Sherbrooke Phoenix
Rink: Palais des Sports Léopold-Drolet
Capacity: 5,332
Built: 1965
League: QMJHL
City: Sherbrooke, Quebec
Home Of: Sherbrooke Phoenix
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: March 5, 2022 vs Blainville-Boisbriand
Unique Arena: #56
QMJHL Arena: #12
The Palais des Sports, home of the Sherbrooke Phoenix, sits on top of (and into) one of the many large hills in the city of Sherbrooke. The front atrium area in the foreground makes the rink look super tiny if you approach it head on, but the arena itself sits in behind it inside an exterior which looks very similar to the now torn down Civic Auditorium in Oshawa. There is lots of free parking on site, but the bigger lots are set back from the building quite a bit, so bring your coat in the dead of winter.
The Palais des Sports got a heavy renovation when the QMJHL returned in 2012 after a near-decade absence. From photos I had seen I assumed the seats were all new, but they just painted the old wooden seats in Phoenix navy blue. Surprisingly for such an old building, I found leg room to be very good, but chances are your butt will be aching a tad by the end of the game.
Another part of the renovations was the addition of several modern-day suites. I’m surprised at how seamlessly they fit into the small rink, to the point it almost looks like they were always meant to be there. Suites run stacked on two levels down the sides of the rink with another single row behind one of the ends. I do believe several rows of seats at the top of the bowl down the sides were removed, but I’m sure it was worth it for the revenue for the team and if anything, it all makes the rink feel more intimate which in my book is a good thing.
I have a hard time believing that a rink this tight and small has the same amount of listed seating capacity as the rinks in Moose Jaw and Gatineau, which feel massive by comparison. Our rink had an attendance of 2,800, and thanks to a massive hit that got the teams pissed at each other, it made the crowd pretty rowdy for the rest of the game. My companion OHLAG said he’s never been to an arena that has felt more like the old London Gardens. Considering his few hundred games at that old rink I will take his word for it.
I had a fantastic time in Sherbrooke. My only complaint would be the scoreboard situation. There is only one proper scoreboard in the rink, which is in the end at the right of this photo at the top of the bowl. Luckily, we sat in the opposite end for this game, so it wasn’t a problem for us. There is a score bug on the videoboard, but it is only up during play and is quite small. If you’re sitting in the end Sherbrooke attacks twice, reading the score isn’t quite so easy.
Bonus points for the walls of the concourse done up in wood paneling. The ceiling is wood as well, but many acoustic ceiling tiles hide most of it.
