Queen's Park Arena is a 3,500 seat multi-use arena located within
Queen's Park in
New Westminster
New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...
, British Columbia.
The arena was built in 1930 and opened on September 19. In its time, the Queen's Park Arena hosted the
New Westminster Bruins
The New Westminster Bruins were a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. There were two franchises that carried this name:
* 1971–1981 (formerly the Estevan Bruins, now the Kamloops Blazers)
* 1983–1988 (formerly the Nan ...
of the
Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...
and
British Columbia Junior Hockey League
The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 18 teams.
From 1993 to 2021, the league was a member of the Can ...
teams the
New Westminster Royals and the
Royal City Outlaws. It hosted the New Westminster Lacrosse teams for more than 75 years, including the multi-
Mann Cup
The Mann Cup is the trophy awarded to the senior men's box lacrosse champions of Canada. The championship is a best-of-seven, East vs West series played between the league champions of Major Series Lacrosse, the East, and Western Lacrosse Associa ...
champion
New Westminster Salmonbellies
The New Westminster Salmonbellies are a Men's Senior 'A' lacrosse team located in New Westminster, BC. Their home arena is Queen's Park Arena. They compete as part of the Western Lacrosse Association and have won the Mann Cup 24 times, most re ...
of the
Western Lacrosse Association
The Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) is a men's Senior A box lacrosse sanctioned by the Canadian Lacrosse Association. It consists of seven teams, based in cities throughout southwestern British Columbia. Each year, the playoff teams battle for ...
, and has a wooden floor for lacrosse known for its green colour.
The arena was also home to the professional
New Westminster Royals, which played in the
Pacific Coast Hockey League
The Pacific Coast Hockey League was an ice hockey minor league with teams in the western United States and western Canada that existed in several incarnations: from 1928 to 1931, from 1936 to 1941, and from 1944 to 1952.
PCHL 1928–1931
The first ...
from 1945 to 1952 and the
Western Hockey League
The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...
from 1952 to 1959. In 1949, team director
Doug Grimston
Douglas George Grimston (May 18, 1900September 14, 1955) was a Canadian ice hockey administrator who served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) from 1950 to 1952. He oversaw the establishment of the Major Series for ...
insisted on the continuation of a smoking ban at the arena, and stated that he would take financial responsibility for lost attendance.
The arena was used in the 2004 film ''
Miracle
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...
'', as the location of tryouts for the
United States men's national ice hockey team
The United States men's national ice hockey team is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado, with its USA Hockey National Team Development Program, U18 and U17 development program in Plymouth, Michigan, Plymouth, Michiga ...
in advance of the
1980 Winter Olympics
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States.
Lake Placid was elected ...
.
References
Buildings and structures in New Westminster
Indoor arenas in British Columbia
Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada
Indoor lacrosse venues in Canada
Sports venues in British Columbia
Western Hockey League arenas
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