FirstOntario Centre (originally Copps Coliseum) is a sports and entertainment arena at the corner of Bay Street North and

York Boulevard York Boulevard is a Lower City arterial road in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Formerly known as Highway 2 and Highway 6, it starts in Burlington, Ontario at Plains Road West as a two-way arterial road that wraps around and over Hamilton Harbour, ...

in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1985, it has a capacity of up to 19,000.

History

Hamilton was left without a large

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

venue after the

Barton Street Arena Barton Street Arena, also known as the Hamilton Forum, was the main sports arena located in Hamilton, Ontario, on Barton Street between Sanford Street and Wentworth Street. It was built in 1910 at what was at that time the east end of the cit ...

was demolished in 1977, and even that arena had a small

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

by modern standards. Construction on the new site was started in 1983 and completed two years later at a cost of $33.5 million, with an additional $2.3 million spent on a parking garage. The project was overseen by Hamiltonian Joseph Pigott. The arena was originally named Copps Coliseum after long-time mayor

Victor Copps The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, the patriarch of a Hamilton political family that includes his daughter, former Member of Parliament of Canada and Member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario

Sheila Copps Sheila Maureen Copps (born November 27, 1952) is a former Canadian politician who also served as the sixth deputy prime minister of Canada from November 4, 1993, to April 30, 1996, and June 19, 1996, to June 11, 1997. Her father, Victor Copps, ...

, and wife, Geraldine, who was a long-time councillor. The arena's first scoreboard was purchased from the

Winnipeg Arena Winnipeg Arena was an indoor arena located in the Polo Park district of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The arena was the city's premier ice hockey venue from 1955 to 2004 and is best remembered as the home of the first Winnipeg Jets franchise, whi ...

for $214,000. That original Day Signs/Naden scoreboard, built in Toronto, was replaced in the early-1990s by a centre-hung scoreboard with an electronic message centre on each side, which, in return was replaced by the current scoreboard, which was built in Hamilton by Media Resources, featuring a LED video board on each side. The arena has hosted many teams and events over the years. The Hamilton Steelhawks of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

(OHL) began play at the arena in 1985. The 1986 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were held in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

, with Copps Coliseum used as the primary venue. In a decisive game, the undefeated Soviet Union handed

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

its first loss, 4–1. Copps was the primary host for the 1987 Canada Cup, and the site of the famous Gretzky to Lemieux goal that beat the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...

6–5 in the final. The

Dukes of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sc ...

replaced the Steelhawks as the city's OHL team and played in Copps Coliseum from 1989 to 1991. The arena hosted the 1990 Memorial Cup and set the single game attendance record, on May 13, 1990, with 17,383 spectators watching the Oshawa Generals defeat the

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

, in the final, 4–3 in double overtime on a Bill Armstrong goal. The venue hosted a number of games in the

1991 Canada Cup The 1991 Labatt Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament played in August and September 1991. The finals took place in Montreal on September 14 and Hamilton on September 16, and were won by Canada. The Canadians defeated ...

, including the finals, when

defeated the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The first WWF

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and WWE Network events, event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named afte ...

, which was shown on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

, was held in the arena on January 24, 1988. Copps hosted the WWF pay-per-view Breakdown: In Your House on September 27, 1998, and the

Billy Graham crusade William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. ...

that year, attended by 19,000 spectators each night. The Grateful Dead played the Coliseum on five occasions, with two dates in 1990 and three dates in 1992. In November 2022, it was announced that beginning in the late summer of 2023, the arena would close for 20 months due to renovations. This will force the

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Rock to relocate for all of the 2023–24 season and most of the 2024–25 season. As a result of the closure, the Honey Badgers decided to permenantly relocate to

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it ...

, Ontario.

Basketball

The

Hamilton Skyhawks The Hamilton Skyhawks are a Canadian Exhibition Basketball Team out of Hamilton, Ontario formed in 2020. They were a professional basketball franchise based in Hamilton, Ontario that played in the World Basketball League and the National Basketbal ...

debuted with a 101–99 win over the Halifax Windjammers in

World Basketball League World Basketball League (WBL) was a minor professional basketball league in the United States and Canada that ran from 1988 to 1992. It was founded as the International Basketball Association in November 1987, before changing its name prior to the ...

play, in 1992. The league folded during the season, and several Canadian teams, including the Skyhawks formed the National Basketball League for 1993, but the 'Hawks moved to Edmonton for the playoffs, then folded. The Coliseum was host to the 1994 FIBA World Championship, along with

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

and SkyDome. The next year, the Centre hosted the

FIBA Americas Championship for Women The FIBA Women's AmeriCup (formerly FIBA Americas Championship for Women) is the Americas Women's Basketball Championship that take place every two years between national teams of the continents. The Women's AmeriCup is also a qualifying tournam ...

, which was won by Canada. During their first two seasons of play (1995–96 and 1996–97), prior to the completion of construction on their new home the

Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena ( French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Ra ...

, the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

played three regular season games at Copps Coliseum, as well as a preseason game in 1997. In 1998 a strange twist of scheduling conflicts led the Toronto Raptors to play their final regular season game in Hamilton, as the Toronto Blue Jays had first right of refusal for all SkyDome dates. The Raptors had attempted to play the April 19 match at Maple Leaf Gardens, but were unsuccessful.

