Recently renamed "Belle Centre", the capacity here is 21,500 and the place is immaculate. It's certainly the most impressive arena I've ever been in. They've tried to keep up the nostalgia of the Old Forum here, which is something that just couldn't be done. That said, check out the busts of all the old Canadiens greats on the lower concourse; the management went out of its way to commemorate the franchise's winning tradition here and did a good job of it. The banners in the rafters speak for themselves--no banners for Conference or Division championships, just Stanley Cup banners. And only the greatest of greats have their numbers hanging from the ceiling. Just looking at them can be enough to give you goosebumps.

All of that aside, the atmosphere here is electric. The fans are incredibly intense, passionate, and very knowledgable. The bilingual aspect is cool too, what with francophones and anglophones coming together to feverishly cheer the same team; to experience that is a feeling you won't get anywhere else, except perhaps Ottawa, but that's not anything like this. Even when the place isn't full you still have upwards of 18,000 in attendance. Concessions are quite good, if on the expensive side, and well laid-out so as to keep the lines down. Make an effort to try a hot dog--the bun is toasted and they're made in a way distinct to Quebec. You may be startled by the liquor concessions all over the building, which is nice if you're fixin' to drink some hard liquor.

Bathrooms are well laid out and there's a big indoor smoking area. The arena is easy to get to, being right off the freeway, and easily reached be metro. That said, parking is congested and getting out of here by car after the game ain't going to be easy.

Tickets aren't cheap but then, I'm from Toronto, and everywhere has cheaper tickes than TO. Tickets aren't that hard to get but, as the Habs improve over the course of a season, the availability of tickets decreases sharply!

This place is one of the best places I've ever been to see a game! The only drawback is it's not the old Forum--but hey, what can you do? If they had to move out of the old place and build a new rink, then they did the task well. They built a place that is worthy of housing the most storied franchise in NHL history, and you still feel it when you walk in the door.

Recently renamed "Belle Centre", the capacity here is 21,500 and the place is immaculate. Certainly the most impressive arena I've been in. They've tried to keep up the nostalgia of the old Forum here. That's something that just couldn't be done. But check out the busts of all the old Canadiens greats on the lower concourse. They really did go out of their way to commemorate the winning tradition of the franchise in this place. And they did a good job. The banners in the rafters speak for themselves. No banners for Conference and Division championships, only Stanley Cup banners. And only the greatest of greats have their numbers hanging from the ceiling. It can be enough to give you goosebumps.

All of that aside the atmosphere here is electric. Incredibly intense and passionate fans. Very knowledgable. And the bilingual aspect is cool too. You've got francophones and anglophones coming together to cheer the same team feverishly. To experience that is a feeling you won't get anywhere else, except perhaps in Ottawa but that's not anything like this. Even when the place isn't full you still have upwards of 18,000 in the place. Concessions are quite good if expensive and well laid out so as to keep the lines down. Make an effort to try a hot dog. The bun is toasted and they're made in a way distinct to Quebec. You may be startled by the liquor conessions all over the building. Nice if you're fixin to drink some hard liquor.

Bathrooms are well laid out and there's a big indoor smoking area. The amenities are well looked after here. The place is easy to get to, right off the freeway, and easily reached be the metro. But parking is congested and getting out of here after the game ain't going to be easy.

Tickets aren't cheap, but then I'm from Toronto and all places have cheaper tickes than TO. Tickets are still not to hard to get, but as the Habs improve availability of tickets will decrease sharply!

This place is one of the best places to see a game I've been! The only knocks on it would be that it's not the old Forum. But what can you do. If they had to move out of the old place and build a new rink than they did it well. They built a place that is worthy of housing the most storied franchise in NHL history, and you still feel it when you walk in the door.

We walked to the Molsen Centre from our hotel on Crescent Street (yes, through the piles of snow) and found that it was easy to navigate to (of course, that's because it's so big that it was always in our line of sight!).

The Molsen Centre building was great. The game was a bit of a disappointment (at least for the Canadians!), but it was just great being in the crowd. The beer was pretty expensive, but what is a hockey game without a frosty beverage? It was a great way to spend a night, and we met a lot of really great people.