10 things you didn’t know about the Canucks' home Rogers Arena

While Rogers Arena might not exactly by the standard in the NHL, it's still a fine home to the Vancouver Canucks and one of the most passionate fan bases in all of North America. Through both the good times and (a lot of) the bad, supporters will continually pack out the arena in support of their beloved 'Nucks'. (They were sixth in the NHL during the 2023-24 season, with an average attendance of 18,826.)

No matter how long someone's been a fan of the Canucks, there's plenty to discover about where their team plays hockey in downtown Vancouver. As such, here are 10 things you may or may not know about Rogers Arena:

1) As per basketball.ballparks.com, the arena was developed and built by Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment, at a cost of $160 million. It was the first 100 percent privately funded arena built in Canada, since Maple Leaf Gardens opened in Toronto all the way back in 1931.

2) While official groundbreaking took place on July 13, 1993, construction was not formally commissioned until Dec. 23, 1993. The name unveiling of General Motors (GM) Place took place on Mar. 29, 1994.

The first events

3) The arena was officially launched on Sept. 21, 1995 with an event called 'HORIZONS: An Inaugural Celebration', although a concert was actually held three days earlier. The event featured artists including the likes of Shania Twain, Blue Rodeo, Michelle Wright, David Foster, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and The Nylons.

4) The arena was built to house the Vancouver Canucks and new NBA franchise, the Vancouver Grizzlies. The Canucks had the honour of being involved in the first sporting event at GM Place, in a preseason game on Sept. 23, 1995, versus the Anaheim Ducks.

5) The Grizzlies would make their own arena debut on Oct. 13, 1995, in a preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers. They would remain in Vancouver for six seasons, before circumstances forced them to relocate to Memphis ahead of the 2001-02 season.

6) The Canucks celebrated their first season in the new arena, by qualifying for the playoffs. The first NHL playoff game at the arena was a 4-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in game three on Apr. 20, 1996, but two days later they secured their first playoff victory at GM Place, with a 4-3 win in game 4.

Host to global sporting entertainment events

7) In respect of other sporting events, Rogers Arena hosted a WWE pay-per-view event on July 21, 1996, called 'In Your House 9: International Incident' and has since held several other WWE events. They have also hosted a number of UFC events, including UFC 115, 131, 174 and, most recently UFC 289 on June. 10, 2023.

8) GM Motors ended their naming rights sponsorship on July 6, 2010. As per CBC News, Rogers Communications acquired the naming rights under an initial 10-year deal, renamed the arena Rogers Arena, and have maintained naming rights ever since.

9) Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, and Rogers Arena was the setting for the Men's and Women's Ice Hockey Tournaments. The arena also provided a fitting ending, as both the Canadian Men's and Women's teams won gold.

10) Despite officially only being less than 30 years old, Rogers Arena is already the tied-eighth oldest arena in the NHL. As per the official team site, three phases of renovations costing $150 million were approved, including to the players' dressing rooms, replacing all seats in the building and a new and improved digital screen video board, with phase three taking place during this summer and next.

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