Past
The MTS Centre was home to the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose from its opening in 2004 to 2011. The Moose were moved to St. John's after the Atlanta Thrashers were sold to True North and relocated to Winnipeg for the 2011–12 NHL season.
In October 2006, the MTS Centre improved its washroom facilities to eliminate long lines and it installed 340 "demountable" seats in the lower bowl to replace 352 narrower "retractable" chairs, in a renovation priced at more than $120,000, which lowered capacity from 15,015 to 15,003. A "peanut-restricted" zone for allergic spectators was also added.
Bon Jovi played the MTS Centre December 9, 2007 and was the largest event the centre has seen since its 2004 debut. 16,000+ fans enjoyed the New Jersey rock band and Jon Bon Jovi stated "We'll be back" during his performance. However, the Metallica concert on October 12, 2009 broke this record with Metallica selling more because of general admission on the floor.
The MTS Centre also hosted on September 17, 2006, an NHL pre-season game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Phoenix Coyotes in front of a sold-out crowd of 15,015, before 11 seats were removed, with the Oilers winning 5-0. Later the arena hosted another NHL exhibition game with the former Winnipeg franchise, the Phoenix Coyotes, playing host to the Calgary Flames on September 24, 2008. Calgary defeated Phoenix 3-2, in front of 12,621 fans (84% capacity). On September 24, 2009, the MTS Centre welcomed the Edmonton Oilers and Tampa Bay Lightning to face off the year's NHL exhibition game. The Lightning won in overtime over the Oilers 4-3 . On September 22, 2010, the MTS Centre welcomed the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second straight year for an exhibition game in front of a crowd of 14,092 (94% capacity). The Lightning won the game 4-2.
On October 29, 2005, Mike Scott was the 1,000,000th customer through the door and received a pair of tickets to every event in 2006.
In 2008, the MTS Centre sold 385,427 tickets. These ticket sales included only non-sporting events and did not include hockey games. With the tickets sales the MTS Centre placed as the 19th busiest arena in the world. The arena sat as 11th busiest among facilities in North America, its highest ranking ever, and it remained in the 3rd spot in Canada, after the Bell Centre in Montreal (sixth worldwide) and the Air Canada Centre in Toronto (fifth worldwide). For the year of 2009 it ranked as the 39th busiest arena in the world, and 26th busiest in North America.
The American band Pearl Jam played at the arena on September 17, 2011, as part of the bands 20th anniversary celebrations.
Read more about this topic: MTS Centre
Famous quotes containing the word past:
“Some say that no one ever leaves Montreal, for that city, like Canada itself, is designed to preserve the past, a past that happened somewhere else.”
—Leonard Cohen (b. 1934)