The Mount Royal Arena () was an

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

located in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

at the corner of Mount Royal and St. Urbain Street.Mouton(1987), p. 111 It was home of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL)

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

from 1920 to 1926, before moving to the then two-year-old

Montreal Forum Montreal Forum () is a historic building located facing Cabot Square, Montreal, Cabot Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by ''Sporting News'', it was an indoor arena which served as the home o ...

. It had a capacity of 6,000 seated, 10,000 when including standing room. It was a natural ice rink, without machines to freeze the ice mechanically. It opened, partly unfinished, on January 10, 1920, for a game between the Canadiens and Toronto,Coleman(1966), p. 366 won by Montreal 14–7. A week later, parts of a balcony broke before a game with Ottawa, and police stopped sales at 6,500. The rink had been built quickly to house the Canadiens, who had lost their arena, Jubilee Arena, to fire in 1919. The Canadiens eventually moved from the arena because of its uneven natural ice surface. The team wanted a mechanically frozen ice surface but was never able to get one in the rink, as owner Thomas Duggan concentrated on getting American franchises into the NHL, rather than fulfilling his statements that he would install ice-making equipment in the arena. After the Canadiens left, the arena was converted into an auditorium and then into a commercial building. While an auditorium,

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...

sang there, and Norman Bethune, back from Spain in June of 1937, gave an important speech to rally supporters of the

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

. On February 29, 2000, it was destroyed by

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

. A Maxi supermarket now stands on the arena's former site.

References

Sources

* * Defunct indoor arenas in Canada Defunct ice hockey venues in Canada Defunct National Hockey League venues History of Montreal Sports venues in Montreal Burned buildings and structures in Canada Le Plateau-Mont-Royal Montreal Canadiens {{canada-icehockey-venue-stub