MONTREAL -- It was a seven-minute standing ovation – a tribute to the man who came to define the Montreal Canadiens – that closed the Montreal Forum.
March 11, 2021 marks 25 years since the Habs played their last game at the hallowed hockey arena. The closing ceremony that night honoured the storied history of the team and the building itself. But the crowd saved its loudest cheer for Maurice Richard, who won eight Stanley Cups with the team.
"All the banners were obviously there, all the retired jerseys were up in the rafters. It felt special playing in that building," said former player Vincent Damphousse, who was on the ice that night – and the night in 1993 when he team won its last Stanley Cup.
As the clock ticked down, the memories came flooding back.
"When I looked at the clock and said, 'dernière minute de jeu dans l'histoire du Forum ' – last minute of play in the history of the Forum – it all sank in. I said, 'Oh my god, this is it," said Michel Lacroix, the Canadiens' public address announcer.
In the stands, author and photographer Ezra Soiferman snapped photos, capturing the quirks of the Forum – from ushers watching the action to the hot dog machines.
"Walking into that building was like walking into the holy of holies," he said. "When you came up the hallway and the smoke was billowing... literally, you came up and there was cigarette smoke coming and you'd walking and see the silhouette of an usher standing there."
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SEE EZRA SOIFERMAN'S 1996 PHOTOS: The final night at the Montreal Forum
photo: Ezra Soiferman
The Forum opened at 2313 Ste-Catherine St. W. in 1924 with 9,300 seats, and expanded during two renovations. It included a standing room, sarcastically known as "the millionaires' section."
"They'd put tickets on sale for 50 cents or a dollar on game day. People would line up and just rush to the benches just behind the nets. They weren't even seats," said Dave Stubbs, an NHL hockey historian. "The way that building was constructed, it was so vertical. You either needed a Sherpa guide or a mountain goat to get up there."
As the league expanded, the inner workings of the forum did not. The locker room remained a cramped space for players.
"It was very small. It was built in such a way that a player couldn't escape the eye of another player," said Stubbs. "So if Rocket Richard is sitting in the dressing room in the late 1980s and he didn't like the way someone was playing, he would just have to look down at that player."
Jerseys of past Montreal Canadiens' players hang in a replica of the old Forum locker room at the Montreal Canadiens Hall of Fame in Montreal, Friday, Jan., 15, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
But it was home to some of the greats of the game.
"When I got to the Canadiens, I would see Jean Beliveau all the time. I would see Maurice Richard, Yvon Lambert. So you felt the responsibility to perform when you wore that jersey," he said.
Three eras of the Montreal Canadiens are pictured at the Forum in Montreal, Que., on April 12, 1979. From left, Jean Beliveau (1950s and 1960s), Guy Lafleur (1970s) and Maurice "Rocket" Richard (1940s and 1950s). THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ball
The Forum was also the premier concert venue in Montreal, hosting the likes of the Beatles, Queen and Bob Marley.
"That's a great memory of trying to get to the ticket office before the 'vendu' (sold) sign would come down," said Terry DiMonte, morning host at rock radio station CHOM 97.7.
DiMonte remembers his first Forum show.
"I was outraged by the ticket price. It was $7.40 and I was wondering who was going to pay that kind of money to see Elton John." DiMonte said.
After the venue closed, its contents were auctioned off and the old Forum was converted into a movie theatre and shopping centre.
A sculpture at the Pepsi Forum, former home to the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday. The building is now an entertainment complex and is among several sites that showcase the city's hockey history.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
"It's kind of sad to see the Forum now. You're nostalgic quite a bit. There's just a row of seats you see there now," said Damphousse.
The legendary rink saw the Canadiens win 22 of their 24 championships – and the Habs haven't won a Stanley Cup since.
