The Barrie Colts’ home may be too small, but it fits just right.
Back in 1999 the Colts were bidding for the Memorial Cup. They didn’t get it. Ottawa hosted that year, and the 67’s won the national championship on home ice. That year marked a demarcation point in the business of junior hockey. Decision makers were beginning to realize the Memorial Cup could be much bigger, and Ottawa hosting it to packed houses of about 10,000 every game was a big reason why.
Barrie had already built a facility to host the Colts that was barely big enough to host the Memorial Cup under the old method of doing business.
BarrieToday reporter Bob Bruton did a great job drilling down on how the arena came to be, paving the way for Barrie’s re-entry into the OHL three decades-plus after the Emms family packed up and moved the Flyers to Niagara Falls.
Effectively, council tapped grant funds from multiple levels of government and made a reasoned decision to go with a smaller arena to keep costs down and build a library as well.
Fair enough. That venue was suitable in most ways and was an innovator in its restaurant, premium seating and suite options. Full disclosure: My late father’s engineering company leased a box suite for 10 years and it was great fun to watch a game in it.
Perhaps council didn’t realize it a quarter-century ago, but it also meant Barrie would never host the Memorial Cup, and other events, such as the Brier, Scotties, and Skate Canada gatherings. Concerts were originally part of the business model but have been relatively rare as well. Rama’s construction of a new facility a few years later didn’t help, nor does it now.
All of this must be considered with recent news Barrie council is again kicking around a few scenarios to expand the venue now called Sadlon Arena. Full disclosure II: I served as a contracted editor of the Canadian Hockey League’s licensed publications. Every season at this time for 18 springs, it meant I would be putting together Memorial Cup content. I quickly came to understand how and why the league and its sponsors picked hosts.
There are some similarities to what was taking place at Barrie council 25 years ago but some key differences as well, the biggest of which is time has shown us Sadlon Arena’s relatively small capacity (about 4,500 for hockey) could very well be a strength and not a weakness. That’s because, if you accept the reality the big events are likely not coming to Barrie in any case, the number is about right for existing demand.
In fact, by having a relatively small capacity, it paradoxically helps fuel demand and reduce some overheads incumbent in having a bigger venue.
If the city were to find the considerable sum to stretch the building out to almost 6,000 fans, it’s still unlikely it would attract a Memorial Cup, just like in 1999. London, Kitchener, Ottawa and Oshawa, to name just four, will always hold the hammer on Barrie. An increased seating capacity may allow Barrie to host a hockey event such as the Top Prospects Game, or World U18/U17s, or be a secondary host for a tournament such as the World Women’s Hockey Championship.
There may even be a few more concerts coming to town each year.
But if the plan is to host the Memorial Cup, the Brier and the Scotties, none of the options currently being considered will be good enough. To do that, it would require an entirely new facility with a seating capacity of 7,500, perhaps more. It may not even be worth it to expand Sadlon Arena at all, especially when you consider about 1,500 more seats for regular-season Colts games will create a sense that the building is only half-full on most nights.
Heck, though the Colts have drawn well this season, Sadlon Arena felt a little more than half-full on most nights post-pandemic. Thursday night’s playoff title against the North Bay Battalion — a heartbreaking overtime loss — had several hundred empty seats.
Besides, there can be improvements made to the existing facility that would cost little compared to a seating expansion. To wit, the Colts badly need to upgrade the team’s training and dressing room capacity. Also, when visitors from the wider junior hockey world — scouts, media and visiting fans — come to Barrie, they are struck by how un-user friendly the concessions are and the fact most take cash only.
For crying out loud, “cash-only” in 2023?
Who knows where this is going to lead. It seems every few years, local politicians look at the options for giving the Colts an improved home. It almost feels like Groundhog Day. But that’s nothing compared to the gnawing emptiness of what buyer’s regret could be like.
