The Paramount Fine Foods Centre, formerly the Hershey Centre, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment complex located in
Mississauga
Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. Its current name was adopted on July 1, 2018, following a new naming rights agreement with Mississauga-based restaurant chain Paramount Fine Foods.
History
![Hershey Centre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Hershey_Centre.jpg)
First opened in 1998 as the Hershey Centre, the complex is located on Rose Cherry Place, which was named after the late wife of
Don Cherry
Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...
, founder and former owner of the Mississauga IceDogs hockey team. The closest major intersection is Kennedy Road and Matheson Boulevard East. In 2007, a new multi-sport facility called SportZone opened just to the north of the main bowl. It houses a full-size indoor soccer field, a full size FIBA basketball court, a gymnastics facility, and two outdoor soccer fields.
The centre is currently the home arena for the
Mississauga Steelheads
The Mississauga Steelheads are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The Steelheads play their games at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga.
History
The OHL originated in Missi ...
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 overag ...
(
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 hock ...
) and
Raptors 905
The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fi ...
of the
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...
(
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
). It previously housed the
Mississauga IceDogs
The Mississauga IceDogs were a junior ice hockey team in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1998 to 2007. A sale relocated the team to St. Catharines, Ontario for the 2007–08 season and they are now cal ...
(ice hockey) from 1998 to 2007, the
Mississauga Power
The Mississauga Power were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Mississauga, Ontario, that competed in the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). Established in as the Oshawa Power, they played in the Central Division. The Osh ...
(basketball) from 2011 to 2015, the
Toronto ThunderHawks
Toronto ThunderHawks were an indoor soccer team based in Mississauga, Ontario that competed in the defunct NPSL. The team began play in the 2000–2001 season, with home games at the Hershey Centre. The team was owned by businessman Neil Ja ...
of the
National Professional Soccer League from 2000 to 2001, and the
Mississauga MetroStars
Mississauga MetroStars (briefly known as MetroStars Canada in 2019) were a professional indoor soccer team which played its home games at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The team joined the Major Arena Soccer Leag ...
of the
Major Arena Soccer League
The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico.
MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...
(
indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...
) from 2018 to 2019. It has also been the venue for numerous musical acts, including
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 ...
,
Green Day
Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...
,
The White Stripes
The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...
,
Hatebreed
Hatebreed is an American hardcore band from Bridgeport, Connecticut, formed in 1994. The band released its debut album '' Satisfaction is the Death of Desire'' in 1997, which gave the band a cult following. The band signed to Universal Records ...
, and Chinese superstar
Joker Xue
Joker Xue (, born 17 July 1983) is a Chinese singer-songwriter and record producer.
Formerly known as Jacky Xue, Xue is known for his hit songs and stage charisma with his signature musical style. Since his 2006 debut, Xue has produced a string ...
.
Major events
Hockey
Along with being the home of Mississauga's OHL teams since its opening, it has hosted several hockey events. In the year 2000 the Hershey Centre hosted the
OHL All-Star Classic as well as the
IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship. The OHL Championship Series for the
J. Ross Robertson Cup
The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, and ...
has been held at the facility in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
,
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
and
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
. In May 2011 the
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors
The Toronto St. Michael's Majors were a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The most recent franchise was revived on August 15, 1996. In 2007, the team relocated to Mississauga, Ontario an ...
hosted the
2011 Memorial Cup
The 2011 Memorial Cup was a four-team round-robin format ice hockey tournament played from May 20–29, 2011 in Mississauga, Ontario. It was the 93rd annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Ca ...
. The
Saint John Sea Dogs
The Saint John Sea Dogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team was founded as an expansion team in 2005 and play at TD Station in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Sea Dogs became the first tea ...
defeated Mississauga in the Final 3–1.
Basketball
The
National Basketball League of Canada
The National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada; french: Ligue nationale de basketball du Canada) is a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketb ...
announced that the Oshawa Power would relocate to Mississauga and play as the
Mississauga Power
The Mississauga Power were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Mississauga, Ontario, that competed in the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL). Established in as the Oshawa Power, they played in the Central Division. The Osh ...
at the Hershey Centre starting in the 2013–14 season.
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 ...
announced that beginning in the
2015–16 season, they would have a team in the
NBA Development League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...
in Mississauga and play as the
Raptors 905
The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fi ...
at the Hershey Centre. The 905 displaced the Power and the NBLC team ceased operations. In
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
and
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
the Raptors 905 hosted both the
NBA G League Showcase as well as the
G League Finals at the arena.
Figure skating
The arena has hosted the
Skate Canada International
The Skate Canada International is an international, senior-level invitation-only figure skating competition organized by Skate Canada. It is the second competition of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating season. The location changes yearly. Medal ...
figure skating competition, part of the
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating (known as ISU Champions Series from 1995 to 1997) is a series of senior international figure skating competitions organized by the International Skating Union. The invitational series was inaugurated in 1995, in ...
series in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
,
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
and in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
. The venue is also host to this competition in October 2022.
It hosted the
Canadian Figure Skating Championships
The Canadian Figure Skating Championships (french: Championnats du Canada de patinage artistique) is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of Canada. It is organized by Skate Canada, the nation's figure skating ...
for the first time in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
and again in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
.
2015 Pan and Parapan American Games
![Hershey Centre during the 2015 Pan American Games](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Hershey_Centre_during_the_2015_Pan_American_Games.jpg)
During 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 alb ...
, it hosted the four combative sports of
judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
,
karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
,
taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
and
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
. During that time the centre was temporarily renamed the Mississauga Sports Centre due to naming rights. The venue also hosted the
parapan sports of
goalball
Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded inside of it into the opponents' goal. The ball is thrown by hand a ...
,
powerlifting
Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...
and it also featured the debut of
wheelchair rugby
Wheelchair rugby (originally murderball, and known as quad rugby in the United States) is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport.
The US name ...
.
Other events
It was the venue for the inaugural 2002
Heritage Cup, an international indoor lacrosse tournament. The North American Roller Hockey Championships finals were held at Hershey Centre in July 2006, 2009 and 2013. The centre hosted the
2009 World Cup of Curling. A funeral for
Peel Regional Police
The Peel Regional Police (PRP) provide policing services for Peel Regional Municipality, Ontario, Peel Region (excluding Caledon) in Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest municipal police service in Ontario after the Toronto Police Service an ...
officer James Ochakovsky took place at the arena on March 9, 2010. It has also hosted the
FIRST Robotics Competition
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that weig ...
, an international high school robotics competition. On September 22, 2000, it was the site of the only
ECW ECW may refer to:
Professional wrestling
* Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001
* The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...
show in Canada before the promotion's demise in 2001.
COVID-19 mass vaccination site
As of May 2021 the venue is being used as a mass
COVID-19 vaccination
A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19).
Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an es ...
site.
Mississauga and Iceland Fields
The grounds of the Paramount Fine Foods Centre are also home to two outdoor field facilities, known as the Mississauga Fields and Iceland Fields.
See also
*
List of indoor arenas in Canada
References
External links
*
{{LFL Venues
Buildings and structures in Mississauga
Indoor arenas in Ontario
Basketball venues in Ontario
Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada
NBA G League venues
Ontario Hockey League arenas
Sports venues in Ontario
Music venues in Greater Toronto Area
Venues of the 2015 Pan American Games
Venues of the 2015 Parapan American Games
Legends Football League venues
Tourist attractions in Mississauga
Raptors 905
Indoor soccer venues
Sports venues completed in 1998
1998 establishments in Ontario