In my experience, you either like hockey or you don’t. The fast, chaotic nature of the game seems to either hook people immediately or turn them away. Take my wife and me, for example. We both grew up surrounded by hockey fans, and the game was almost always on the TV. But, while I embraced the sport, she rejected it, finding it far too confusing and unpredictable. Instead, she gravitated towards curling, where she could see the strategy play out and understand the reasoning behind each shot.
Our differences haven’t stopped us from going to games together; while she doesn’t get the sport, she’s not opposed to hanging out at an arena and snacking on arena food. It’s a fun experience regardless of whether you like the sport, and in my journey to see every Western Hockey League team play in their home arena, I’ve tried to dig into why people are hockey fans and how it connects back to junior hockey. I didn’t know anyone who grew up watching the Calgary Hitmen. So, I decided to invite two people to join me for my fifth stop who represented either end of my hockey dichotomy.
The first was Megan, a massive Calgary Flames fan who reached out to me when she saw I was going to a bunch of junior games. We grew up together, graduated together, and even went to college together for a year, but then I moved to Saskatoon, and she ended up in Calgary. Suddenly, it had been years since we had seen each other, and there was no better excuse to reconnect than going to a game.
The second was my younger sister, who also now lives in Calgary. Like my wife, the hockey bug never caught her despite being surrounded by the sport. Yet, I knew she’d gone to several games with her boyfriend and the company she works for, so I thought she might like to join us. Like the rest of us, she’d never seen a Hitmen game, but since it had been a while since she’d had a Pocket Dawg, she accepted.
After going to four games with die-hard fans like myself, I assumed this would be a different experience. After all, half the people attending weren’t all that into hockey. Yet, once we got there and started chatting, I quickly realized that I still had a lot to learn about who I considered a hockey fan.
Hitmen History
Organized hockey has been in Calgary since the late 1800s, leading to the city’s first professional team, the Calgary Tigers, who played in the 1924 Stanley Cup Final. The team paved the way for pro hockey in Calgary, but it also made things much more difficult for junior teams. The Calgary Canadians were the first team from Alberta to compete in the Memorial Cup in 1924 and the first to win it in 1926, yet by the 1930s, the Canadians had ceased operations. While unfortunate, their disappearance wasn’t unexpected; teams came and went like tumbleweed during these early years, and leagues and owners struggled to find what would draw in fans. With just over 65,000 people, there weren’t enough fans to support multiple teams.
By the 1940s, Calgary had another top junior team, the Calgary Buffaloes, who played in the Western Canada Junior Hockey League (WCJHL). They were the best team in the province in 1948-49, but five years later, they were one of the worst, winning just three of their 36 games. Without a strong fanbase and stable ownership, the team was granted a leave of absence from the league in 1954 to try and sort things out, which was extended for multiple seasons. Calgary Herald writer Geroge Bilych criticized the apathetic fans, writing, “Looking at it from long range, it appears slightly ridiculous that a city with a population of 160,000 is unable to support a junior hockey team” (from Calgary Herald, Mar. 12, 1955).
Related: The Great WHL Adventure #4: Medicine Hat Tigers
New opportunities in the western junior hockey scene helped revive the Buffaloes when manager Ron Owen partnered with a local Calgary brewery and joined “Wild” Bill Hunter, a notorious hockey promoter and manager, along with several frustrated teams from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) to create the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (CMJHL) in 1966-67.
However, 10 games into the season, the Buffaloes had already lost their coach, and less than three months later, they lost their general manager, forcing the league to run the team due to financial issues. By the end of the season, the Buffaloes had just four wins in 56 games, which still stands as a WHL record, as does the Estevan Bruins’ 18 goals scored in a single game against the Buffaloes, 11 of which came in a single period. Saskatoon Blade Gerry Pinder also owns a record, thanks to Calgary – 10 points in one game.
A local ownership group stepped up and bought the Buffaloes and renamed them the Centennials for the 1967-68 season. Life started well for the newly-christened team; the Centennials were perennial contenders thanks to their blend of skill and nastiness and had one of the most exciting rivalries in the league with the Medicine Hat Tigers, who joined the now-titled Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) in 1970-71. But even a string of first-place conference finishes couldn’t stave off Calgarians’ apathy; by 1976-77, the team averaged 1500 fans a night in the 6500-seat Stampede Corral, prompting ownership to move the team to Billings, Montana.
“It’s a serious situation and when you have hockey men like Bill Burton of Lethbridge, Joe Fisher of Medicine Hat and league president Ed Chynoweth stating that the big cities don’t need the Western Canada League, it makes you stop and think. Because they are correct…Calgarians don’t want to watch good hockey. And (the Centennials) haven’t played all that bad during the season. They have given the fans some exciting and entertaining games for the most part, certainly the good ones completely overshadow the bad ones. Calgary doesn’t deserve a [WHL] franchise.”
