It opened, partly unfinished, on January 10, 1920, for a game between the Canadiens and Toronto,[2] won by Montreal 14–7.

A week later, parts of a balcony broke before a game with Ottawa, and police stopped sales at 6,500.

The Canadiens eventually moved from the arena because of its uneven natural ice surface.

The team wanted a mechanically frozen ice surface but was never able to get one in the rink, as owner Thomas Duggan concentrated on getting American franchises into the NHL, rather than fulfilling his statements that he would install ice-making equipment in the arena.

While an auditorium, Enrico Caruso sang there, and Norman Bethune, back from Spain in June of 1937, gave an important speech to rally supporters of the Loyalists.