The Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (SOFMC) is an indoor arena located in Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

, 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...

, and is the largest arena in British Columbia outside of Vancouver. It is primarily used for 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...

, previously the home arena of the Victoria Salmon Kings

Victoria Salmon Kings

The Victoria Salmon Kings were a professional ice hockey team based in Victoria, British Columbia. They were members of the Mountain Division of the Western Conference of the ECHL, debuting in the 2004–05 ECHL season and folding after the 2010–11 ECHL season as the Chilliwack Bruins WHL franchise...

 of the ECHL

ECHL

The ECHL is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Princeton, New Jersey with teams scattered across the United States...

, and currently the home of the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League

Western Hockey League

The Western Hockey League is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada...

. It is also used for concerts and other special events such as figure skating, curling, plays, trade shows and conferences. It is also opened for public ice skating on special occasions; sometimes the public can skate with the Victoria Salmon Kings players after some of the games. The building also features a fine dining restaurant (Lion's Den Restaurant), retail & meeting space. Shaw Communications

Shaw Communications

Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...

 has a TV studio on the main floor and itgroove Professional Services shared office space with the arena and former Salmon Kings personnel. It occupies the site of the former Victoria Memorial Arena

Victoria Memorial Arena

Victoria Memorial Arena was an ice hockey arena, located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was built in 1949 and demolished in 2003 due to aging and being outdated....

 as its successor facility. It is located within 10–15 minutes walking distance from the other Downtown Victoria

Downtown Victoria

Downtown Victoria is a neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia that acts as the commercial and entertainment hub of the city and surrounding region....

 landmarks such as: Chinatown, Victoria

Chinatown, Victoria

The Chinatown in Victoria, British Columbia is the oldest in Canada and second in age only to San Francisco's in North America, with its beginnings in the mass influx of miners from California to what is now British Columbia in 1858. Its history goes back to the mid nineteenth century. It remains...

, Bay Centre

Bay Centre

The Bay Centre, formerly the Victoria Eaton Centre, is a shopping mall in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Opening in 1990, the mall was the first large shopping mall in Victoria's city centre, occupying what were formerly two city blocks of the Old Town area...

 shopping centre, Market Square, Victoria

Market Square, Victoria

Market Square is one of Victoria, British Columbia's oldest landmarks and also one of its most visited tourist attractions.It was built in the late 19th century, when the city was rapidly growing, as people came through heading for the Klondike....

.

It was completed in 2005 and has a maximum seating capacity

Seating capacity

Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...

 of 7,400. It replaced the aging and outdated Memorial Arena

Victoria Memorial Arena

Victoria Memorial Arena was an ice hockey arena, located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was built in 1949 and demolished in 2003 due to aging and being outdated....

, also known as the "Barn on Blanshard" (rectangular with a curved roof, resembled a barn

Barn

A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...

 or aircraft hangar) which had been constructed in 1949. The first event to be held at the new arena was a Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....

 concert, one in which Rod and his performers came out on stage in hardhats and orange safety vests, poking fun at the fact the arena wasn't totally completed at the time.

The SOFMC was developed and is operated by RG Properties Ltd., a Vancouver based development/entertainment company with commercial, recreational and entertainment facilities throughout BC. RG Properties Ltd. was the corporate owner of the former Victoria Salmon Kings hockey team.

Notable concerts & events held

The centre has hosted many musical and performance acts, as well as guest speakers, sporting tournaments, trade shows and other events. The following is a partial list of some of the more well-known guests and events.

• Dane Cook
  Dane Cook
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• ZZ Top
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• Hedley
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• Anti-Flag
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• Alexisonfire
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• AFI
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• Rise Against
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• Cancer Bats
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• Billy Talent
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• Stone Temple Pilots
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• Slipknot
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• The Wiggles
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• Rod Stewart
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  Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
  
  
• The Village People
• Cher
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  Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
  
  
• Def Leppard
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  Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
  
  
• Foreigner
  Foreigner (band)
  Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
  
  
• Styx
  Styx (band)
  Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
  
  
• Bob Dylan
  Bob Dylan
  Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
  
  
• Kelly Clarkson
  Kelly Clarkson
  Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...
  