– Dunc Scott, Calgary Herald, Apr. 14, 1977
Calgary got another shot just a season later after the Winnipeg Monarchs finally found a buyer for their team after looking for multiple seasons. Like Calgary, Winnipeg had also been a pioneer for hockey in the prairies, but once the pros came to town, junior hockey struggled to find its footing. The Monarchs had two name changes before they were finally moved to Calgary, where they became the Calgary Wranglers in 1977-78. Unsurprisingly, the Wranglers also struggled financially. By 1987, they were averaging well below the 2500 tickets sold needed to break even, so the team went up for sale, and before long, a group in Lethbridge, Alberta, committed to take the hapless franchise.
By the 1990s, it was assumed junior hockey couldn’t survive in big markets. Despite being the second largest city in Canada behind Montreal (at the time), Calgarians proved time and time again they didn’t care about junior hockey. Even worse was that, after leaving, every team thrived in its new market; the original Buffaloes/Centennials were now in Tri-City and had become a perennial playoff contender with upwards of 4000 season ticket holders. The Wranglers, now the Lethbridge Hurricanes, quickly rose to the top of the Eastern Conference and averaged no less than 3000 fans after just a few seasons.
Yet, in 1994, a group of 18 investors came forth with another proposal for a junior hockey team. Even before the pitch, the group was impressive, as it was led by NHLers Theo Fleury and Joe Sakic, successful junior coach Graham James, and World Wrestling Federation (WWF) star Bret Hart. Then, the name was revealed, which caught people’s attention – The Hitmen.
It was Fleury who suggested that the new team use Hart’s WWF nickname and his black and pink colour scheme, and it was a hit among the investors, but not everyone was enthralled. “I remember hearing in the media at the time that the name was too violent and that the logo was too scary,” Hart recalled in an Instagram post in 2023. “And because I was a professional wrestler, I was a poor spokesperson for a junior hockey team, and the team should have been named something else.”
With mounting pressure from the WHL, the Hitmen quickly pivoted, unveiling a new, less scary logo for their inaugural season in 1995-96. However, thanks to fan support, the WHL relented a season later, allowing the Jason Voorhees-esque logo to return. It was a much-needed win for the franchise. The team won just 18 games in their first season, leading to poor attendance and roughly half of the team’s initial 1400 season ticket holders to re-up their package. Their arena was also over 45 years old and showing its age.
The Flames also saw the Hitmen’s drop in attendance, and with their team also struggling in the standings, they offered to purchase the team in 1997 to share ice time with them at the Saddledome on off days. It was an easy answer from the original owners after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in their first season. There was also the issue with James, the team’s general manager, who pled guilty to two counts of sexual assault and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. The team quickly distanced itself from him, but their reputation was tarnished. The team’s second season also saw them win 15 games, and after such a promising start, the Hitmen seemed destined to be the next in a long line of failed junior teams in Calgary.
And yet, they survived, all thanks to the Flames. The NHL team provided the Hitmen access to astute hockey minds like Kelly Kisio, a former NHLer and Flames scout who became the Hitmen’s GM in 1998-99. Under his guidance, the Hitmen navigated their early rocky patches and became WHL Champions in 1999 and 2010. Their attendance skyrocketed to an average of 8000 fans a game for a decade. Although the team’s average attendance has settled to around 4500, they are now a staple in Calgary’s sports scene. It took a lot of work to get there, but junior hockey finally has a permanent home in Calgary.
Other Franchise Leaders:
- Most Points (Total): Brad Moran (1995-00) – 450
- Most Points (Season): Pavel Brendl (1998-99) – 134
- Most Goals (Season): Pavel Brendl (1998-99) – 73
- Most Games Played: Brad Moran (1995-00) – 357
- Most Wins (Total): Martin Jones (2006-10) – 108
- Most Wins (Season): Martin Jones (2008-09) – 45
- Retired Numbers: 1 – #20 Brad Moran
- Highest Drafted Players: Andrew Ladd, 4th (Carolina, 2004); Pavel Brendl, 4th (Rangers, 1999); Karl Alzner, 5th (Washington, 2007); Jake Virtanen, 6th (Vancouver, 2014); Carter Yakemchuk, 7th (Ottawa, 2024); Kris Beech, 7th (Washington, 1999)
Scotiabank Saddledome
There aren’t many NHL arenas more iconic than the Scotiabank Saddledome, and its history is closely tied with its longest tenant, the NHL’s Flames. When the team arrived in Calgary from Atlanta in 1980-81, it was immediately apparent that the Stampede Corral was too small for an NHL team and had been well short of the league’s standards nearly a decade ago.
