Stadium Reviews

This city and this market richly deserve a berth in the Q. The region is a hot bed of hockey greats. That being said, this is a relatively cheap experience, a venue to cross of the list, but for a memorable and stand out night in this league, there are other peer venues that may offer a more authentic experience, in a better city and better setting.

Hockey is a staple in the Great White North and Sault Ste. Marie is no different. Taking in the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at GFL Memorial Gardens is a great experience in a top notch venue. It was good enough for the Great One and it's good enough for you!

Chicago loves hockey on any level and the Chicago Steel management has done a great job of creating a professional and fun experience. The pricing is reasonable and it's a great night out of the house in Chicago.

Taking in a Stouffville Spirit game is a great way to spend a fall or winter evening. Stouffville is a decent arena for the OJHL and has a cozy feel to it in a community that loves its hockey.

The Tomato Capital of Canada is ripe with hockey atmosphere! The Leamington Flyers are a solid member of the OJHL and their home, Highbury Canco Arena @ Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre is a great spot to catch some junior hockey.

Stadium Journey is proud to present our rankings of the Canadian Hockey League arenas for 2026.

Explore the 2025–2026 QMJHL rankings from Stadium Journey, where arenas are graded using the FANFARE metric across food, atmosphere, fans, and more to determine the league’s top hockey experiences.

The Kitchener Rangers offer one of the elite experiences in all of Junior Hockey. Dom Cardillo Arena and the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium provide one of the greatest spots to watch a hockey game in the world. It would behove hockey fans everywhere to make the trip to Kitchener to catch hockey history in action.

What can you say about a hockey rink with an actual working dentist office on site? Ironic? Maybe. Awesome? Definitely! Delta Dental Arena is a solid, affordable place to catch some junior hockey action.

The Vancouver Giants do not play in Downtown Vancouver and are a bit of a hike for those who dwell in the city. However, the Giants do have one of the most attractive venues in the Canadian Hockey League and provide a solid gameday atmosphere which should not be missed.

The London Knights are the gold standard of franchises in the Ontario Hockey League and the Greater Canadian Hockey League. Their home, Canada Life Place, is among the best in the league, and taking in a Knights game will provide fans with one of the best experiences in Junior Hockey.

The Barrie Colts are a franchise worthy of the memory of Dale Hawerchuk and Sadlon Arena is a solid arena for Junior Hockey. What was once one of the quietest experiences, now has a bit of life to it and a Colts game is a great experience.

The Cobourg Cougars are the epitome of junior hockey. The only game in town that the community rallies around. The Cobourg Community Centre has lots going for it and is a comfortable spot to catch a hockey game. It will be interesting to see how the team and community bounces back from the 2025-26 season challenges.

While this arena and the hockey game day experience will not blow you away, what makes a trip to see the Charlottetown Islanders is not the game itself, but immersing into a cultural and tour experience that embraces the community and the region.

We have a National Hockey League that is so focused on markets such as Phoenix, such as Atlanta, that are failed hockey experiments, but provide robust TV households and corporate headquarters which goose up their financial bottom line. Yet Quebec waits. In the meantime, go. Go see the Remparts. Go explore Quebec City. If you are a hockey fan, you will feel it everywhere.

The Victoria Royals may seem a bit isolated being located on Vancouver Island. However, Victoria is an excellent tourist destination and the Victoria Royals can definitely be a part of the excitement. The Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre provides a solid junior hockey experience and fans will definitely enjoy the experience.

As a destination venue, Centre 200 in and of itself is not the kind of building that will make an indelible impression. It is kind of basic, it lacks some of the glitz that has become part of some of the newer arenas in the QMJHL. But what makes this a compelling and worthwhile travel experience is the totality of the destination itself. Sydney offers a lot to see and experience, even in the winter.

Halifax in and of itself offers a superb vacation destination, albeit this region is more geared for tourism in the warmer months, and that means not so much during hockey season. Plenty of attractions, historic sites, a vibrant and bustling downtown, and this arena which strays away from the mold of the quintessential rural “community rink”. This city, and this experience, is definitely worth the trip!

The OJHL moving from Brantford to King City is an interesting one. The ownership situation in King is an interesting one as well. The King Rebellion now enjoy their brand new facility in JTF Homes Arena @ Zancor Centre and time will tell if the Rebellion will be a long term staple for the area or a flash in the pan, much like the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.

After pressure from the Siskins alumni, in 2025, the GOHL’s Siskins returned to the “Waterloo Siskins” moniker, having previously played as the Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins. The Siskins continue to put a solid product on the ice and the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex is a good facility which has benefited from some recent, key renovations.