Oshawa Civic Auditorium
Encyclopedia
The Oshawa Civic Auditorium was a 3,625–seat (4,025 standing) multi-purpose arena
in Oshawa
, Ontario
, Canada
. The recreational complex was financed by donations from the community, including United Auto Workers
members. It opened in 1964, and was home to the Oshawa Generals
ice hockey
team of the Ontario Hockey League
from December 1964 to October 2006. The auditorium sat idle until April, 2010 when demolition began.
The arena was part of a larger recreational complex including a swimming pool, tennis courts and soccer fields. The complex is located at 99 Thornton Road South in the city's west end, with close proximity to Highway 401.
burned down on September 15, 1953. The Generals resumed play in 1962–63 as part of the Metro Junior A League
playing out of Maple Leaf Gardens
, then returned to the Ontario Hockey League for the 1963–64 season sponsored by the Boston Bruins
. The team played in nearby Bowmanville, Ontario
for one season until construction on the new arena was finished. The Generals also won the first game played at the Civic on December 15, 1964, a 6-4 win over the St. Catharines Black Hawks
. Bobby Orr
, aged 16 at the time, scored in that first game.
On April 22, 1979, the Auditorium hosted two benefit concert
s for the CNIB
by the Rolling Stones, after Keith Richards
was charged with possession of heroin. In May 2006, Alice Cooper
appeared in concert at the Auditorium, one of the final acts to appear.
The Civic hosted the 1987 Memorial Cup
tournament for the Canadian Hockey League
championship. Oshawa competed against the Longueuil Chevaliers
and the Memorial Cup
champions the Medicine Hat Tigers
.
In June 2005, construction began on a replacement arena in downtown Oshawa, the General Motors Centre. The last Generals game in the Civic was held October 29, 2006, versus the Kingston Frontenacs
, in which the Generals won 8-6.
s as OHL champions during their tenure at the Civic; in 1966, 1983, 1987
, 1990, and 1997
. Oshawa also won 1990 Memorial Cup
.
The Oshawa Legionaires
, another junior team from the Metro Jr B League
won three regular season titles. The first in 1975–76, then two more in 1977–78, and 1978–79, led by the coaching of Mike Keenan
, and the playing of Dale Hawerchuk
.
The Oshawa Green Gaels
of the OLA Junior A Lacrosse League
were a championship junior lacrosse
team who moved into the Civic partway through their seven consecutive Minto Cup
s from 1963 to 1969.
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
in Oshawa
Oshawa
Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The recreational complex was financed by donations from the community, including United Auto Workers
Canadian Auto Workers
The Canadian Auto Workers is one of Canada's largest and highest profile social unions. While rooted in Ontario's large auto plants of Windsor, Brampton, Oakville, St...
members. It opened in 1964, and was home to the Oshawa Generals
Oshawa Generals
The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. The Generals are one of the most successful franchises in Canadian Hockey League...
ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team of the Ontario Hockey League
Ontario Hockey League
The Ontario Hockey League is one of the three Major Junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 15-20.The OHL also operates under the Ontario Hockey Federation of Hockey Canada....
from December 1964 to October 2006. The auditorium sat idle until April, 2010 when demolition began.
The arena was part of a larger recreational complex including a swimming pool, tennis courts and soccer fields. The complex is located at 99 Thornton Road South in the city's west end, with close proximity to Highway 401.
History
The arena was built as a replacement home for the Oshawa Generals, when the Hambly ArenaHambly Arena
The Hambly Arena, originally known as the Oshawa Arena, opened in 1930 and was built in large part to the contributions of Colonel R.S. McLaughlin. It was the first brick facade and steel support structure for ice hockey in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada...
burned down on September 15, 1953. The Generals resumed play in 1962–63 as part of the Metro Junior A League
Metro Junior A League
The Metro Junior A League was a junior ice hockey league created in 1961 by Toronto Maple Leafs owner Stafford Smythe in an attempt to rival the OHA, and act as a farm system for his NHL team. The league operated for two seasons from 1961 to 1963...
playing out of Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
, then returned to the Ontario Hockey League for the 1963–64 season sponsored by the Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
. The team played in nearby Bowmanville, Ontario
Bowmanville, Ontario
Bowmanville is the largest community in the Municipality of Clarington in Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario about 75 km east of Toronto and 15 km east of Oshawa along Highway 2...
for one season until construction on the new arena was finished. The Generals also won the first game played at the Civic on December 15, 1964, a 6-4 win over the St. Catharines Black Hawks
St. Catharines Black Hawks
The St. Catharines Black Hawks were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey Association from 1962 to 1976. The team was based in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.-History:...
. Bobby Orr
Bobby Orr
Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr, OC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Orr played in the National Hockey League for his entire career, the first ten seasons with the Boston Bruins, joining the Chicago Black Hawks for two more. Orr is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest...
, aged 16 at the time, scored in that first game.
On April 22, 1979, the Auditorium hosted two benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
s for the CNIB
Canadian National Institute for the Blind
CNIB is a volunteer agency and charitable organization dedicated to assisting Canadians who are blind or living with vision loss, and to provide information about vision health for all Canadians...
by the Rolling Stones, after Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
was charged with possession of heroin. In May 2006, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
appeared in concert at the Auditorium, one of the final acts to appear.
