Mile One Centre
An Ice Hockey Wiki article.
| Mile One Centre | |
|---|---|
 
| |
| Location | New Gower Street, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada |
| Broke ground | 1999 |
| Opened | 2001 |
| Owner | City of St. John's |
| Construction cost | $35 million |
| Tenants | St. John's Fog Devils (QMJHL) (2005–2008) St. John's Maple Leafs (AHL) (2001–2005) |
| Capacity | Hockey: 6,250 Basketball: 6,750 Full Capacity: 7,000 |
The Mile One Centre, formerly known as Mile One Stadium, is the main sports and entertainment centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. It opened in 2001, replacing Memorial Stadium. The arena is located at the beginning of the Trans-Canada Highway, hence the name, Mile One. The arena seats 6,250 people for hockey.
[edit] Hockey
Mile One Centre was originally home to the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League. The Leafs played out of Mile One Centre from 2001–2005 before relocating to Toronto, Ontario to become the Toronto Marlies. MLSE stated that the relocation was necessary to better monitor their prospects.
The Dobbin family were granted an expansion QMJHL franchise in 2004 to be later named the St. John's Fog Devils. The Fog Devils began play at Mile One Centre in 2005. However, the Fog Devils would relocate to Montreal, Quebec after just three seasons in St. John's to become the Junior de Montreal. Many reasons attributed to the Fog Devils demise including lack of fan support, a poor lease agreement and high travel costs. The Fog Devils departure left Mile One Centre without a major tenant for the first time since the building opened.
In March of 2009, it was reported that St. John's Sports and Entertainment and Leo-Guy Morrisette, the owner of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, had reached a tentative deal to relocate the team to St. John's. However, the deal later fell through as Morrisette decided to keep the team in Bathurst, New Brunswick.
With speculation building that an NHL team could relocate to Hamilton, Ontario in the near future, St. John's has been rumored as a possible relocation target for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League. The Bulldogs have ties to the city, as President and Governor Glenn Stanford is from St. John's and previously worked with the St. John's Maple Leafs. The Bulldogs also held their 2008 training camp at Mile One Centre.
[edit] Other sporting events
The arena hosts the annual Herder Cup tournament, the largest hockey tournament in the province. It hosted the 2002 AHL All-Star Game, and the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts (Curling).
A National Basketball Association exhibition game between the Toronto Raptors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, was cancelled on game night due to an excess of condensation built up on the playing surface due to the inside temperature.
In September 2007, the stadium hosted an NHL exhibition game featuring the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders.
