Remembering the Montreal Canadiens’ bittersweet 1996 move to Molson Centre

The 24 banners for each Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup championship are carried in a parade from the Forum to the Molson Centre on March 15, 1996, in Montreal. (The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson, archives)

Patrice Brisebois says he isn’t afraid to admit that he was sad when the Montreal Canadiens moved from the Montreal Forum to the Molson Centre in March 1996.

The former defenceman says he lived unforgettable moments in the mythical arena on Atwater Avenue.

He had, of course, won the Stanley Cup there three years earlier, in 1993.

But Brisebois insists the Forum was more than just a hockey rink.

“There was so much history in that building. We’re talking hockey, yes; it was the site of extraordinary games – against the Soviet Union, the Canada Cup - but there were also memorable concerts,” Brisebois told The Canadian Press.

“I remember once, when I was injured, and the team was on the road. I stopped by the locker room, and Elton John was practicing on his piano before a show. I stayed there listening to him.”

“For me, the Forum was so many things. It was special, magical, it was the place to play,” added Brisebois, now chair of the board of directors of the Association des Anciens Canadiens.

The Canadien hockey club moved into the Forum on Nov. 29, 1924, and played its final game there on March 11, 1996.

The team won the Stanley Cup 22 times during that span, hoisting it 12 times in front of its fans, who cheered on the likes of Morenz, Vézina, Béliveau, Richard and Lafleur.

“There was an aura (at the Forum),” said Guy Carbonneau, who accepted the Stanley Cup from commissioner Gary Bettman in 1993 as captain of the Habs.

“I started in the National League in the early 1980s. You still had the Boston Garden, the (Maple Leaf Gardens). Those arenas were quite old, maybe not well-adapted, but they all had their own characteristics. The size of the ice was never the same, the corners were different, things like that.”

“With the Forum, the Canadiens are still the most decorated hockey team in the world with 24 Stanley Cups. There was that aura every time you walked into the building,” he said.

That feeling was felt particularly strongly on the night of the final game at the Forum.

All living former captains passed the torch to one another, holding it high despite their worn arms.

The crowd offered its longest ovation to Maurice Richard, cheering him for about nine minutes.

“Everyone was emotional. It was a unique experience that we will probably never relive,” said the team’s current owner and president, Geoff Molson, who grew up with privileged access to the Forum when Molson Brewery owned the club.

A necessary loss

As much as the Forum was part of the Canadiens’ and Montreal’s DNA, it became inevitable that a new arena was needed to meet modern hockey requirements.

The Forum had undergone several renovations throughout its history, but it was time to turn the page, Brisebois acknowledged.

“Did players want to leave the Forum? No. I was sad, even, because the Forum had the ghosts, so many things that made it special,” he said. “But when we arrived here (at the old Molson Centre), our reaction was: ‘Wow.’”

“We arrived here, and we had space. The gym at the Forum had one stationary bike and a bench. It was night and day. (…) As much as I loved playing at the Forum, I knew we were moving into something better,” he said.

The Canadiens have since settled comfortably into the Molson Centre, now known as the Bell Centre.

The team has lived some memorable nights there, from Saku Koivu’s return to the lineup on April 9, 2002, to the conference final win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day during the COVID-19 pandemic on June 24, 2021—not to mention the biggest comeback in team history against the New York Rangers on Feb. 19, 2008.

Only one accomplishment is truly missing for the building to become as special as the Canadiens’ former home, according to Brisebois.

“My only regret is that the Canadiens haven’t won the Stanley Cup since they started playing here,” he said. “If we had won quickly after the move, people would have said the tradition continues, but we haven’t gotten there yet. That’s what’s a bit sad.”

With files from Tommy Thurber

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 9, 2026.