Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
Canada's first national hockey team was born on this ice in 1963 — and the Vancouver Canucks still practice here.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Vancouver offline.
The modern LEED Silver arena was built around the historic Father Bauer Arena, where Father David Bauer and Bob Hindmarch created Canada's national hockey program ahead of the 1964 Winter Olympics. The main rink hosted 2010 Olympic and Paralympic ice hockey. Three rinks sit under one roof, the largest holding 7,500 seats.
What to look for
- The original Father Bauer Arena, the 1963 core preserved inside the modern complex
- The international-size 61m × 30m main ice surface that saw 2010 Winter Olympics competition
- The three-rink layout — main arena at 7,500 seats down to the 200-seat Protrans Arena
On the UBC Point Grey campus, just outside Vancouver city limits; check the Canucks practice schedule if that is your reason for the trip.
Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre is one of 13 sights worth the detour in Vancouver, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Vancouver pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Vancouver
- BC PlaceA stadium that broke the same world record twice — first with the largest air-supported roof ever built, then with the largest cable-supported retractable roof.
- Rogers ArenaBuilt for C$160 million and opened in 1995, this is the rink where Vancouver's hockey soul lives — and where the city briefly renamed it Canada Hockey Place for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
- Stanley ParkA thousand acres of old-growth forest on a downtown peninsula — bigger than Central Park, as old as Vancouver itself.
- Pacific ColiseumThe rink where Vancouver first played NHL hockey — and where 2010 Olympic skaters competed on the same ice.
- Richmond Olympic OvalThe rink where Olympic speed skaters raced in 2010 is now a public arena where you can climb a wall, row a tank, or lace up hockey skates — all under one roof.
- Vancouver Art GalleryWestern Canada's largest art museum, housed in a Francis Rattenbury courthouse since 1983 — the gallery's original home even survived a 1938 sit-down strike with its paintings untouched.