However, the arena was also designed to support Calgary’s bid for the 1988 Winter Olympics. The city had tried three previous times to host an Olympics, but thanks to their arena plans, they won the vote in 1981. By 1983, the Olympic Colosseum was unveiled, but it needed a better name than that. A fan vote was held, and after 57% of the suggestions contained some form of ‘saddle’, the organizers threw the best ones into a hat and drew out the ‘Olympic Saddledome.’
The Saddledome is a perfect name for the strangely-shaped building. However, by 1995, the ‘Olympic’ title didn’t fit anymore, so the building’s naming rights were sold to Canadian Airlines, then to the oil and gas company Pengrowth in 2000. In 2010, Scotiabank bought the rights, creating the name we know today. Yet, nothing lasts forever, and at over 40 years old, the Saddledome is now the oldest arena in the NHL and isn’t the premier location it once was. Plans are already in place to create a new entertainment district just north of the current location under the name Scotia Place, and the city broke ground on the project in July 2024.
While it’s sad to see a staple of the Calgary skyline fade into the horizon, the Flames aren’t the only ones benefitting this time. The Saddledome has been shared between the NHL team and several other leagues, including the Hitmen, who have been around since their sophomore season in the WHL. However, the building has also shared its space with the National Lacrosse League’s (NLL) Calgary Roughnecks since 2001 and the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League (AHL) since 2022. All will likely move along with the Flames into the new Scotia Place, which promises to be a premier sports and entertainment venue.
Food and Extras
Summary
- Tickets – $22.70 (4-pack offer at $17.50 per ticket, plus Ticketmaster fees)
- Hat – $29.99-$42.99
- Jersey – $159.99
- Puck – $11.99
If you’ve spent significant time in southern Alberta, there’s a good chance you visited the Saddledome at least once. My first visit came on Nov. 20, 2003, when my uncle took my dad, brother, and me to our first NHL game. My uncle’s Montreal Canadiens were visiting, and since I liked being different, I bought a Habs shirt to wear to the game.
We sat at the same level as the scoreboard, and every time the Flames scored, I could feel the heat from the giant flamethrowers that shot fire into the air. Later on, the Flames’ mascot, Harvey the Hound, snuck up behind us, grabbed my head, and gave it a shake, thanks to the red and blue ‘C’ on my chest. But when Calgary’s Martin Gelinas scored the game-winner in the dying seconds of the third period, I immediately forgot who I was cheering for and was on my feet with everyone else.
That was the only time I had watched a game in the Saddledome. I’d seen a Roughnecks game with my in-laws and went with my dad to see Van Halen in 2007, but we sat in a similar section. So, when I saw that there were plenty of options much closer to the ice to see the Hitmen, I chose to sit in the lower bowl, row 11, in the biggest arena I’ve been in so far on this journey. Had this been an NHL game, those seats would have cost me around $400 each, but I scored them for less than $23.
Aside from the incredible view, one of the coolest parts of the seats was the QR code on the armrests that took you to an app to order food right to your seat. I thought this would be perfect to try the famous Pocket Dawgs; I’d looked at the nearby food stalls and didn’t see it, so I thought this would be better than wandering around the whole arena looking for where they’re sold.
Unfortunately, they don’t offer that service during Hitmen games, which I only discovered when I went to check out on the app. Thankfully, the Pocket Dawg stand (the only place they’re sold, by the way) was right by the stairway we went down to get to our section, and although they were pricier than I thought at around $10, it was 100% worth the hype.
The souvenir stands were similar to the food – stocked with plenty of the typical wares featuring items from the Flames, Wranglers, Roughnecks, and Hitmen, but I found things just a bit more expensive than I had in previous venues, especially with the smaller items I gravitate towards. I was hopeful they had a set of team-issued hockey cards, but they informed me (at two different places) that they had sold out a few days ago. So I settled for a pair of Bret Hart socks with the original Voorhees mask and the pink and black colour scheme that were 50% off, making the total around $12. It came with a free reusable bag, too, which is always appreciated.
Mar 17, 2024 – Hitmen vs. Hurricanes
When we sat down to watch the game, I was awestruck. Everything was so much bigger and so much fancier that, for the first few minutes, I didn’t have much to say; my attention was firmly fixed on the game. I already knew the Hitmen weren’t a great team this season. In 64 games, they had just 26 wins, and although the playoffs weren’t out of the picture yet, with three games remaining in the season, they were rapidly slipping out of reach. Complicating matters were the Hurricanes, who weren’t exactly a powerhouse team, but they sat two spots ahead of the Hitmen, and in their last three encounters, the Hurricanes had outscored them 19-3.
But Calgary had their sights set on extending their season and weren’t going to go down easily. They set the tone early, with the Hitmen’s Maxim Muranov getting the puck off the opening draw and immediately putting it by the Hurricanes’ goalie Harrison Meneghin. All it took to open the scoring was six seconds, making Muranov’s goal the fastest start in franchise history. Seven minutes later, the Hitmen scored on the power play after Carson Wetsch shoved a loose puck into the net.
