Maurice Richard Arena (french: Aréna Maurice-Richard) is a 4,750-seat multi-purpose
arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
at
Olympic Park
An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics c ...
in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
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. It was built in 1962. It is named in honour of
Maurice Richard
Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard (; ; August 4, 1921 – May 27, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL hist ...
.
The rink was renovated in 1994, the arena includes a multi-media exhibition on the life of 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 ...
great. Entrance to the arena is free and there is a souvenir shop onsite. Formerly home to the
Montreal Rocket
The Montreal Rocket were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for four seasons from 1999 to 2003, based out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The team was named in honour of Montreal Canadiens great Maurice "Rocket" Richar ...
, the ice rink is also used for training by speed and figure skaters. It can host corporate events, with banquet seating for up to 2,000.
The arena also hosted
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
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 ...
events at the
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
. The building is located on the same massive city block that is home to
Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
and
Saputo Stadium
Saputo Stadium (french: link=no, Stade Saputo) is a soccer-specific stadium at Olympic Park, Montreal, Olympic Park in the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The stadium opened on May 21, 2008, and is the cu ...
. It is situated in the south east corner, next to the
Biodome (formerly the cycling
Velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate Track tran ...
) and the Olympic Stadium. The arena still hosts fight cards and concerts, and hosted the 2014
Scotties Tournament of Hearts
The Scotties Tournament of Hearts (''french: Le Tournoi des Cœurs Scotties''; commonly referred to as the Scotties) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Associat ...
.
References
1976 Summer Olympics official report.Volume 2. pp. 86–89.
Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada
Indoor arenas in Quebec
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League arenas
Sports venues in Montreal
Venues of the 1976 Summer Olympics
Olympic boxing venues
Olympic wrestling venues
Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
Boxing venues in Quebec
Sports venues completed in 1962
1962 establishments in Quebec
{{Summer-Olympic-venue-stub