WINNIPEG, Nov. 13, 2024 – Saturday, Nov. 16 marks the 20th anniversary of the showcase “Northern Lights Northern Stars” concert, which welcomed the first guests to the new downtown arena in 2004.
Since then, Canada Life Centre has been host to more than 2,500 events and recently welcomed it’s 20 millionth guest at the Oct. 18, 2024 Winnipeg Jets game.
In recognition of this milestone, the Winnipeg Jets will host the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Canada Life Centre on Tuesday, Nov. 19 when the team faces the Florida Panthers. The evening will take a lookback at some of the highlight events of the past 20 years including fan and player-favourite moments and events at Canada Life Centre. The first 5,000 fans to enter the building will also receive a commemorative Canada Life Centre coin.
True North Sports + Entertainment will also launch the commemorative book, Canada Life Centre: A Pictorial Celebration of 20 Years of Sports & Entertainment, which will first be available to fans at the flagship downtown Jets Gear location during the game.
Featuring 100 top sports milestones and memories, from the 2009 AHL Calder Cup Finals, the first Jets 2.0 goal, and numerous Team Canada matchups, to iconic performances from the likes of Taylor Swift, The Tragically Hip and Metallica, along with award shows and community events, the book is a look back at marquee moments in Winnipeg’s sports and entertainment history.
With a foreword by Mark Chipman, the book was written by Jon Waldman and locally produced and printed with layout and design credits to Electric Monk Media, book packaging by Great Plains Press and printing by Friesens.
Media can download a selection of photos from these events as well as images of the venue and commemorative coin HERE.
Following the Nov. 19 launch, the book will be available at all Jets Gear locations and online at truenorthshop.com, retailing for $29.95 plus tax.
With an annual event schedule of more than 125 professional hockey games, concerts, shows and community events, Canada Life Centre welcomes more than a million guests each year while also positively impacting area businesses.
The building of the downtown arena, first known as MTS Centre, came at a pivotal time in Winnipeg’s history and changed the trajectory of the city’s centre, creating a new downtown destination for residents and tourists alike. Since its opening, hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction activity and enhancement has followed from both public and private investors, further invigorating Winnipeg’sdowntown.