Монреаль аренасы: Хоккей тарихы және өрт трагедиясы

Building in Montreal

The Montreal Arena, also known as Westmount Arena, was an indoor arena located in Westmount, Quebec, Canada on the corner of St. Catherine Street and Wood Avenue. It was likely one of the first arenas designed expressly for hockey, opening in 1898. It was the primary site of amateur and professional ice hockey in Montreal until 1918.

Opened on December 31, 1898, it held 10,000 people, 4300 seated. It held a refreshment buffet and smoking rooms, with rugs available for rental to sit on. It is likely the third arena designed expressly for ice hockey, after the St. Nicholas Rink in New York City, and the Dey's Skating Rink in Ottawa, which both opened in 1896. The ice rink ends were not squared off but rounded off. The ends were somewhat semi circular, possibly the first design of its kind. A puck could be shot along the outside rim, slide along the corners, pass behind the goal and come out the other side. That type of shot is common in hockey today and is called "rimmed around." The rounded corners design spread to other arenas. In 1902, after Ottawa's Dey Rink was demolished due to a storm, it was rebuilt with rounded ends to match the Montreal Arena. The fence along the ice surface was increased in height to 4 feet (1 m), an increase from the Victoria Skating Rink's one foot high boards. The first artificial ice making plant in Montreal was installed in the Arena in 1915. The owners of the Montreal Arena, the Canadian Arena Company, later built the Arena Gardens in Toronto, and operated the Toronto NHL franchise in 1917–18. Principals of the Arena Company, such as William Northey, would later be involved in the building of the Montreal Forum and the founding of the Montreal Maroons. The Montreal Canadiens won their first (pre NHL) Stanley Cup in this building on March 30, 1916 against the Portland Rosebuds.

A fire started in the ice making plant causing the arena to burn down on January 2, 1918. It began mid day, when the only people in the building were the superintendent James McKeene and his family, who were eating in their apartment on the north side of the structure; all escaped safely but they lost most of their belongings, as well as a car stored in the annex. The newly formed NHL played its first game in the Arena on December 19, 1917, with the Wanderers earning a 10 9 win over the newly established Toronto Arenas. A French language newspaper ad re discovered in 2017 established that the Montreal game started at 8:15 pm, ahead of another game that same night in Ottawa scheduled to begin at 8:30 pm. Wanderers defenceman Dave Ritchie scored the league's first goal early in the game. The building was also used for exhibition space. Horse shows, car shows, motor boat displays, concerts, and bazaars were held. New York's Metropolitan Opera performed at the arena, as well as singers such as Melba, Caruso, Calve and Albani.