Bell Centre

Opened in 1996

About Bell Centre

Bell Centre is an NHL arena in Montreal, Quebec. It opened in 1996. It seats 21,273. Its current tenant is Montreal Canadiens (NHL), since 1997. It was formerly home to Montreal Canadiens (NHL, 1996). By capacity it ranks 2nd of 32 current NHL venues, counting only venues with a known capacity. On our ranked lists it ranks 221st oldest of 354 stadiums and arenas still in use. It has also been known as Molson Centre (1996–2001).

Appears in

Photo of Bell Centre — Photo by Alexcaban. License: CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Venue Information

Capacity

21,273

Source: Wikidata

#2 in NHL of 32

Year Opened

1996

#11 oldest in NHL of 32

Address

1999 Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal, Montreal, Quebec H3B 0G6

Elevation

151 ft

46 m above sea level

#12 lowest in NHL of 32

Address derived from the venue's coordinates using data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).

Elevation of the venue's coordinates from USGS and NASA SRTM elevation data, via Open Topo Data.

Capacity by layout

Layout	Seats	Source
General	21,273	Wikidata
Hockey	21,273	Wikipedia
Concert	15,000	Wikipedia

Seating capacity depends on how the building is laid out for each event. Figures are the best sourced claim per layout.

Teams

Home seasons at Bell Centre by team, 1996–2026. Bars use each team's colors at the time; the table below lists every season.

Team	League	Years
Montreal Canadiens While based here: 30 seasons · 1105-1191-93 regular season · 18 postseason trips NHL · 1996–present Territory map on ImperialismMap Montreal Arena 1918 Jubilee Arena 1919 Mount Royal Arena 1920–1926 Montreal Forum 1927–1996 Bell Centre 1996–present	NHL	1996–present

Records are each team's full-season results while it was based here, home and away games alike, from final scores. They are not records of games played at this venue.

NHL records count overtime and shootout losses as losses.

A season split between two home venues counts in full at each.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the capacity of Bell Centre?

The capacity of Bell Centre is 21,273.

When was Bell Centre built?

Bell Centre opened in 1996.

Who plays at Bell Centre?

Bell Centre is the home venue of Montreal Canadiens.

Where did the Montreal Canadiens play before Bell Centre?

Before moving to Bell Centre in 1996, the Montreal Canadiens played at Montreal Forum from 1927 to 1996.

Sources

Where the facts on this page were read from. How VenueStats compiles them.

Open Topo Data (Public domain): Elevation.
OpenStreetMap Nominatim (ODbL): Address.
VenueStats compilation: Opening and closing years, name history and teams (compiled by VenueStats from Sports Reference and Wikipedia).
Wikidata (CC0): Capacity, Coordinates (Wikidata places the building within 21 m of this point).
Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA): Photograph.
Wikipedia (CC BY-SA): Capacity, hockey layout, Capacity, concert layout.

Historical Names

Bell Centre

2002 - Present

Current

Molson Centre

1996 - 2001

Location

Coordinates: 45.4960, -73.5692

View on Google Maps

Nearby Venues

Venue	Years	Distance
Montreal Forum	1924–1996	0.9 mi
Montreal Arena	1898–1918	1.0 mi
Mount Royal Arena	1919–2000	1.8 mi
Jubilee Arena	1908–1919	3.2 mi
Jarry Park Stadium	1969–1995	3.8 mi
Olympic Stadium	1976–	4.3 mi

Straight-line distance between the venues' coordinates.

References

Teams on Wikipedia

Montreal Canadiens

Every source for the facts on this page is listed under Sources.