The OHL Arena Guide - Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa 67's

First Visit: October 30, 2010 for NHL

The Ottawa 67's moved into the NHL's Scotiabank Place for the entirety of the 2012-13 and the 2013-14 seasons while the Ottawa Civic Centre was being renovated. The 67's also played odd home games in the building over the years, and it is also a former QMJHL building, having hosted an Olympiques home game in 2002. The review that follows is, as much as anything, a review of the NHL experience, as I have never seen a junior game there.

A score of years ago, a group of Ottawa businessmen had a plot of land out in the sticks and an idea - to attract an NHL team and build an arena on their land as the anchor of a commercial development. Much to everyone's surprise, not least the developers themselves, the NHL went along with the plan. The eventual result was the reborn Ottawa Senators and the Canadian Tire Centre, a pinkish, massive arena that to this day exists on the fringe between urban development on one side and pine forest, gneiss and muskeg on the other, all the way to Winnipeg. The Senators have become respectable since the early years, but their arena in many ways belongs to another era; a time when arenas were built in the suburbs, as far as possible from civilization so as not to disturb the neighbours.

Inside, the old-fashioned feeling continues. SBP is missing a lot of the frills of many new NHL buildings; bare concrete walls abound in the twin concourse, three-level design, and the scoreclock is among the league's most ancient. Yet the spartan nature of Scotiabank Place is part of its charm. Views are all excellent, the atmosphere is good, and the building is well thought-out and easy to navigate.

The Senators were originally tied in with the 67's, as they originally shared a home with the 67's at the Civic Centre while the new arena was under construction. But the sharing has worked both ways. Much like the Air Canada Centre, the Canadian Tire Centre has only ever been an occasional home for the OHL, with both the 67's and the St. Michael's Majors playing home games there. Back during the College Arena years, the Majors, who share an owner with the Senators, played all their "home" games against Ottawa at the Canadian Tire Centre in an effort to make money.

Once the renovations at Landsdowne Park were completed, the 67's moved back downtown, and Canadian Tire Centre became purely an NHL building once again.