4,000 people. It was named after Paul Sauvé, a Quebec Premier with the Union Nationale.
Sports in Montreal have played a major role in the city's history. Montreal is best known for being home to the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, which are currently the city's only team in the Big Four sports leagues.
The Sorel Éperviers were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1969 to 1981. The team was one of the founding members of the QMJHL. They mostly played at the Colisée Cardin in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, but also spent a few seasons at the Verdun Auditorium in the Montreal suburb of Verdun, Quebec. Rodrigue Lemoyne served as the team's general manager. Ray Bourque is the only former Épervier in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The 1985 Memorial Cup took place on May 11–18 at the Shawinigan Municipal Auditorium in Shawinigan, Quebec and at Centre Civique in Drummondville, Quebec. It was the 67th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The tournament was originally only to be played in Shawinigan, but support columns in the seats of the ancient Auditorium made televising the games impossible and the tournament was moved to Drummondville after the second game. Participating teams were the host team Shawinigan Cataractes, as well as the winners of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League which were the Verdun Junior Canadiens, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Prince Albert Raiders. Prince Albert won their first Memorial Cup, defeating Shawinigan in the final game.
The Canadian International Heavyweight Championship was the top singles title in the Montreal-based wrestling promotion Lutte Internationale. It was the successor to the Montreal Athletic Commission's MAC World Heavyweight Championship, which was retired after the Commission's promotion, the International Wrestling Association, closed in 1975. The title was promoted from 1976 until Lutte Internationale closed in 1987, upon which the title was retired.
The Montreal Junior Hockey Club was a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The team was based out of the Verdun Auditorium, in Verdun, Quebec, Canada. The St. John's Fog Devils franchise relocated at the conclusion of the 2007–08 QMJHL season. The team's colours were maroon and white, similar to the Montreal Maroons. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League approved the sale of the Juniors to a group led by former NHL Defensemen Joel Bouchard who moved the team to Boisbriand, Quebec for the 2011–12 season. The team plays its games at the Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau and is known as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
The 2011–12 QMJHL season was the 43rd season of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The regular season, which consisted of 17 teams playing 68 games each, began in September 2011 and ended in March 2012. This season was Blainville-Boisbriand Armada's first season in the league, as the team relocated to Boisbriand from Verdun where they played as the Montreal Junior Hockey Club from 2008 to 2011. The league lost one of his charter teams when the Lewiston Maineiacs folded during after the previous season, the QMJHL later announce an expansion team to Sherbrooke for the 2012–13 season. In the playoffs, the Saint John Sea Dogs became the seventh team in league history to capture consecutive President's Cup championships.
The Montreal Dragons were a professional Canadian basketball team based in Montreal, Quebec. They competed in the now defunct National Basketball League in 1993, but did not complete their first season and disbanded on June 10, 1993. During their first and only season, the Dragons won 6 games and lost 11 games.
The Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau is a 3,100 capacity multi-purpose arena in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada. It is home to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada ice hockey club in the QMJHL, who were previously known as the Montreal Junior Hockey Club.
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 (AHL), and two smaller community ice rinks, one of which has Olympic-size ice. The arena was also home to Les Canadiennes de Montréal for the final season of play in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). The arena is hosting select games for Montréal Victoire of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) during the inaugural 2023–24 season.
Lutte Internationale was a professional wrestling promotion based in Montreal from 1980 until 1987. The promotion was founded by Frank Valois, André the Giant and Gino Brito as Promotions Varoussac. Lutte Internationale succeeded All-Star Wrestling and Grand Prix Wrestling as Quebec's top wrestling promotion for most of the 1980s.
The Montreal Alliance are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada founded in 2021. They compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and play their home games at the Verdun Auditorium. The Montreal Alliance’s mascot is called “Alli-Oop”.
The Montréal Victoire are a professional women's ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec. They are one of the six charter franchises of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They play home games at the Place Bell in Laval.
The 2024 Slammiversary was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) that took place on July 20, 2024, at Verdun Auditorium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the 20th event under the Slammiversary chronology, and celebrated the promotion's 22nd anniversary. The event featured wrestlers from partner promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), and WWE's NXT brand; as part of a crossover between the two promotions which began earlier that Summer.