The Bell Centre (French: Le Centre Bell), formerly known as the Molson Centre''', has been the home of the Montreal Canadiens since March 16, 1996, when they hosted the New York Rangers (a game which they won 4–2). The team departed from the historic Montreal Forum after their last game on March 11 of the same year. Construction began on the site on June 22, 1993, 13 days after the Canadiens defeated the Los Angeles Kings at the Forum for their 24th and most recent Stanley Cup. The name of the arena initially reflected Molson, Inc., a brewing company which was owner of the Canadiens at the time. Some members of Montreal sports media, namely Jack Todd, pushed for the nickname "The Keg" as fitting for the new arena, it was never widely adopted. Molson elected not to keep the naming rights when they sold the team, and the name officially changed on September 1, 2002, after Bell Canada acquired the naming rights. In 2007, the arena was the busiest in Canada, 2nd in North America and 5th in the world, through paid attendance. In 2006, it was first in Canada, third in North America and fourth in the world. Since it opened in 1996, it has consistently been listed as one of the world's busiest arenas. [1]

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Arena information

The building covers an area of 1.568 hectares (15,680 square metres, 168,778 sq. ft). It is located in downtown Montreal, connected to Lucien-L'Allier and Bonaventure metro stations and to the underground city; the Lucien-L'Allier commuter train station is incorporated into the building. It has the largest seating capacity of any NHL arena.

Capacities of the Centre are:

• Arena 21,273
• Amphitheatre 10,000–14,000
• Theatre 5,000–9,000
• Hemicycle 2,000–3,500

The public address announcer for the Canadiens' games is Michel Lacroix.

Events

The final two games of the three-game 1996 World Cup of Hockey championship series were held at the Bell Centre (the USA won both games, defeating Canada in the series 2–1). The Bell Centre was also host to two pool games in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. The Bell Centre will host the 2009 NHL All-Star Game and the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

The Bell Centre has also held several WWE events, including the 1997 Survivor Series where the infamous Montreal Screwjob took place, as well as other Pay-Per-Views including 2003 No Way Out.

The Bell Centre was the home to the first UFC event (UFC 83) to take place in Canada on April 19, 2008. The show was headlined by a rematch between Welterweight champion Matt Serra and Montreal native Georges St. Pierre. The tickets available to the public sold out in under one minute, and the event set the all time UFC attendance record.

Records

Concerts by Celine Dion for August 15 and 16, 2008 were sold out within 6 minutes. The next day, Dion's management added two more concert dates on August 18 and 20, 2008. A further six dates were added bringing the total to ten shows and 224,000 spectators. She set a record in the history of Canadian concerts when all ten shows sold out within an hour.

Retired jerseys

The following numbers are retired by the Canadiens (positions in parentheses) and hang from the rafters:

• 1 Jacques Plante (G) October 7, 1995
• 2 Doug Harvey (D) October 26, 1995
• 4 Jean Béliveau (C) October 9, 1971
• 5 Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion (RW) March 11, 2006
• 7 Howie Morenz (C) November 2, 1937
• 9 The Honourable Maurice "The Rocket" Richard, PC, OC, OQ, (RW) October 6, 1960
• 10 Guy Lafleur (RW) February 16, 1985
• 12 Dickie Moore (LW) and Yvan Cournoyer (RW) November 12, 2005
• 16 Henri Richard (C) December 10, 1975
• 18 Serge Savard (D) November 18, 2006
• 19 Larry Robinson (D) November 19, 2007
• 23 Bob Gainey (C) February 23, 2008
• 29 The Honourable Ken Dryden, PC, MP, BA, LL.B (G) January 29, 2007

On October 18, 2005, the Canadiens also raised the following numbers on a single banner in honour of the former MLB team Montreal Expos, who left the city for Washington, D.C. after the 2004 season. The Nationals unretired the numbers, so the Canadiens raised a special banner honouring these baseball players:

• 8 Gary Carter
• 10 Andre Dawson and Rusty Staub
• 30 Tim Raines

Jackie Robinson, whose number was retired twice (#20 because of his minor-league playing days in the city, and #42 as required by MLB), was not given a banner.

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