AHL and OHL

The

American Hockey League 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 le ...

expanded to Copps in 1992 in the form of Vancouver's affiliate, the

Hamilton Canucks The Hamilton Canucks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They played in Hamilton, Ontario, at Copps Coliseum. They were the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). The tea ...

. After two seasons, the team was moved to Syracuse, where they became one of the league's most stable franchises. In October 1996, Copps Coliseum became home to the

Hamilton Bulldogs The Hamilton Bulldogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that began to play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the Bulldogs play their home games at FirstOntario Centre. They were purcha ...

of the

. The Bulldogs, who were the top affiliate of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

(1996–2003) and the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

(2002–2015), brought over 2 million fans to the arena. On June 7, 2007, the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs won their first Calder Cup Championship in franchise history at home in Copps Coliseum, defeating the Hershey Bears. In 2015, Montreal moved its AHL affiliate to St. John's, and the

Belleville Bulls The Belleville Bulls were a junior ice hockey team, founded in 1981 and based in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The team moved to Hamilton, Ontario ...

moved to Hamilton to carry the Bulldogs banner, and Hamilton's traditional black and yellow colours, in the junior league. The Bulldogs are the primary tenant in the facility.

NHL ambitions

Copps Coliseum was built to

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

capacity and specifications in the hope that it would allow Hamilton to acquire an NHL expansion franchise. However, the city is less than 50 miles from the home arenas of two NHL franchises, the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

and

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

, both of which have opposed an NHL franchise in Hamilton. Hamilton's close proximity to Toronto and Buffalo has proven to be an obstacle to attracting a franchise; it did host eight regular-season neutral-site games during the

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

and 1993–94 seasons, mostly featuring the Maple Leafs or Sabres. In 2007, Waterloo billionaire

Jim Balsillie James Laurence Balsillie (born February 3, 1961) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the former Chair and co- CEO of the Canadian technology company Research In Motion (Blackberry), which at its prime made over $20B in sales annu ...

, co-CEO of

Research in Motion BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it was originally known as Research In Motion (RIM). As RIM, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablet ...

, made an offer to purchase the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

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 the Coliseum to bring it up to modern NHL standards. The bid was ultimately unsuccessful. In the spring of 2009, the Phoenix Coyotes filed for bankruptcy and

immediately offered a rumoured $212.5 million US, while stating he wanted to move the franchise to southwestern Ontario. Balsillie applied for a lease option which, should the relocation have succeeded, would have invoked a 20-year lease for the team to play at Copps Coliseum. On May 9, 2009, the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation,''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. History ''The Hami ...

and others reported that Hamilton mayor

Fred Eisenberger Fred Eisenberger (born September 3, 1952) is a Canadian politician and former real estate agent who was the 57th mayor of Hamilton from 2014 to 2022. Eisenberger previously served as chair of the Hamilton Port Authority prior to his first ele ...

was to meet with a second group interested in securing a lease. The group, led by

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

businessmen

Tom Gaglardi R. Thomas Gaglardi (born December 7, 1967)S ...

and Nelson Skalbania, was interested in securing an interest in the Atlanta Thrashers and moving them to the Centre for the 2010–11 NHL season. The team ultimately moved to Winnipeg in 2011, becoming the second incarnation of the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

instead. On May 13, 2009,

The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...

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 Centre into a state-of-the-art facility in anticipation of a NHL franchise coming to Hamilton. It's unknown whether these renovations will come to fruition since Balsillie ultimately lost his bid to buy the Coyotes. In 2008, it was announced that the Golden Horseshoe would be bidding for the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

. On February 18, 2009, Copps Coliseum was identified as the proposed site for the volleyball competition for the Games, though it ultimately did not host any events. On January 3, 2014, Nitro Circus performed at the stadium for the first ever and only stop in Canada. Due to the high-risk nature of their stunt-based shows, most North American venues will not host the events. On January 27, 2014, Hamilton City council voted unanimously to approve a $3.5-million deal to rename Copps Coliseum after local credit union First Ontario. The city unveiled the new look signage, FirstOntario Centre, later that spring. A smaller sign reading "In honour of Victor K. Copps" appears to its right on the Bay side of the arena, and below it on the York side.

Curling

In 2007, from March 3 to 11, Copps Coliseum hosted the

Tim Hortons Brier The Tim Hortons Brier, or simply (and more commonly) the Brier (''french: Le Brier''), is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The current event name refers to its main sponsor, the Tim Hortons coffee and ...

, the annual Canadian men's

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

championship. The Coliseum hosted the West 49 Canadian Open, from September 20 to October 1.

Images

Image:Hamilton-copps.jpg, FirstOntario Centre, Bay St., looking north Image:Copps Coliseum Hamilton.JPG, FirstOntario Centre Image:FirstOntario Centre.jpg, FirstOntario Centre looking east on York Boulevard Image:Hamilton Bulldogs Goal Celebration.JPG, Hamilton Bulldogs Goal Celebration

References

External links

*
OHL Arena Guide on FirstOntario Centre
{{Authority control 1985 establishments in Ontario Sports venues completed in 1985 Event venues established in 1985 Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) Indoor arenas in Ontario Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada Indoor lacrosse venues in Canada Music venues in Ontario Sports venues in Hamilton, Ontario Toronto Raptors venues Judo venues Basketball venues in Ontario