ADDRESS

 

225 South Dogwood Street,

Campbell River, BC  V9W 8C8

 

ARENA WEBSITE

 

YEAR BUILT - 1971

 

SEATING CAPACITY - Rob Brind’amour Arena (Arena #1) seats 742 and Arena #2 seats 150.

 

DESCRIPTION - Strathcona Gardens is a recreation complex with two NHL regulation ice surfaces, a leisure ice sheet, an aquatic centre and a fitness facility. In 1996, Strathcona Gardens underwent a major expansion adding two ice sheets, a leisure pool and a new lobby.

 

Rod Brind’amour arena (Arena #1) is the home of the Campbell River Storm of the Vancouver Island Hockey League (VIJHL).

 

Campbell River Storm

 

The Campbell River Storm is the most successful franchise in the VIJHL. They consistently play in front of large home crowds and captured more trophies than any VIJHL team. Since joining the league in 1997, they have won the Brent Patterson Memorial Trophy (VIJHL championship) ten times with seven consecutive championships from 1998 to 2004. In 2015, the Storm won the VIJHL Championship, the Cyclone Taylor Cup (BC Junior B Championship) and the Keystone Cup (Western Canada's Junior B championship) - the only VIJHL team to achieve this accomplishment.

 

Here is the 2018 Licencing Agreement between the Campbell River Storm and the Strathcona Regional District. Page 12 has an interesting table comparing the costs and amenities of each arena in the VIJHL.

 

British Columbia Hockey League

 

On November 17, 2019, the Alberni Valley Bulldogs defeated the Trail Smoke Eaters 5-2 in front of sold-out crowd at Rob Brind’amour Arena. The Bulldogs were forced to move a couple of games because their home rink at the Weyerhauser Arena was temporarily closed because of an ammonia leak. Two games were played in Campbell River and Parksville while the leak was being repaired.

 

Rod Brind’Amour

 

Rod Brind’Amour is Campbell River's most famous hockey player. Born in Ottawa, he grew up in Campbell River, where his parents still reside. In 1986, when Brind’Amour was fifteen, the Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League acquired his rights in a five-player trade with the Kamloops Blazers. Instead of joining the Cougars, he went to Saskatchewan to play for the Notre Dame Hounds. In 1988, the St. Louis Blues picked Brind'Amour in the first round (9th overall) of the NHL entry draft.  After one year at Michigan State University, he debuted with St Louis in the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs. After one year at Michigan State University, he debuted with St. Louis in the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs. In his first game against Minnesota, he scored on his first shot.

 

Brind’Amour appeared in 1484 NHL games, winning back-to-back Frank J Selke Trophies (awarded for the best defensive forward) in 2006 and 2007. He won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina in 2002, and the Hurricanes retired his number 17 in 2011.

 

After retirement, Brind’Amour was an assistant coach with the Hurricanes for seven seasons and became their head coach in 2018.

 

In 1995 he founded the Rod Brind’Amour Golf Classic (Now known as the Brind’Amour Nugent-Hopkins Golf Classic) as a fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis. It is held annually at the Stoney Creek Golf Club in Campbell River.

 

Rod’s son, Skyler Brind'Amour, was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in 2017 and currently attends Quinnipiac University.