Colisée Vidéotron is a multi-purpose arena in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. Opened in September 2021, the arena replaced the aging

Colisée de Trois-Rivières The Colisée de Trois-Rivières is an arena in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. It has a capacity of 3500, with 2700 seated. It opened in 1938. The Colisée was home to the Trois-Rivières Draveurs of the QMJHL from 1969 to 1992. From 2004 to 2018 ...

and seats 4,390 fans. Starting with the 2021-22 season, its main tenant is the

Trois-Rivières Lions The Trois-Rivières Lions are a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The team began play in the 2021–22 ECHL season, with home games at Colisée Vidéotron. They are affiliated with t ...

professional hockey team in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

History

In the late 2010s, the city of Trois-Rivières, began construction on new arena to replace the

, a skating rink that first opened in 1938 and was primarily acting as the home of the

UQTR Patriotes The UQTR Patriotes are the athletic teams that represent the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The university features teams in swimming, golf, hockey, soccer, cross-country, volleyball and cheerleadi ...

hockey teams. The new arena cost $60 million to construct with a planned opening of late 2020, but had no announced permanent tenants scheduled after UQTR declined the initial lease. Amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec The COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec is part of an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Until 2021, Quebec had reported t ...

, the planned opening was moved back to early 2021 while the city was in discussions with adding an

expansion team expected to be affiliated with 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 ...

. In January 2021, the team was approved to begin play for the 2021–22 season. On June 10, 2021, the team name was announced as the

, named after the only previous professional team to play in the city, the

, from 1955 to 1960. On June 15,

Éric Bélanger Éric Bélanger (born December 16, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played the majority of his professional career as a centre in the National Hockey League (NHL), representing the Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurrican ...

was named the team's first head coach. On September 9, 2021, a agreement between Quebecor and the Lions was made to name the arena Colisée Vidéotron for a period of five years. The negotiated amount was not disclosed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Nouveau Colisée Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada Indoor arenas in Quebec Sports venues in Trois-Rivières Quebecor