Pacific Coliseum

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Pacific Coliseum’s first NHL game on October 9, 1970, was a baptism by fire: the Los Angeles Kings beat the expansion Canucks 3–1. Kings forward Bob Berry scored the building’s first NHL goal, while Canucks defenseman Barry Wilkins answered with the franchise’s first home tally. The arena’s final NHL game came on May 24, 1995, when the Chicago Blackhawks swept the Canucks out of the second round of the playoffs with a 4–3 win. In between, the Coliseum hosted two Stanley Cup Finals. In 1982, the New York Islanders completed their sweep of the Canucks on May 16, sending a heartbroken home crowd into silence. Twelve years later, in 1994, the building shook with a different energy as the Canucks battled the New York Rangers to a Game 7. Former owner Arthur Griffiths called Game 6—one of two Stanley Cup Final games the Canucks ever won at the Coliseum, along with Game 5—'the greatest game ever played at the Pacific Coliseum.' That night, the entire city erupted. The arena also hosted the 1977 NHL All-Star Game, where the Wales Conference beat the Campbell Conference 4–3. The final NHL goal scored in the building belongs to Chicago’s Joe Murphy; the last Canucks goal was fired by Jeff Brown.

In Their Own Story

September 8, 1972. The arena hosted Game 4 of the Summit Series, when the Soviet Union stunned Canada 5–3. After the final horn, a furious Phil Esposito sat down for a post-game interview broadcast nationally—raw, frustrated, unscripted—and called out the Vancouver crowd for booing their own team. That moment captured the Coliseum’s soul: a place where hockey’s biggest dramas unfolded in front of a crowd that wore its heart on its sleeve. The building had been built to lure an NHL franchise in 1970, and it worked. But it also attracted a WHA team in 1973, the Vancouver Blazers, after local tycoon Jim Pattison bought the franchise from Philadelphia. The Blazers lasted two seasons before fleeing to Calgary. The Coliseum’s concrete walls and low ceiling made every game feel claustrophobic and intimate—every roar of the crowd pressed down on the ice like a physical weight. For the Canucks, that closeness forged their identity through the lean years and the glory runs alike.

Reader's Guide

You walk into the Pacific Coliseum and the first thing you notice is the ring of white panels—distinctive, simple, geometric. The building was designed by W. K. Noppe in 1966–67, and its formalist architecture hasn't changed much since. The original centre-hung scoreclock was replaced during the 1985 renovations by a new four-sided centre-hung scoreclock with colour matrix animation displays and electronic message boards. That scoreclock was replaced in 2007 by a four-sided Daktronics scoreboard with a video display on each side. In early 2023, the Pacific Coliseum retired its scoreclock, donating it to the Sunshine Coast Junior Hockey Society in Gibson, British Columbia, and video screens were added to the north end of the arena and concourse walls. In June 2023, a $2.6 million lighting project installed LED lighting around the exterior walls, allowing the arena to light up with different colours to recognize different events, dates and occasions. The seating capacity for hockey has progressed from 15,038 in 1968 to 16,281 from 2006 to 2025, and currently holds 15,041 as of 2025. Recent renovations completed in 2007 upgraded accessibility, seating, HVAC, and ice surface for its use as a venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics. During those renovations, major upgrades were done to the ice plant, and the adjacent Agrodome ice plant was decommissioned—both buildings now share the same system located at the Coliseum.

Did You Know?

• The Pacific Coliseum and Edmonton's Northlands Coliseum were separate designs by the same architect, W. K. Noppe, not reused blueprints.
• The arena hosted the fourth game of the 1972 Summit Series, where the Soviet Union defeated Canada 5–3, leading to Phil Esposito's famous post-game interview.
• The final NHL goal scored in the arena belongs to the Chicago Blackhawks' Joe Murphy, while Jeff Brown scored the Canucks' last goal in the building.
• In 2022, the Pacific Coliseum retired its scoreclock and donated it to the Sunshine Coast Junior Hockey Society in Gibsons, British Columbia.
• The arena hosted the 1977 NHL All-Star Game, which saw the Wales Conference All-Stars defeat the Campbell Conference All-Stars 4–3.