The BDO Centre for the Community, more commonly known as the Portage Centennial Arena, is an indoor recreational facility and community centre in the city of

Portage la Prairie Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. As of 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area of the city was . Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. The Centennial Arena was the city's main

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 ...

facility from 1967 to 2010 and was a venue for the

1999 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 1999 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''1999 WJC'') was held in Winnipeg, and five other communities in Manitoba, Canada from December 26, 1998 to January 5, 1999. In the gold medal match at Winnipeg Arena, Russia defeated Canada 3–2 ...

. The arena has been the community's secondary indoor recreation facility since the opening of Stride Place in 2010 and since been renamed the BDO Centre.

History

1967-2010

The Portage Centennial Arena was constructed in 1967 and was one of several projects across the country partially funded by the federal government as part of Canada's Centennial celebration. The same year, the

Portage Terriers The Portage Terriers are a Canadian junior "A" ice hockey team from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. They are members of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. History The Portage Terriers were fou ...

junior "A" hockey team was revived and became one of the arena's major tenants, along with the city's minor hockey teams. The city explored the idea of building a new sports complex to replace the Centennial Arena in the 1970s, however, this project was rejected by local residents. The city then expanded the Centennial Arena in 1980, adding a second indoor rink on the west side of the building. The east rink, with a maximum capacity of 1,350 and affectionately known by local hockey fans as the "Dog Pound", hosted seven

Turnbull Cup The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirteen teams all base ...

(

Manitoba Junior Hockey League The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirteen teams all based ...

championship) and five ANAVET Cup series in which the Terriers appeared between 1973 and 2009. The city was one of the several Manitoba communities that co-hosted the

with

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

both played matches at the Centennial Arena.

Current Use

The future of the Centennial Arena was uncertain after the city and joined together with the

Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie Portage la Prairie is a rural municipality in the province of Manitoba in Western Canada. It surrounds the city of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba's fifth-largest city. Also within the borders of the municipality are the Dakota Plains First Nation an ...

to build a new state-of-the-art recreational facility, the Portage Credit Union Centre (now Stride Place), which opened in 2010. A group of local residents petitioned Portage la Prairie city council not to decommission the old arena, citing the need for a third indoor rink to accommodate the community's minor hockey and other recreational programs. The city, not willing to provide further funding to the aging arena, agreed to transfer control of the Centennial Arena to the Centennial Community Club Inc. (CCCI), a non-profit organization operated by local volunteers. Since 2010, CCCI has operated the facility entirely through private fundraising efforts. The naming rights to the Portage Centennial Arena were sold to BDO Canada in 2011, after which it was renamed the BDO Centre for the Community. The older and larger east arena has been converted into a storage shed, while the west arena continues to be used for ice sports.

Events hosted

*1973

Finals *1973 ANAVET Cup *1973

Abbott Cup The Abbott Memorial Cup, commonly referred to as the Abbott Cup, was awarded annually from 1919 through 1999 to the Junior "A" ice hockey Champion for Western Canada. The Cup was named after Captain E.L. (Hick) Abbott who was a noted hockey pl ...

*1988 Turnbull Cup Finals *1990 Turnbull Cup Finals *1990 ANAVET Cup *

*1999 Safeway Select *2003 Safeway Select *2005 Turnbull Cup Finals *2005 ANAVET Cup * 2008 Turnbull Cup Finals *2008 ANAVET Cup * 2008 Turnbull Cup Finals *2009 ANAVET Cup

References

External links