HABS HISTORY | The Storied History Of The Iconic Montreal Forum, First True Home Of The Montreal Canadiens

At the beginning of a new hockey season, it is important to recognize and give respect to the roots of this amazing game. In this piece, we remember one of the most iconic buildings in the long history of the NHL.

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA – There is perhaps no more storied or legendary building in the history of the sport of hockey that invokes as many impassioned memories and iconic moments than the historic Montreal Forum. After opening it’s doors in 1924, just 15 years after the founding of the Canadiens organization, the Forum served as the home of the Habs for over 72 years before shutting its doors in 1996.

The Habs had already been playing for 15 years before the opening of the Forum in 1924. Before it opened its doors, the Habs played at three different arenas. From 1909-1910 and then again from 1917-1919, the 3,000 seat Jubilee Arena in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district in Montreal served as the inaugural home of the Habs for their first home game on January 26, 1909 against the Ottawa Senators. The building unfortunately burnt to the ground due to an electrical fire on April 23, 1919.

From 1910 through 1918, the Habs played at the Westmount Arena, which had been located at the corner of Ste. Catherine Street and Wood Avenue until a fire ripped through the building on January 2, 1918 and caused over 150,000 dollars worth of damage. The Westmount Arena featured two things that are still a major component at NHL arenas today: a four foot wall surrounding the playing surface and a band. This building is where the Habs first won the Stanley Cup in March 1916.

After fires destroyed both of the first two buildings where the Habs played, they moved on to playing at the Mount Royal Arena, located between St. Urbain and Clark streets on Mount Royal street. The arena was only set to host the team for 5 years between 1920 and 1926 due to an agreement reached between team ownership and the Mount Royal Arena Company. The arena was home to a 40,000 dollar state-of-the-art ice playing surface, but legal troubles between team management and the arena company meant that the team needed a new home.

Sir Edward Wentworth Beatty, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, is credited with the idea for the building of the Montreal Forum. The plan for the rink was to seat 12,500 people but was scaled back to 9,300 due to financial reasons. By the time the forum shut it’s doors in 1996, it had undergone two renovations, one in 1949 that saw them expand to 13,551 seat and one in 1968 that saw them expand to 18,200 seats with approximately 1,600 standing room capacity included.

By the time the Forum was finished, a total of $1.5 million (around $20.5 million with inflation) had been spent on construction of the famous arena. The Forum was completed in 159 days and was originally supposed to serve as the home of the Montreal Maroons after the NHL expansion.

The Forum officially opened its doors on November 29, 1924. As mentioned, originally the Forum was supposed to serve as the home of the Montreal Maroons, but it was the homeless Habs who were invited to open up the Forum while the Montreal Maroons were still on the road. The Canadiens played their first game at the forum against the Toronto St. Pats, and only 55 seconds into the first period, forward Billy Bouchard scored the first goal on Forum ice. With Georges Vezina in net, the Habs came away from their first game in their future home with a seven to one victory.

Following their opening night victory, the Habs would only play at the Forum when they were facing off against the Montreal Maroons. They would go on to share the arena with the Maroons for over a decade. However, after the Montreal Maroons were disbanded in 1938, the Habs become the sole proprietors of the Forum until 1996.

On March 11, 1937, the Forum served as a funeral home for one of hockey’s greatest players, Howie Morenz, where 50,000 people gathered and walked the streets to say goodbye to The Stratford Streak.

During the 1944-45 season, Maurice ‘The Rocket’ Richard became the first player in NHL history to record a 50 goal season, being done over the course of 50 games that season. On December 28, 1944, The Rocket also became the first player to register an eight point night in a game against the Detroit Red Wings where the Habs won nine to one.

On March 17, 1955, the Forum became the scene of an incredible riot when NHL President Clarence Campbell showed up to a Habs game after having suspended The Rocket for the rest of the regular season and the entirety of the post-season a few days prior. Fans began throwing objects and food at Campbell before someone set off a teargas bomb and caused the game to come to a halt. Enraged fans funnelled into the streets surrounding the Forum, causing $500,000 dollars worth of damage to the area. The Richard Riot went down in history as one of the darkest moments the sport has ever seen.

The Richard Riot was not the only violent event to take place at the Forum. On April 20, 1984 a brutally violent fight broke out during the second period between the Habs and the Quebec Nordiques. Bones were broken, players such as Jean Hamel were knocked unconscious, and penalties were handed out as refs tried desperately to break up the brawl. Both teams were sent off the ice without ending the second period, and when they came back out for the third period, another fight broke out, with Habs players exacting revenge on the Nordiques for what happened to Jean Hamel. By the end of the brawl, 252 penalty minutes had been dealt out with 11 players total being removed from the ice. Jean Hamel was ultimately forced to retired after another eye injury at the start of the next season.

However, the most notable of the events to ever have taken place at the Forum was the fact that most of the team’s 24 Stanley Cups were won on Forum ice.

On March 11, 1996, the Montreal Canadiens played their last game on Forum Ice against the Dallas Stars, beating them four to one. Before the puck dropped on their final game before moving to the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre), former team captains such as Jean Beliveau and The Rocket were invited to the ice to pass a torch up to current captain  Pierre Turgeon to say goodbye to the iconic building. Fans reportedly gave the loudest cheers for Maurice Richard, who was greeted by a 10 minute standing ovation. It was declared a National History Site in 1997.

Five years following the team’s departure for the Bell Centre, the Forum reopened as an entertainment complex complete with a movie theatre, bowling alley, arcade and restaurants. Today, it serves as a diverse entertainment centre that plays host to concerts and events, as well as a monument to the original home of the NHL’s most storied team.

By Cate Racher, Hockey History Researcher.
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