the arena on January 24, 1988. Copps hosted the WWF pay-per-view Breakdown: In Your House on September 27, 1998, and the Billy Graham crusade that year, attended by 19,000 spectators each night. The Grateful Dead played the Coliseum on five occasions, with two dates in 1990 and three dates in 1992. In November 2022, it was announced that beginning in the late summer of 2023, the arena would close for 20 months due to renovations. This will force the Bulldogs and Rock to relocate for all of the 2023–24 season and most of the 2024–25 season. As a result of the closure, the Honey Badgers decided to permenantly relocate to Brampton, Ontario. Basketball The Hamilton Skyhawks debuted with a 101–99 win over the Halifax Windjammers in World Basketball League play, in 1992. The league folded during the season, and several Canadian teams, including the Skyhawks formed the National Basketball League for 1993, but the 'Hawks moved to Edmonton for the playoffs, then folded. The Coliseum was host to the 1994 FIBA World Championship, along with Maple Leaf Gardens and SkyDome. The next year, the Centre hosted the FIBA Americas Championship for Women, which was won by Canada. During their first two seasons of play (1995–96 and 1996–97), prior to the completion of construction on their new home the Air Canada Centre, the Toronto Raptors played three regular season games at Copps Coliseum, as well as a preseason game in 1997. In 1998 a strange twist of scheduling conflicts led the Toronto Raptors to play their final regular season game in Hamilton, as the Toronto Blue Jays had first right of refusal for all SkyDome dates. The Raptors had attempted to play the April 19 match at Maple Leaf Gardens, but were unsuccessful. AHL and OHL The American Hockey League expanded to Copps in 1992 in the form of Vancouver's affiliate, the Hamilton Canucks. After two seasons, the team was moved to Syracuse, where they became one of the league's most stable franchises. In October 1996, Copps Coliseum became home to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League. The Bulldogs, who were the top affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers (1996–2003) and the Montreal Canadiens (2002–2015), brought over 2 million fans to the arena. On June 7, 2007, the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs won their first Calder Cup Championship in franchise history at home in Copps Coliseum, defeating the Hershey Bears. In