The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto is like paradise for the avid hockey fan. Even fringe fans will make the pilgrimage to the hall if they are in the area for another reason. Hard core fans will take flight to The Big Smoke simply to see the hall and its revered contents.
So to have a little slice of that paradise in Red Deer during the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup was simply nirvana for many fans.
“We’ve got 20 display cases here. Each one with a different theme,” said Bill Wellman with the Hockey Hall of Fame. “We have themes from Red Deer. We have themes from pro classics in Western Canada. We’ve got the Western Hockey League, the Ontario League, the Quebec league. The legends, the all stars.”
It’s a small sample size of the hall which contains thousands of artifacts about the game of hockey.
“We don’t represent just the NHL or just junior hockey. We’re all hockey, all levels,” he said.
With sticks, gloves, jerseys and other items to inspect a hockey fan can soak in the history on display and if junior hockey trophies are your thing the mobile version of the hall has that covered.
“We’ve got the three league trophies (WHL,OHL, QMJHL), we’ve got the Memorial Cup trophies, all the CHL trophies, the Western Hockey League and a few NHL ones here as well,” he said.
He says being able to deal with these pieces of hockey history on a regular basis is a reward and that reward increases in value when he sees the looks on people’s faces as they view the displays.
He says people are sometimes surprised when they find out the Memorial Cup has deep roots within Canada’s military but the hall has an incredible display of that connection.
For Bill it’s as the hardware on display which really makes him smile.
“I’m a trophy guy. I love all the trophies,” he said. “Some of them are so beautiful and they’re art if you will. They’re basically pieces of art.”
The hall is a registered charitable organization so when something is donated it is sent to an independent appraiser who determines the value and the owner of the collection gets a tax receipt in that amount.
He says the hall in Toronto is getting jammed with donations as they work to preserve hockey history in this country.
“We’ve almost grown in downtown Toronto to almost as big as we can get. We’re using up every square foot we possibly can and in that (space) we have maybe 40 per cent of our collection on display at any given time. The rest is archived in the west end of Toronto.”
Picking and choosing what to display in Toronto allows the hall the ability to pack up the mobile and customize it to the region they are visiting.
It’s a great way to bring a piece of the hall to people who may never get out east to see the real thing.
“If I had a dime for every time I heard that I’d be a rich man,” he said. “So many people can’t make it to Toronto to see things so to come out here, in your own hometown and see it, especially when it’s so geared towards your hometown and the event, it makes it really special.”
