Construction Then-mayor of Laval,
Gilles Vaillancourt, announced the project on February 13, 2012. The facility is managed by
Evenko, the same company that operates the
Bell Centre in
Montreal, home of the
National Hockey League's
Montreal Canadiens. As in the case of the Bell Centre, the naming rights for the Laval arena were acquired by
Bell Canada. The cost of the project roughly doubled after it was first announced. Originally announced to cost $92.6 million, the estimate was revised less than a year later to $150 million. In March 2014, Laval's new mayor,
Marc Demers, estimated that the cost of Place Bell would be $200 million, because of costs not factored by the previous administration. The
Government of Quebec committed to contributing $46 million; Demers asked that the province assume more of the costs, as it did for other arena projects. game against the
Syracuse Crunch Initial plans called for the arena to be built in the city's Quartier de l'Agora district, next to the Laval courthouse, but the unstable soil in that location led to a move. In October 2012, the city announced that the project would be located adjacent to the
Montmorency station of the
Montreal Metro Orange Line. Construction started in late 2014 and was completed in 2017.
Major tenants On July 11, 2016, the Montreal Canadiens announced that its AHL affiliate, then known as the
St. John's IceCaps, would relocate to Place Bell in 2017. On September 8, 2016, the Canadiens announced that the team would be named the Laval Rocket. The Rocket hosted their inaugural game at the arena on October 6, 2017, defeating the
Belleville Senators by a score of 3–0. Canadiens owner
Geoff Molson and team legend
Guy Lafleur both took part in the pre-game ceremonial puck drop;
Daniel Audette scored the franchise's first goal, while
Charlie Lindgren recorded the shutout. In 2020, it was announced that Place Bell would host the 2022
AHL All-Star game. The 2022 game was ultimately cancelled, and Place Bell hosted the 2023 game on February 6, 2023, instead. On September 20, 2018, it was announced that the Les Canadiennes de Montréal of the CWHL would be moving to the arena from the
Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard, playing both in the main arena and the community rink. Les Canadiennes also moved their daily operations and training camp into the complex. The team played one season at Place Bell before the league and team ceased operations following the
2018–19 season. In their lone season at Place Bell, Les Canadiennes advanced to the
Clarkson Cup final by defeating the
Markham Thunder in the semi-final at Place Bell; they lost the championship final to the
Calgary Inferno. In 2022, Place Bell began hosting
NCAA basketball, including the annual
Northern Classic Division I tournament, which takes place each November. The 2023 event featured six Division I teams. In 2023, it was announced that Montréal Victoire of the new Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) would host select
2023–24 games at Place Bell, with the majority of its home games hosted at
Verdun Auditorium. The first game at Place Bell took place on January 16, 2024, with Montréal defeating visiting
New York Sirens by a score of 3–2. Following a partnership between Canadiens ownership and the owners of the
Brooklyn Nets, the arena would host a series of
NBA G League home games for Brooklyn's affiliate the
Long Island Nets beginning in the 2025 season; notably, for these games the G League Nets wear special home uniforms branding the team as
Les Nets Montreal as a secondary name. ==Tenants==