The Civic hosted the 1987 Memorial Cup
1987 Memorial Cup
The 1987 Memorial Cup occurred May 9-May 15 at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium in Oshawa, Ontario. Oshawa earned the right to host by winning a "Super Series" between themselves and the champions of the Emms Division, the North Bay Centennials. Given that Oshawa defeated North Bay in the OHL finals as...
tournament for the Canadian Hockey League
Canadian Hockey League
The Canadian Hockey League is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canadian-based major junior ice hockey leagues for players 16 to 20 years of age. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three member leagues, the Western Hockey...
championship. Oshawa competed against the Longueuil Chevaliers
Longueuil Chevaliers
The Longueuil Chevaliers were a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, playing in Longueuil, Quebec at Colisée Jean Béliveau. They were founded in 1982 and set a Canadian Hockey League record for the most successful season ever by an expansion franchise, going 37-29-4...
and the Memorial Cup
Memorial Cup
The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League champion. It is awarded following a four-team, round robin tournament between a host team and the champions of the CHL's three member leagues: the Ontario Hockey League , Quebec Major...
champions the Medicine Hat Tigers
Medicine Hat Tigers
The Medicine Hat Tigers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League who play out of Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Established in 1970, the team has won two national Memorial Cups, five WHL League Championships and seven Division Titles. The Tigers play at the Medicine Hat Arena....
.
In June 2005, construction began on a replacement arena in downtown Oshawa, the General Motors Centre. The last Generals game in the Civic was held October 29, 2006, versus the Kingston Frontenacs
Kingston Frontenacs
The Kingston Frontenacs are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The team is coached by Todd Gill and Doug Gilmour is the General Manager. The Frontenacs play home games at the K-Rock Centre, which opened in 2008.Team history predates the OHA,...
, in which the Generals won 8-6.
Championship teams
The Oshawa Generals won five J. Ross Robertson CupJ. Ross Robertson Cup
The J. Ross Robertson Cup is an ice hockey trophy awarded annually to the winner of the Ontario Hockey League playoff championship. It was presented by and named for John Ross Robertson, the president of the Ontario Hockey Association who served from 1899 to 1905.Originally it was awarded to the...
s as OHL champions during their tenure at the Civic; in 1966, 1983, 1987
1986–87 OHL season
The 1986–87 OHL season was the 7th season of the Ontario Hockey League. Fifteen teams each played 66 games. The Oshawa Generals won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the North Bay Centennials.-Final standings:-Scoring leaders:...
, 1990, and 1997
1996–97 OHL season
The 1996–97 OHL season was the 17th season of the Ontario Hockey League. Seventeen teams each played 66 games. The Oshawa Generals won the J. Ross Robertson Cup, defeating the Ottawa 67's...
. Oshawa also won 1990 Memorial Cup
1990 Memorial Cup
The 1990 Memorial Cup occurred May 5-May 13 at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. Participating teams were the Ontario Hockey League champion Oshawa Generals and runner-up Kitchener Rangers, as well as the winners of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League which were...
.
The Oshawa Legionaires
Durham Fury
The Whitby Fury are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Whitby, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of Central Division Hockey.-History:This franchise was founded in 1965 as a member of the Eastern Junior B Hockey League...
, another junior team from the Metro Jr B League
Metro Junior A Hockey League
----The Metro Junior "A" Hockey League was a junior level ice hockey league based out of Southern Ontario. The league originated in 1956 as the Metro Junior "B" Hockey League, which lasted until 1991, when it changed its designation from Junior B to Junior A. It remained a Jr...
won three regular season titles. The first in 1975–76, then two more in 1977–78, and 1978–79, led by the coaching of Mike Keenan
Mike Keenan
Michael Edward Keenan is a former head coach in the National Hockey League , most recently with the Calgary Flames, and former General Manager of the Florida Panthers. He is currently working as an analyst for the New York Rangers on MSG Network.Keenan was a player for the St...
, and the playing of Dale Hawerchuk
Dale Hawerchuk
Dale Hawerchuk is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League for 16 seasons. He won the NHL's Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's Rookie of the Year in 1982 and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility in 2001...
.
The Oshawa Green Gaels
Clarington Green Gaels
The Clarington Green Gaels are Junior "B" box lacrosse team from Clarington, Ontario, Canada. The Gaels play in the OLA Junior B Lacrosse League....
of the OLA Junior A Lacrosse League
OLA Junior A Lacrosse League
The Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League is a box lacrosse league in Ontario, Canada sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. The playoff champion moves on to compete for the National Championship—the Minto Cup.-The teams:-Playoff Champions:...
were a championship junior lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
team who moved into the Civic partway through their seven consecutive Minto Cup
Minto Cup
The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's lacrosse team of Canada.It was donated in 1901 by the Governor-General, Lord Minto, and from 1901 until 1909 awarded to the senior men's champion of Canada...
s from 1963 to 1969.