Pacific Coliseum

Pacific Coliseum
The Rink on Renfrew
Location	100 North Renfrew Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V5K 3N7
Coordinates	49°17′9″N 123°2′34″W
Opened	January 8, 1968
Owner	City of Vancouver
Construction cost	C$6 million ($38.2 million in 2012 dollars)
Architect	W. K. Noppe
Capacity	Ice hockey: 16,281 Concerts: 17,500
Tenants
Vancouver Canucks (WHL) (1968–1970) Vancouver Canucks (NHL) (1970–1995) Vancouver Nats (WHL) (1971–1973) Vancouver Blazers (WHA) (1973–1975) Vancouver Whitecaps (NASL Indoor) (1979–1984) Vancouver Voodoo (RHI) (1994–1995) Vancouver Giants (WHL) (2001–Present) XXI Olympic Winter Games (2010)

Pacific Coliseum is an indoor arena, at Hastings Park, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Completed in 1968, at the former site of the Pacific National Exhibition, the arena currently holds 16,281, for ice hockey, though capacity at its opening was 15,713.

The arena is the home of the Vancouver Giants of the WHL. Other hockey tenants of the Pacific Coliseum have been the Vancouver Canucks, of the NHL, from 1970–1995 and the WHL, from 1968-1970, the Vancouver Blazers, of the WHA, from 1973–1975 and the Vancouver Voodoo, of the RHI, from 1994–1995.

During the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, it was the venue for figure skating and short track speed skating.

The arena also hosts a variety of concerts and other events.

History

Designed by W. K. Noppe in 1966–67, with its simple geometric shape and distinctive ring of white panels, the building can be classified as formalist architecture. Used initially as home to the WHL's Vancouver Canucks, the building was used to attract an NHL franchise in 1970 and a World Hockey Association franchise in 1973. The Coliseum underwent renovations and additions in the late 1970s, but its role as host of an NHL team and a main venue for events in Vancouver was lost with the building of General Motors Place (now Rogers Arena) in 1995.

Recent renovations were completed in 2007 to upgrade accessibility, seating, HVAC, and ice surface for its use as a venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Notable events

The arena hosted its first NHL game on October 9, 1970. The Los Angeles Kings defeated the Canucks 3–1 in the Canucks' NHL debut. The Kings' Bob Berry scored the first goal, with Barry Wilkins scoring the first goal for the Canucks. Its final NHL game was played May 27, 1995. Chris Chelios scored the arena's last NHL goal in overtime as the Chicago Blackhawks eliminated the Canucks in the Western Conference Semifinals. Roman Oksiuta scored the last Canucks goal.

The 1982 and 1994 Stanley Cup Finals featured games at the arena. On May 16, 1982, the New York Islanders beat the Canucks 3–1 and were awarded the Stanley Cup on the ice. On June 11, 1994, the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks met at the arena in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Jeff Brown and Geoff Courtnall each scored twice as the Canucks won the game 4–1 to even the series at three games apiece. Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths called it "the greatest game ever played at Pacific Coliseum." However, they lost the series in New York by a 3–2 score in Game 7. The arena was full that night of fans watching the game on television. The arena also hosted the 1977 NHL All-Star Game.

The arena hosted Game 4 of the 1972 Summit Series on September 8, with the U.S.S.R. beating Canada 5–3. In a famous post-game interview, Phil Esposito gave an emotional response to the booing of the crowd that was broadcast on national television.

The arena was one of four arenas to play host to the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

The arena was used for the Madison Square Garden scene in the movie Miracle as well as Slam Dunk Ernest. The dog show scenes from Best in Show were filmed here. The Coliseum has also played host to WWE's weekly live television broadcast of Monday Night Raw, as well as the now defunct WCW "New Blood Rising" pay per view.

David Bowie's performances, during his Serious Moonlight Tour, on September 11-12, 1983, were filmed and released, on VHS, in 1984 and re-released, as a DVD, in 2006.

Christina Aguilera & Justin Timberlake were scheduled to perform during their co-headlining Justified/Stripped Tour on June 11, 2003, but the show was cancelled.

American band Pearl Jam played at the arena on September 25, 2011, as part of the bands 20th anniversary celebrations.

Memorial Cup

Towels laid out on each seat at the Pacific Coliseum prior to the 2007 Memorial Cup final.

The arena has hosted two Memorial Cup tournaments. The first tournament was held in 1977 when Stan Smyl and the New Westminster Bruins won their first Memorial Cup championship by defeating the Ottawa 67's, 6–5. Smyl would eventually have a successful 13 year NHL career playing with the Vancouver Canucks at the arena. In addition, his #12 was retired by the Canucks on November 3, 1991, at the arena, where it hung in the rafters until being moved to General Motors Place in 1995.

In 2006, the Giants were chosen to host the 2007 Memorial Cup Tournament from May 18–27. During this tournament, the arena surpassed the all-time Memorial Cup attendance record, after only seven round-robin games with 91,808 and would eventually finish with a total attendance of 121,461. In the same tournament, the Vancouver Giants won the Memorial Cup championship, by defeating the Medicine Hat Tigers, 3–1.

2010 Olympics

During the 2010 Games, the arena hosted the figure skating and short-track speedskating events for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Canadian athletes won several medals, including Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's gold medal in figure skating. .

External links

• Pacific Coliseum
• Munsey & Suppes article on Pacific Coliseum