Centre 200 is Cape Breton's primary sports and entertainment facility, located in

Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and disso ...

. It is home to the QMJHL's Cape Breton Eagles. Besides

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

, the arena hosts many other events, such as rock concerts,

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympics, 1908 Olympics ...

, and antique/custom car shows. The facility features an obstruction-free sports arena that seats 5,000 people, expandable seating to 6,500 for concert hall purposes, and exhibit space of . with the possibility of another . upon removal of telescopic seating.

History

Notable events

Centre 200 was conceived as a bicentennial project of the municipality, and was constructed on the former site of the old ''Sydney Forum'' in the downtown area. The venue opened in early 1987, and hosted a concert by musician

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

as its first major event. It was the primary sporting venue for the 1987 Canada Winter Games and hosted the opening ceremonies which were attended by then-

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political ...

. From 1988 to 1996, the arena was home to professional ice hockey, 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 ...

Cape Breton Oilers The Cape Breton Oilers were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The team was the top minor league affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers' organization relocated the team from Hali ...

, until the parent

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 ...

elected to relocate the team to

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

. In 1993, the Oilers won the AHL's

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its cur ...

championship in front of a sellout crowd at Centre 200. In 1993 and 1994, the arena was home to the

Cape Breton Breakers The Cape Breton Breakers were a franchise in the National Basketball League that began play in 1993, the league's first season. The team played their home games at Centre 200, in Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New Sou ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL). The NBL folded on July 9, 1994. The arena hosted the MJAHL's Cape Breton Islanders for the 1996–97 season. Centre200 carshow

Prior to the

1997–98 QMJHL season The 1997–98 QMJHL season was the 29th season in the history of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Quebec Remparts name was revived after twelve years when the Beauport Harfangs changed identities. The QMJHL continued to grow in easter ...

, the Granby Prédateurs, winners of the 1996 Memorial Cup, relocated from Granby, Quebec to

and were renamed the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (and later Cape Breton Eagles). The team, which won a division title in 2003–04, remains Centre 200's primary tenant. Future

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

stars such as

Sidney Crosby Sidney Patrick Crosby (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubbed "The Next One", he was selected first o ...

, Marc-André Fleury, and Vincent Lecavalier have skated at Centre 200 as QMJHL players. In March 2000, Centre 200 hosted the 2000

Esso Esso () is a trade name, trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Exxon, Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Ess ...

Canadian National Championship for women's ice hockey, during which Ontario defeated Quebec to win the gold medal. Centre 200 co-hosted the 2003 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, along with the

Halifax Metro Centre Scotiabank Centre (formerly known as Halifax Metro Centre) is the largest multi-purpose facility in Atlantic Canada, located in the heart of downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The main entrances to the building are located on Brunswick Str ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. The arena is very popular for community ice hockey, annually hosting both the ''Sydney Academy Blue and White Pepsi Challenge Cup'' and the ''Royal Canadian Legion Bantam AAA Challenge Cup''. The tournaments and games provide hospitality for teams from all over Nova Scotia and generally draw large crowds. Centre 200 hosted the ''2008 QMJHL Entry Draft'', which was projected to inject over $2 million into the local economy. The arena also hosted game one of the 2008

ADT Canada-Russia Challenge The CHL Canada–Russia Series is an annual junior ice hockey exhibition tournament, held between a select team of Russian players and all-star teams representing the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Western ...

in November 2008. Aside from ice hockey, Centre 200 has also hosted performances by popular acts such as Rush,

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instru ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

The Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassi ...

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...

, Rita MacNeil,

The Rankin Family The Rankin Family (originally known as The Rankins) are a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three Canadian ...

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...

events, among many others. In March 2009, it was announced that major renovations would occur to the arena, thanks to financial contributions from the Provincial and federal governments, the municipality and $500,000 from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Renovations include a new video scoreboard, 13 luxury boxes and new club seating. It is anticipated that the renovations will increase the building's capacity to over 5,000. In December 2013–January 2014, Centre 200 was one of the host arenas for the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. Team USA went on to win the tournament 4–0 against Team Pacific. In 2018, the venue hosted concerts by Bryan Adams and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

."The best Nova Scotia concerts of 2018"
''Chronicle Herald'', Stephen Cooke, Dec 20, 2018 In February 2019, Centre 200 was host for the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian national women'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 sliding ...

competition.

Naming

Centre 200 is named in honour of the two-hundredth anniversary of the founding of Sydney, which took place in 1785. In the original vision, the venue was to have a larger

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 th ...

and be named "Centre 2000" but funding issues led to a smaller venue than originally proposed.

Location

Centre 200 is located on George Street, which lies in the heart of Sydney. The arena is connected to a Casino Nova Scotia which was added in 1995, and hosts a

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's, or Timmie's is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, doughnuts, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service rest ...

restaurant within its parking lot, generally bringing good business to both venues when Centre 200 hosts an event. However, frequent traffic congestion and shortage of convenient parking spaces has drawn criticism from attendees.

References

External links

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Cape Breton Screaming Eagles
{{Authority control 1987 establishments in Nova Scotia Buildings and structures in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Indoor arenas in Nova Scotia Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada Music venues in Nova Scotia Quebec Major Junior Hockey League arenas Sports venues in Nova Scotia Tourist attractions in Cape Breton County Cape Breton Highlanders (basketball)