  
• B.B. King
• Selena Gomez
  Selena Gomez
  Selena Marie Gomez is an American actress and singer best known for portraying Alex Russo in the Emmy Award-winning Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place...
  
  

• Avril Lavigne
  Avril Lavigne
  Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
  
  
• Michael Flatley
  Michael Flatley
  Michael Ryan Flatley is an American Irish dancer, choreographer, actor, musician and occasional television presenter. He became internationally known for Irish dance shows Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames, and Celtic Tiger...
  
  
• Rob Thomas
  Rob Thomas (musician)
  Robert Kelly "Rob" Thomas is an American rock recording artist and songwriter. He is the primary songwriter and lead singer of the band Matchbox Twenty. Thomas also records and performs as a solo artist...
  
  
• Bryan Adams
  Bryan Adams
  Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
  
  
• The Black Crowes
  The Black Crowes
  The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in 1989. Their discography includes nine studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer George Drakoulias and released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, the...
  
  
• Hilary Duff
  Hilary Duff
  Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
  
  
• Incubus
  Incubus (band)
  Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while enrolled in high school and later expanded to include bassist Alex "Dirk Lance" Katunich, and Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppell;...
  
  
• Larry the Cable Guy
  Larry the Cable Guy
  Daniel Lawrence Whitney , better known by his stage name and character Larry the Cable Guy, is an American comedian, actor, and former radio personality....
  
  
• Mötley Crüe
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  Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...
  
  
• Harlem Globetrotters
  Harlem Globetrotters
  The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater and comedy. The executive offices for the team are currently in downtown Phoenix, Arizona; the team is owned by Shamrock Holdings, which oversees the various investments of the Roy E. Disney family.Over...
  
  
• The Moody Blues
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  The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
  
  
• Bill Clinton
  Bill Clinton
  William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
  
  
• Robert Plant
  Robert Plant
  Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
  
  
• Nelly Furtado
  Nelly Furtado
  Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
  
  
• Snoop Dogg
  Snoop Dogg
  Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
  
  
• Il Divo
  Il Divo
  Il Divo is a multinational operatic pop vocal group created by music manager, executive, and reality TV star Simon Cowell. Formed in the United Kingdom, they are also signed to Cowell's record label, Syco Music...
  
  
• WWE Wrestling
• The Black Eyed Peas
  The Black Eyed Peas
  The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
  
  
• Cats
  Cats (musical)
  Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
  
  
• Barenaked Ladies
  Barenaked Ladies
  Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
  
  
• James Taylor
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  James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
  
  
• Tom Jones
  Tom Jones (singer)
  Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
  
  

• Cirque du Soleil
  Cirque du Soleil
  Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
  
  
• Backstreet Boys
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• Sheryl Crow
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  Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
  
  
• Kid Rock
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  Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
  
  
• Judas Priest
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  Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
  
  
• Tool
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• David Copperfield
  David Copperfield (illusionist)
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• Queens of the Stone Age
  Queens of the Stone Age
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• Walking With Dinosaurs
  Walking with Dinosaurs
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• Nine Inch Nails
  Nine Inch Nails
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• New Kids On The Block
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• Sarah Brightman
  Sarah Brightman
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• John Fogerty
  John Fogerty
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• Leonard Cohen
  Leonard Cohen
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• The Killers
• The Tragically Hip
  The Tragically Hip
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• Marilyn Manson
  Marilyn Manson
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• Michael Bublé
  Michael Bublé
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• Cesar Millan
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• Sir Elton John
• Sarah McLachlan
  Sarah McLachlan
  Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
  
  
• Sum 41
  Sum 41
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Vancouver Canucks

In September 2007, as part of the Vancouver Canucks training camp that was being held at nearby Bear Mountain Arena

Bear Mountain Arena

Bear Mountain Arena is in Colwood, British Columbia, Canada. The arena was built in 2004, has 2781 seats and houses year round events for both hockey and lacrosse. With an additional floor capacity of 860 people this premier spectator facility can hold any type of event, from trade shows to major...

 in Colwood, the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre hosted the Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...

 annual intrasquad charity game.

Select Your Tickets

Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre has its own in-house ticketing company called "Select Your Tickets", which is also owned by RG Properties Ltd. "Select Your Tickets" has been operating inside the building since it opened in 2005.

External links

• Official website