Mary Brown's Centre - Newfoundland Regiment
- Dave Cottenie
- Dec 6, 2025
- 6 min read
Photos by Dave Cottenie, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 4.14
Mary Brown’s Centre
50 New Gower Street
St. John’s, Newfoundland/Labrador, A1C 1J3
Year Opened: 2001
Capacity: 6,287
Regiment on the Rock
The Canadian Hockey League returned to Newfoundland to start the 2025 season. The franchise that would become the modern-day Newfoundland Regiment was established in 1968 as the Rosemont National. In 1971, the team moved to the Montréal suburb of Laval, where they remained until 1998.
As the Laval National, they were the host to a young Mike Bossy, and as the Laval Voisins they saw a young Mario Lemieux tear up the Q. The franchise moved east to Bathurst, New Brunswick, in 1998 and became the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The Titan took home the ultimate prize, earning the 2018 Memorial Cup. Due to a tiny market and insufficient attendance, the Titan continued east until they could go east no more, settling in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Regiment is not the first attempt at QMJHL hockey in St. John’s. The expansion St. John’s Fog Devils played on the East Coast from 2005 to 2008 before moving to Montréal and eventually becoming the current Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. The Regiment took its name from the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, an infantry division of the Canadian Army. Their logo, featuring a caribou, is similar to the military unit’s badge.
Home for the Regiment is Mary Brown’s Centre. Built in 2001 and originally known as Mile One Stadium, Mary Brown’s Centre is the largest sporting venue in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is owned by the City of St. John’s and has been home to AHL hockey, primarily the St. John’s Maple Leafs and St. John’s IceCaps.
Food & Beverage 4
The concession options at Mary Brown’s Centre are strong for a junior hockey venue. There are a few different concession outlets. The most prevalent, of course, is the Mary Brown’s Stand that offers the signature fried chicken and taters options that have been famous through the franchise that originated in St. John’s. There are a couple of other concession stands that offer concession items.
Options include Ziggy Fries, pizza from Boston Pizza, onion rings, poutine, and nachos. Local favourites like fries, dressing, and gravy are also available. For those with a sweet tooth, Nanaimo bars and local favourites, oat cake and apple flips, are available. There are a variety of beer options found at Mary Brown’s Centre, many from the unique beer vending machines found in the concourse.
Atmosphere 4
Built in 2001, Mary Brown’s Centre has successfully withstood the test of time and remains a viable junior hockey venue. The exterior is attractive with brown brick and red accent siding with a silver sign backing above the main entry. Entering from the outside brings fans right into the concourse. Mary Brown’s Centre is not dissimilar to many other junior hockey venues with its single concourse. In the concourse, which is on the dark side, is a series of memorial plaques in a military display, keeping a military motif going.
Inside the arena, the ice surface is north-south oriented, and the best spot to see the centre ice logo is from the west. Above the seating bowl on the west side is the press box, which is named after Newfoundland and Hockey Night in Canada legend Bob Cole. To the north of the centre scoreboard are banners honouring the Newfoundland Growlers 2019 Kelly Cup Championship and Brad Gushue and his team winning the 2017 Canadian Curling Brier. Unfortunately, no markings or anything memorialize the St. John’s Fog Devils. The seating bowl consists of 18 rows of plastic, arena seats with cupholders in the armrests.
The Newfoundland Regiment gameday production is on a bit of a higher level than most junior hockey experiences. The Regiment does an excellent job of honouring the Regiment name, military heritage, and adding just the right amount of Newfoundland culture. The team enters the ice through a pair of doors painted to look like a trench with sandbags, and the ice level cannon welcomes the team.
The song that is played before the Regiment’s opening faceoff is The Excursion Around the Bay, by the Derina Harvey Band, a local favourite with a definitive local flavour. Before the Canadian National Anthem, the performer sings “Ode To Newfoundland,” the provincial anthem. The puffin mascot, Buddy Jr., takes part in promotions and interacts with fans in the crowd. The 50/50 raffle is of note in Newfoundland as it is notorious for large sums given the relative crowd size.
Neighbourhood 5
Mary Brown’s Centre is located in Downtown St. John’s. It is heaven for foodies as there are a ton of original local bars and restaurants within a 10-minute walk of the arena. Some of them include O’Reilly’s Irish Newfoundland Pub, St. John’s Fish Exchange, Trinity Pub, the Celtic Hearth, Adelaide Oyster House, Birdie Green Sleeves, Newfoundland Embassy, and YellowBelly Brewery.
St. John’s is a wonderful tourist destination with the harbour just steps from the arena and the Terry Fox Mile One Memorial just minutes from downtown. Other tourist options include Signal Hill, Cape Spear, and The Rooms museum. It is definitely best to visit St. John’s early in the hockey season, as the weather can be a bit precarious in the winter.
The Newfoundland Rogues of The Basketball League also play at Mary Brown’s Centre. Senior hockey and Junior A hockey are also popular in St. John’s. Memorial Sea-Hawks basketball can be found north of downtown on the campus of Memorial University. The Delta and Hilton are just steps from the arena and good choices for a spot to stay downtown.
Fans 5
Admittedly, this review is early on in the life of the Regiment, but thus far, the support in St. John’s has been terrific. At the time of writing, the Regiment was averaging almost 5,000 fans per game, which ranks them third in the QMJHL behind much larger arenas and cities in Quebec and Halifax. At the game that was reviewed, there were more than 5,100 fans in attendance. St. John’s fans are not very loud and pretty reserved, but engrossed in the game.
Access 4
Mary Brown’s Centre is located in Downtown St. John’s, north of Highway 2. It is nearly 4 km south of the Trans Canada Highway. Due to the relatively small size of St. John’s, with only 110,000 people, getting to the arena is not that difficult. It is between New Gower Street and Livingstone Street. St. John’s has some significant hills, which should be kept in mind, specifically if travelling north of downtown.
There is no parking on site; however, there are a few parking garages in the area. For those interested in public transit, there are buses east of New Growers on Water Street. Fans should consult the Metrobus website for fares, schedules, and maps. Getting around Mary Brown’s Centre is not too difficult; however, the concourses are not huge and do fill up during intermissions. Washroom facilities are adequate for the arena.
Return on Investment 4
There is pretty good value in taking in a Newfoundland Regiment game. Tickets begin at $25 for the upper corners and go up to $33. This is a bit on the high side for the QMJHL. Discounts are available for youth, seniors, and military. Parking will cost in the area, but should not be too much, and concession prices are about what one would expect. The product on the ice is high quality and comes with a good balance of modern sports event and Newfoundland flair.
Extras 3
Two extra marks for the crazy support that Newfoundlanders have for the 50/50 draw. At the game that was reviewed, the 50/50 draw, which is new for each game, hit over $30,000. There is even a portrait of Murray Chaplin in the concourse. Murray was an institution at Mary Brown’s Centre, selling 50/50 tickets, before his passing.
An extra mark for the Mile One Marker, where Terry Fox began his Marathon of Hope in 1980. The original name of Mary Brown’s Centre was Mile One Stadium, which is a nod to that as well as an acknowledgement of St. John’s as the easternmost point in Canada.
Final Thoughts
The newest member of the QMJHL has hockey fans talking. There are high hopes for the return of hockey to Newfoundland, and the results are being seen at the turnstile. Hopefully, the Newfoundland Regiment will have a long and successful reign at Mary Brown’s Centre despite the travel challenges it brings to the league. Hockey on the Rock is a necessity, and Junior Hockey is the perfect fit.
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