I had been looking forward to this game for months; since Megan had reached out near the beginning of the season about getting together, I had been planning the trip. Now that I was here, it was everything I had hoped it would be. Not only were we sitting in some of the nicest sections in the arena, and I was going to be able to watch 2024 draft-eligible defenceman Carter Yakemchuk, but I was getting to hang out with my sister and childhood friend. Even though my sister wasn’t a hockey fan like Megan or me, it was great to spend time with them again.
That’s when my sister stopped me and said, “What do you mean I’m not a hockey fan?”
Her response caught me off guard, and I stumbled over my words. “I, uh, well, I thought that you, uh, didn’t like hockey…”
She shook her head. “Why do you think I’ve gone to so many games?”
I hadn’t thought about it, but my sister has probably gone to more games in the last couple of years than I have, from a Wranglers game in a luxury box to minor league games coached by her boyfriend. I assumed that all of these games were similar to the ones my wife attended with me in that she was going because she liked the people she was going with, and the hockey was just there. To be fair, this isn’t inaccurate. She doesn’t seek out games like I do or know all the rules. But she never went in spite of hockey. The food, friends, and the energy of cheering along with the home crowd made it an enjoyable experience every time she went to a game.
Megan had an equally surprising response. Since I knew she was a fan, I assumed she had followed the sport since she was a kid. After all, I remember her rooting for the Flames back in high school, and we had grown up about 20 minutes from each other. However, her family weren’t big hockey people. The game was rarely on the living room TV, and she doesn’t remember ever going to a junior game as a kid. Thus, she didn’t care about hockey.
That all changed when the Flames went on their Cinderella run in 2003-04. Suddenly, the games were on all the time, and for the first time, she saw what hockey was all about, and it was pretty fun. Even though the Flames’ playoffs ended bitterly with a Game 7 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Megan was hooked.
The passion grew when she moved to Calgary, and she now goes to a game whenever she can, even travelling to Nashville in Oct. 2019 to see the Flames take on the Predators, where she watched Matthew Tkachuk finish the game in one of the most dramatic fashions she’d ever seen. It may have even out-dazzled the Elton John performance she saw the previous night.
However, when it comes to things outside of the Flames, Megan is less interested. She accompanied our youth group back in junior high to see the Hurricanes once or twice and has gone to a couple of Wranglers games. She likes the family-friendly vibe those events put on, especially for the price. But, like my sister, Megan was more of a fan of hockey than a hockey fan. Sure, the hockey was fun, and she liked knowing the players who were on the ice, but the atmosphere, the food, and the people she was with all contributed. There’s also less pressure at a junior game; spending hundreds of dollars to see the Flames makes her feel like she has to pay more attention, which can negatively affect the experience.
Hockey has a long history of pushing people away who want to interact with the sport in non-traditional ways. The NHL has been frequently criticized for its actions that discourage diversity, and like many fans, I have denounced many of those actions. Yet, it wasn’t until my sister called me out that I realized I was still contributing to that problematic history. Instead of welcoming people in, I was judging those who didn’t embrace the sport like I did and making assumptions about their motivations. Thankfully, I have a sister who is not afraid to confront me on my assumptions, and thanks to her, I recognized my stereotypes for what they were.
The game slowed down after the first two goals, but didn’t lose energy. Luke Cozens, the younger brother of Dylan Cozens, scored his first WHL goal five minutes into the second period, bringing the Hurricanes within one. For the next 34 minutes, the score didn’t change, and although the Hitmen shelled Meneghin, he turned everything aside.
Finally, in the dying minutes of the third, the Hurricanes tied it up, sending the game to overtime. But the Hitmen weren’t done yet, and with less than two minutes left in the first overtime, Reese Hamilton fired a juicy rebound into the top corner, giving Calgary a much-needed win. The home teams are now 4-1, for anyone counting.
Since I started my journey, I’ve been trying to bring others along to share in this great sport. But, in that pursuit, I forgot that it’s not just about watching hockey. Going to a game is an experience, and hockey is just one part of an event. It’s why my wife still goes to games with me despite not being a fan, and it’s why my sister and Megan wanted to join me in Calgary.
Mar. 17, 2024, was a great game in a great venue and possibly the last time I’ll ever be in the Saddledome, but when I think back to that day, the biggest thing I remember is the people I saw it with. It was the conversations and stories with my sister and close friend and laughing at the strange merch options we found in the store. It was trying a Pocket Dawg for the first time, thanks to Megan’s and my sister’s recommendation. It’s easy to forget those parts when you’re a die-hard fan, but they can turn a good game into a great one, and I had a great time in Calgary.
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