Max Bell Centre (commonly Max Bell Arena) is an

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 ...

arena in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada, in the community of Radisson Heights. It seats 2,121 for hockey, with a standing room capacity of over 3,000. It is named after

Max Bell George Maxwell Bell (October 13, 1912 – July 19, 1972) was a Canadian newspaper publisher, race horse owner and philanthropist. He was best known as the co-founder of FP Publications, Canada's largest newspaper syndicate in the 1960s. He built h ...

, a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

who was a prominent businessman in Calgary. It hosted

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

and

short-track speed skating Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as a ...

events at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

, both demonstration events. Presently, the arena is home to the

Calgary Canucks The Calgary Canucks are a junior A ice hockey team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). They play in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with home games at the Ken Bracko Arena. They have won the AJHL championship nine times and one national champ ...

of the

Alberta Junior Hockey League The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. There are currently 16 teams in the league. The reg ...

and the primary facility for the Northeast Calgary Athletic Association's minor hockey teams. The arena also hosts

Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) is a box lacrosse league based in Alberta with three teams in Saskatchewan and, as of 2018, one in Manitoba. It is sanctioned by the Alberta Lacrosse Association. RMLL organizes all senior and junior play ...

games. Late December, it serves as the primary venue for the

Mac's AAA midget hockey tournament The Calgary Buffaloes celebrate after winning the 2008 championship. The Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament (branded as the Circle K Classic for sponsorship reasons) is an international ice hockey tournament held annually for U18 ( formerly ...

. It is home to the Mac's Tourney's "Wall of Fame" featuring every tournament alumni who has gone on to play in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. In 2007, the arena completed construction to add a second sheet of ice as the city of Calgary attempts to keep up with demand for ice-time in a rapidly growing city. Max Bell Arena 1 in to which the Canucks play was renamed to the Ken Bracko Arena in 2017 as a tribute to Ken Bracko the founder of the Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament (formerly the Mac's Midget Tournament) as well as the 18U Alberta Elite Hockey league (AEHL), Bracko also served as president of the Canucks for 32 years until his death in 2015. In 2022, the city of Calgary completed $14 million in renovations on the arena.

References

External links

City of Calgary. Max Bell Centre
Venues of the 1988 Winter Olympics Olympic curling venues Olympic short track speed skating venues Sports venues in Calgary Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada Indoor arenas in Alberta Curling venues in Canada Calgary Rad'z {{Winter-Olympic-venue-stub