Place Bell is a multi-purpose arena in

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

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. The complex includes a 10,000 seat main arena which is the home of the

Laval Rocket The Laval Rocket (french: Rocket de Laval) are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) as an affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Montreal Canadiens. Based in Laval, Quebec, Canada, the Rocket play th ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

and two smaller community ice rinks, one of which has Olympic size ice.

History

Then-mayor of Laval,

Gilles Vaillancourt Gilles Vaillancourt (born January 9, 1941) is a former Canadians, Canadian politician. He served as the mayor of Laval, Quebec, Laval, Quebec, from June 8, 1989 until November 9, 2012, when he was charged, and ultimately found guilty, with corru ...

, announced the project on February 13, 2012. The facility is managed by

Evenko Evenko is a Montreal-based Promoter (entertainment), event promoter. The company is owned by the Montreal Canadiens' ownership group Groupe CH, which is controlled by the Molson family. It handles event booking for venues such as Bell Centre, the ...

, the same company that operates the

Bell Centre Bell Centre (), formerly known as Molson Centre (), is a multi-purpose arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened on March 16, 1996, it is the home arena of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Montr ...

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 ...

, home 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 ...

of 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 ...

. As in the case of the Bell Centre, the naming rights for the Laval arena were acquired by

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...

. The cost of the project roughly doubled since it was first announced. Originally announced by Vaillancourt in 2012 to cost $92.6 million, the estimate was revised less than a year later to $150 million. In March 2014, Laval's new mayor

Marc Demers Marc Demers is a Canadian politician, who served as mayor of Laval from 2013 to 2021. He was elected in the city's 2013 municipal election.Government of Quebec A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

committed to contributing $46 million; Demers asked that the province assume more of the costs, as it did for other arena projects. Placebellcrunch

Initial plans called for the arena to be built in the city's Quartier de l'Agora district, next to the Laval courthouse, but the unstable soil in that location led to a move. In October 2012, the city announced that the project would be located adjacent to the Montmorency station of the

Montreal Metro The Montreal Metro (french: Métro de Montréal) is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), was inaugurated on October 14, ...

Orange Line. Chantier de construction de la Place Bell à Laval

Construction started in late 2014 and was completed in 2017. On 11 July 2016, the

announced it would relocate its

affiliate, then known as the

St. John's IceCaps The St. John's IceCaps were a professional ice hockey team based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. They were members of the North Division of the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team was originally aff ...

, to Place Bell in 2017. On 8 September 2016, the Canadiens announced the team would be named the

. On 20 September 2018, it was announced that the Les Canadiennes de Montreal of the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey féminin ‒ LCHF) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the league ...

would be moving to the arena complex from Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard playing both in the main rink and the community rink. The Les Canadiennes also moved their daily operations and training camp into the complex. They played one season at Place Bell before the league and team ceased operations in 2019.

References

External links

Press release
regarding naming rights agreement
Official Website
{{CWHL Arenas Buildings and structures in Laval, Quebec Indoor arenas in Quebec Sport in Laval, Quebec Sports venues completed in 2017 Bell Canada Laval Rocket Les Canadiennes de Montreal