Forum For Habs?

The Habs, locked into a contract to use the Mount Royal Arena, watched enviously as the huge edifice took shape. The original Forum, designed by architect John S. Archibald, cost $1.5 million, contained an artificial ice-making plant, and held seats for 9,300 fans.

The Habs' home opener was scheduled for November 29, 1924, against Toronto, but mild weather in Montreal turned the Mount Royal Arena into a swimming pool. Leo Dandurand acted swiftly and made arrangements to move the opening game to the new Forum, which guaranteed solid ice for the event. Despite heated protests from officials of the Mount Royal Arena, Dandurand moved players and equipment over to the Forum. As a result, it was the Habs and not the Maroons who played the inaugural game in the new ice palace. Over 8,000 fans witnessed the match, won by the Canadiens 7-1 over the Toronto St. Pats. The Forum was the first major-league arena designed expressly for hockey, and it would serve Montreal fans well for the next 72 seasons.

The Canadiens moved into the Forum permanently in 1926. Today's hockey fans have never seen anything like the rivalry that existed between the Canadiens and the Maroons. Heated? It was explosie. When the English-backed Maroons met the French-supported Canadiens, the on-ice battles were oftenover shadowed by skirmishes in the stands. Emotions became so feverish that a missed goal or an "undeserved" penalty would trigger a rash of pushes and punches, with police and ushers rushing in to keep English and French fans apart. The damage was usually minimal: a torn jacke, a hat yanked off and thrown away, the occasional black eye, and enough '20s-style "trash talk" (in two languages) to shock fans ten rows away.

It was the genius of Dandurand that created the rivalry - and the friction. He sanctioned a second NHL franchise for the city. It cost the Maroons' Jimmy Strachan a mere $15,000 for the privilege of sharing the Canadiens' territorial rights to Montreal. Dandurand once said, "I assumed that an English team competing against the mostly French Canadiens would turn into the biggest rivalry in the NHL - and it did."

The Maroons were the first of the two Forum tenants to taste Stanley Cup success. They captured the trophy in 1926 by defeating the Victoria Cougars to the finals on the Forum's artificial ice. It marked the last time a team representing another league was a Cup challenger. In 34 years, no less than 14 leagues had been represented in Cup playoffs.

The following year the Canadiens and the Maroons met in a memorable two-game playoff series, which the Canadiens won two goals to one after 12 minutes of overtime. Howie Morenz scored the winner, and each game attracted an estimated crowd of 11,000. The Habs were then eliminated by Ottawa, and the Senators went on to capture the Stanley Cup.

In 1928 the Canadiens finished first in the Canadian Division standings but were upset by the Maroons in the two-game playoff, three goals to two. Somehow, an estimated 13,000 fans packed the Forum for each encounter.

That was the season that the Maroons were edged three games to two in the finals against the Rangers. In game two, Rangers goalie Lorne Chabot was struck over the eye by a Nels Stewart shot. He was replaced by 44-year-old Lester Patrick, the New York coach. The Rangers won the game in overtime and went on to win the series and the Cup. By then the Maroons and the Canadiens were having financial problems, the Forum was mortgaged to its rafters, and there was talk of turning it into a streetcar barn.

When the Maroons withdrew from the NHL in 1938 (Leaf owner Conn Smythe vetoed a plan to move the team to St. Louis), the Canadiens had the Forum all to themselves. Over time they created hundreds of memorable moments within its walls. Twelve of Montreal's 24 Stanley Cup triumphs were celebrated on its ice surface, plus two more by the Maroons. The Maroons and the Red Wings started a playoff game at the Forum on March 24, 1936, and finished it in the early morning hours of March 25, in the sixth overtime period - the longest league or playoff game ever played.

On a March day the following year, the building became a cathedral when a multitude of fans, fighting back the tears, filled solemnly past the bier of superstar Howie Morenz, whose sudden passing shocked millions. The building withstood a barrage of rocks and bottles hurled at it by rioting fans on the night of March 17, 1955, following the suspension of Rocket Richard and the termination of a game with Detroit.

There were league and team records established by Hab legends like Rocket Richard, Jacques Plante, Jean Beliveau, Steve Shutt, Guy Lafleur, and others. On New Year's eve, 1975, a superb exhibition game between the Canadiens and the Soviet Red Army team (a 3-3 tie) prompted veteran observers to call it "one of the best hockey games ever played." The Habs outshot the touring Soviets 38-13 and controlled most of the play, but some fabulous saves by Vladislav Tretiak, who outshone Ken Dryden, kept the visitors from certain defeat.

By then the Forum looked nothing like the original arena. In 1946, when Frank Selke was lured to Montreal from Toronto, he dedicated himself to renovating the Forum. He ordered new plumbing installed ("The place stinks," he complained, "especially the rest rooms"). And the drab brown paint that seemed to be everywhere soon was covered over with much brighter colours.

In 1968 further renovations and additions costing $10 million brought the Forum's seating capacity up to 16,500. This became the arena we knew and loved until its doors closed on March 11, 1996. On that night a flaming torch was passed from hand to hand, to and from former captains Butch Bouchard, Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Bob Gainey, Guy Carbonneau, and, finally, incumbent Pierre Turgeon. The ovation for Maurice Richard was so prolonged that it left the Hall-of-Famer with tears in his eyes, his emotions in turmoil.

A few days later, and a mile closer to the heart of the city, the new Molson Centre opened. With seating for more than 21,000 - 5,000 more than the Forum - the $230-million facility is the largest arena in Canada. The new ice palace contains 135 luxury suites, 2,674 club seats, and three restaurants, and features a dramatic, eight-sided scoreboard over centre ice, with replays shown on four giant screens.