Hockey Hall of Fame

Location: Downtown Toronto, ON

Date Attended: July 29, 2017

Overall Impression: Hockey Fan Heaven

The game of hockey is far more than 32 arenas in 32 North American cities. It’s a global sport with decades of history and tradition. It’s hundreds of thousands of players, coaches, and game builders who dedicate their lives to this great sport. And a few select hundred or so of those individuals are fortunate enough to be recognized in the fraternity of the sport’s elite: the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Welcome to the fraternity party.

Last summer, college mentee Dan and I ventured north from Pennsylvania and spent a long weekend in Toronto. What a fascinating city with polite people and great sports! Can’t wait to see the Leafs play in their home building someday! But sadly, the Leafs don’t play in July. So we headed down Yonge Street for an afternoon at the Hall.

I guess it was a sign that it was going to be a great afternoon when Nolan Patrick’s jersey greeted us at the front entrance. The newest Flyer was honored for his remarkable 2015-16 WHL season with the Brandon Wheat Kings, and here’s hoping he continues that magic in Philadelphia. But anywho, the Hall is a shrine to the best and brightest stars to ever lace up a pair of skates.

The Hall’s main exhibit room was running a special on the 100 Greatest Players in NHL history, ranging from Gretzky to LaFleur, Bourque to Lidstrom, Vezina to Brodeur. Each player was represented with sticks, jerseys, quotes from fellow players, and much more.

Another fascinating exhibit was the World of Hockey room, which was dedicated to the growth of the game across the globe. Virtually every national team’s jersey was represented, as well as tidbits of history from the Olympics, Summit Series, and World Cup.

The Hall also had a complete mockup of the Canadiens’ locker room from the old Montreal Forum, which is a great way for fans to have their own “pregame experience”. Pretty neat to see the old skates and jerseys hanging in the lockers and look up on the wall and see names like Jean Beliveau and Jacques Plante from those great Montreal teams.

My favorite exhibit was the NHLPA Be a Player Zone exhibit, where fans can get experience as an NHL player thanks to virtual simulations from the EA Sports NHL video game series. One game had players shooting pucks at a TV screen at various NHL goalies, and the other game had players don a goalie glove and blocker and stop virtual shootout attempts with pucks shooting out of five different holes in the screen. And no, don’t worry, they’re not hard rubber pucks, they’re foam. I tried my hand at the goalie game:

Oh yeah, and there was this nice shiny trophy in the final room!

True hockey diehards, casual fans, and tourists alike will enjoy a trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. And by the way, tickets for adults are just $20 CAD, so it’s not going to cost an arm and a leg to enjoy the history of this great sport! Definitely worth a couple hours on a visit to Toronto, and I’ll definitely visit again. If you go, give the goalie game a shot and try to match my miraculous shutout!