Gatineau Olympiques
Rink: Centre Slush Puppie
Capacity: 4,000
Built: 2021
League: QMJHL
City: Gatineau, Quebec
Home Of: Gatineau Olympiques
Games Attended: 2
First Game: March 6, 2022 vs Shawinigan
Most Recent Game: March 12, 2023 vs Sherbrooke
Unique Arena: #57
QMJHL Arena: #13
The Centre Slush Puppie is a huge arena complex built on the east side of Gatineau, that not only is a brand-new home for the historic Olympiques franchise but doubles (as so many new rinks these days do) as a community complex. The community rinks are at the back of the rink as you look at it from the glass facade you see above. There are not many surface lots in the immediate area, but adjacent to the rink is a big parking garage which is surprisingly free, but be ready to wait a while to get out post-game. From the outside the arena feels rather large, as ice level is also on street level. With the all-glass front facade it really makes the rink shine on a clear sunny day.
The Bob, this place is not. It feels opposite from the old home of the Olympiques in just about every way possible. First is how high up the roof goes. The Bob was tight and intimate, the Centre Slush Puppie is open and spread out. One thing I do love is how everything is done up in the black team colours – even the dasher boards are painted black. Black seats are something you don’t seen too often in sports arenas/stadiums, but they are starting to become slightly more common. Speaking of the seats, they are all club quality – some of the best padded seats I’ve ever come across in the CHL. They are comfy and miles ahead of the wooden benches of the Bob.
With a new professional building comes a very professional game presentation. It’s not NHL quality, but for the junior level its very well done, and unlike most of Quebec the English speakers have no need to worry as announcements are done mostly in French and English. Suites wrap all around the top of the building, but I have a hard time believing the capacity is only 4,000. Can we check the seat count again? I fully except this place to host a Memorial Cup one day assuming capacity is actually higher than 4,000. But if Shawinigan can host it, then the Centre Slush Puppie certainly can.
The concourse is very very wide and spacious but also very bare. Concessions are in the four corners of the rink and there are plenty of bathrooms, but each bathroom is small. The one men’s room I was in only had two stalls and three urinals. Otherwise, the only thing in the concourse is a single small table selling merch. I did not see a proper team store anywhere though I was told there is a small one downstairs somewhere that isn’t accessible once you’re scanned into the game, which never has made sense to me. Moose Jaw as the same setup and honestly this rink feels very similar to Moose Jaw, just switch out the red colours with black. But unlike Moose Jaw, it operates at a much higher level, and of course just feels a bit newer. I’ve already been to two games at Centre Slush Puppie, the pair of games took place just a year apart during the rink’s first two seasons in operation. I’m sure at some point I will attend a game here again, and hopefully a more prominent team store is in place by then.
