Canadian Cathedrals: Stratford’s Allman Arena

The Stratford Arena was built in 1924 and 1996 was renamed to William Allman Memorial Arena in honour of its long-time building manager. It was used by the Stratford Kroehlers of the Ontario Hockey League up until 1951, and is currently home to one of the most successful Junior B franchises in Canada, the Stratford Warriors (formerly the Stratford Cullitons).
The arena is widely considered one of the finest old arenas in Canada and has been used by numerous film and television crews, including in Bauer’s “Leave an Impression” advertising campaign.

The list of NHLer’s who began their careers playing Junior hockey in Stratford includes: Mark Bell, Rob Blake, Kevin Dahl, Louie DeBrusk, Greg de Vries, Boyd Devereaux, Nelson Emerson, Jeff Halpern, Rem Murray, Ed Olczyk, Mike Peluso, Chris Pronger, Garth Snow, Tim Taylor and several more.

In the spring of 2012, the Sportsnet Network (Rogers Digital Media) produced a piece on Stratford’s very own Allman Arena… CANADIAN CATHEDRALS: WILLIAM ALLMAN MEMORIAL ARENA.

Today, despite the small dressing rooms the players still love playing in the Allman — and the fans still enjoy visiting the Allman every Friday night during hockey season.  See you at the rink!