I hate cliffhangers and clickbait and Mark Zuckerberg doesn't let me edit this text anymore, so I've written a sentence here to skip and I'll have to delete it from my website in a minute, once I share this. It was mid-February and with an 8-hour layover in Montreal, I wasn't going to sit in the airport twiddling my thumbs. I'd successfully escaped the oppression of Western Newfoundland's winter, so it was time to rent a car and be free. |
Landing at 10am, I was into the thick of Montreal by 11. After grabbing a solid bagel sandwich at a nearby breakfast spot, I admired the Verdun neighbourhood as I got back into my car and drove a couple of narrow streets lined by brick buildings. Nearby was their 1939 arena, hidden behind a funny 1970s siding renovation up front. |
Out back, this place looked more like Copper Cliff's Stanley Stadium from the last update. Contrasted by the bright blue sky and bits of snow, this part of the building was just gorgeous. There was a walking path between here and the river, and I pictured evening walks with this fine edifice shining in the late day light. The front of the arena used to be equally beautiful. |
Trying to go inside, I made it as far as the lobby before a security guard accosted me in French, then startled himself as he realized he needed to tell me to get lost in English. Apparently there was a stage show erected inside the arena and I wasn't allowed to see their run-through's. Back at the car, I soon found a contender for the best skatepark ever next door, giving me plenty of reason to return to the Montreal suburb of Verdun in the future. (Not to mention that the new Montreal women's hockey team is scheduled to play here in 2019-20.) |
Leaving Montreal's oldest arena, it took me more than half an hour to cross the city towards Montreal's neighbour to the north, Laval. Here I was excited to check out the Laval Colisée, although I'm still sad I never made it here for a game when Juraj Kolnik played for the Laval Predateurs of the LNAH. Struggling to keep myself from putting my bike together on this cold February day, I figured I'd be happy with my decision to instead drive out to Laval, to see an arena I imagined was likely to go away soon following Laval building a new, $200-million, 10,000-seat, downtown rink in order to steal St. John's AHL team. |
Opening the cramped, tucked-in front doors; the low ceiling, smell and colour theme all pointed to this arena being older than one built in 1954. I felt like I had finally found that sought after portal back into the sporting arenas of the 20s or 30s, with odd staircases, over-engineered doors and windows, plus a bleak, rundown washroom. This was a utilitarian structure that only sought to host hockey and by God I loved it for that. As much as I was happy that I made it here before Laval boarded her up one of these days, I was also sad that I didn't make it here for an actual game instead of the atom-level practice that was going on. It was apparent that I need to look into more of the old QMJHL arenas that are still standing and head to places like Laval, Sorel-Tracy & Longueuil. |
I mean, the Colisée de Laval still has bench seats! I need to get back here and share one of these benches with a random stranger! |
I wish I took more interior pictures - as well as better exterior pictures as you will soon see - but it turns out I'll have another chance at the Colisée de Laval. Announced just a few weeks ago, the Pétroliers du Nord of the low-level professional hockey league LNAH, announced that they will be leaving St. Jerome Quebec and leasing space in the Laval Colisée for the next 5 years. One look at the LNAH wiki page will show you how frequently teams fail and move in the LNAH, but at least there's now an open window to go see a game at the old Colisée. |
I told you the exterior photos were lacking. For some reason, even though I loved the exterior, I thought the best tool for the job was my cell phone with the car window filter. |
Just another reason to return to the Colisée de Laval. |
There was an afternoon QMJHL hockey game going on today as well, so with my flight leaving at 6pm, I had time to catch at least a period and some warmups in nearby Blainville-Boisbriand. And if only I was more technologically inclined, I could have watched the second period and maybe the third as well. As it is, I am who I am and I didn't think to check the airport security line times from my phone. So I left after one period and walked about a kilometre to my car even though it's a new arena and they always promise parking but I guess they messed up counting parking spaces because I parked right here. Following that, I cruised right to the airport in record time, then made it through customs in all of 15 minutes. Sitting there for over an hour, I clearly could have caught more QMJHL action. Whatever though, the next stop was Casablanca. Oh yeah, the actual Morocco part of this trip. |
