Halifax Metro Centre

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Halifax Metro Centre
Location	1800 Argyle Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia
Opened	February 1978
Owner	Trade Centre Limited
Former names
Halifax Metro Centre (1978-present)
Tenants
Nova Scotia Voyageurs (AHL) (1978-1984, Nova Scotia Oilers (AHL) (1985-1987) Halifax Citadels (AHL) (1988-1993) Halifax Windjammers (WBL) (1991-1992) Halifax Windjammers (NBL) (1993-1994)
Capacity
Hockey: 10,595 basketball: 11,000 Concerts: 5,000 to 15,000

The Halifax Metro Centre was built in 1978 in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The building is next to the World Trade and Convention Centre, at the foot of Citadel Hill. It is the largest arena in Halifax. In the mid to late 1990s there were numerous renovations to the arena, including the addition of 43 SkyBoxes and 11 "Executive Suites". Before the 2002-03 hockey season, in preparation was for the World Junior Hockey Championship, a new scoreboard and "SilverVision" LED screens were added. The arena concourses feature photographs of the various events that have taken place at the Metro Centre, with one side featuring entertainment events and the other featuring sporting events (including professional wrestling). It currently has a seating capacity of 10,595 for ice hockey.

The arena is built into the ground to compensate for the steep elevation. One can see cars, at street level, outside while watching an event. It is sometimes referred to as the "MC".

In recent years there has been some talk of a possible new, larger arena to be built sometime in the next 20 years. This discussion had largely been put on the back-burner due to the buzz surrounding the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

[edit] Tenants

The attached convention centre.

• Nova Scotia Voyageurs, AHL (1978-84) - Montreal Canadiens farm team
• Nova Scotia Oilers, AHL (1984-88) - Edmonton Oilers farm team
• Halifax Citadels, AHL (1988-93) - Quebec Nordiques farm team
• Halifax Windjammers, WBL (1991-92), NBL (1993-94)
• Saint Mary's University hockey team, AUAA (mid 1990s)
• Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL (1994- )

[edit] Events

• 1981, 1995, 2003 Briers
• 1990 World Figure Skating Championships

The Metro Centre prior to a Mooseheads game against Lewiston on December 27, 2005

• 1992 Scott Tournament of Hearts
• 1995 G7 Summit (media centre)
• 2000 Memorial Cup
• 2003 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
• 2004 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships
• 2004 FIBA Under 21 Tournament of the Americas
• 2005 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials ("Roar of the Rings")
• 2006 Juno Awards
• 2007 American Basketball Association All-Star Game
• 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
• 2008 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships
• annual Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo
• Billy Graham crusade
• numerous AUAA / AUS men's basketball tournaments
• numerous AUAA men's hockey All-Star Games (mid 1990s)
• numerous boxing cards

Large portions of the seating can be removed in order to accommodate trade shows and conventions.

• numerous Canadian Figure Skating Championships
• numerous CIAU / CIS men's basketball nationals
• numerous Harlem Globetrotter games
• numerous NBA & NHL preseason games, including the first Toronto Raptors game in their history
• numerous NHL old-timers games
• numerous Skate Canada events
• numerous Team Canada basketball and hockey games
• numerous World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) events (the Metro Centre was the first venue to host Smackdown and RAW in the same week).
• numerous East Coast Music Awards
• some of NCAA (basketball) & NHL regular season games
• some scenes from the Trailer Park Boys episode, Closer to the Heart, were shot here

[edit] Notable Performances

[edit] External links

• Official web site
• Halifax Mooseheads Official Site
• Arena review