Hockey Hall of Fame for non-enthusiasts

Location

30 Young St. Toronto, Canada. The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in the basement of the Brookfield Place building.

Cost Breakdown

Costs are in Canadian Dollars

• Gen admission (14yr-64yr) $20.00
• Youth (4 yr-13yr) $14.00
• Senior (65+) $16.00
• Online tickets include 10% off in the shop

Ease of Access

The Hockey Hall of Fame is located primarily on the basement level of the Brookfield Place, right across from Union Train station. There are elevators and escalators and, for those familiar with the city, the PATH network is an easy way to avoid chilly weather. That said, it is still on the lower level so those not aware of the area might struggle to find the museum. Spirit of Hockey, the shop, is on ground level and you can get directions from the workers there.

Despite being on the lower level there are many flights of stairs. For example the Stanley Cup and related trophies are on the ground level accessed by a stair case. There is elevator access but it does not have the same atmosphere.

Tour Notes

As you might have guessed from the title of this article I am not a hockey fan. I know: I am a bad Canadian. I also don’t really care for maple syrup. One more strike and I get my citizenship revoked! I went with my siblings and my sisters boyfriend (who does care about hockey) and I enjoyed my visit much more than I expected.

The layout is a bit confused with a few steps up and back down to get to the world hockey hall but generally speaking the artifacts and information is fairly comprehensively laid out. There are also accessible paths to both the world hockey hall and the Stanley Cup. My sister noticed that sometimes the graphics of payers in action (always labelled with their name) did not always correspond with the case they were in.

The paths were more than wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, strollers, walkers, and service dogs who are more than welcome.

The interpretation was a little small and often in odd locations (to me, they must make sense to someone but why make your audience search for the text instead of having it in the same place each time?). That said the boyfriend and my siblings enjoyed it while I was geeking out about the amazing cases! Seriously, the cases made the day for me, all perfectly in the same style, utilizing brushed steel and plexiglass-like paining to evoke a hockey rink. It was brilliant.

We arrived near opening and the museum was mostly empty at that point but as our second hour ticked to a close there were a fair number of families getting photos with the Stanley Cup many of them were wearing team shirts. I know from past experience the Hockey Hall of Fame often hosts school groups and many Ontarians see it as a rite of passage so I expect that it is often quite busy but the wide walkways can accommodate that without problem.

The Hockey Hall of Fame does not have a cafe but just outside the entrance to the museum Brookfield Place has a cafeteria with foods varying from MacDonalds to a booster juice. Outside of Spirit of Hockey, the shop, there is a Tim Horton’s and Marche (a famous marketplace restaurant) as well. I do not believe that Hockey Hall of Fame has the space for a self contained cafe but I doubt they need one!

The Website

hhof.com

As we are in Canada the website is required to have both a French and and English webpage. The English homepage has admission, times, location, and a bunch of articles. The French does not have the articles. This is not so unusual in Canada, very few francophones live outside of Quebec and New Brunswick.

The Plan Your Visit section has a handy page called ‘Tips for the Traveller‘ that includes information useful for people with mobility aids, and those, like me, who thrive on pre-planning. There is even little for those with Autism or other sensory processing disorders such as ADHD.

The Induction Showcase seems to be this museum’s online collection. As the Hockey Hall of Fame ‘collects’ people and their hockey history this makes sense. This, however, is not like the online collection for traditional history or art museums but it works.

Score out of 10:7

For those new to Museum Spaces I rate the institutions I visit out of 10 with 10 being utterly perfect with no way I can think of improving the site and 1 being disaster, no hope for success

I think the Hockey hall of fame is a solid 7. They know their subject, are fairly accessible (with room to grow) and have a comprehensive, if wordy, website. I feel like people who can’t make the trip to Toronto can learn just as much about the history of the sport and the collection from the web page.

Areas of Improvement

1. Test placement. Specifically text reading. I don’t have a very strong prescription for glasses and I struggled to read the interpretation if I was more than two feet away. And they were quite wordy making it harder for people with learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Given the abundance of digital interactives and the excellent website the Hockey Hall of Fame would benefit from ‘learn more, scan this QR code’ or find out more at X website.
2. In Galley Seating. There were no places to sit inside the museum other than at the NHLPA Game Time interactive, made up to look like part of a rink. Tucking a few folding stools into some of the corners will help those with chronic illnesses and the elderly. The museum might benefit from chair similar to those found at the Sheffield Museum.
3. Cost. This is not always something a museum can reasonably change. For a lot of Canadian museums one of the primary sources of income is through ticket sales. $20.00 doesn’t sound like too much but for low income households it really ads up. On top of that the Brookfield Place food court isn’t exactly an inviting space for frugal visitors to pull out a packed lunch. They won’t tell you off for it but the atmosphere is not inviting for picnics. Perhaps the museum might benefit from monthly ticket deals or giveaways for low income neighbourhoods.
4. Signage. I did not see a map until well into the museum. There may be others that I missed.

Highlights

1. The interactives. There were interactives in most of the galleries and while many of them were digital there were also a few analogue. Here that was the NHLPA Game Time which had digital projections but actual pucks and sticks as well.
2. The layout. I already sung the praises of the cases but they were laid out beautifully. The cases weren’t over crowded but they also didn’t look half empty. The jerseys were hung carefully, the pucks in meaningful piles.
3. The Collection. Hockey is not my cut of tea (I know: Bad Canadian TM) but the Hockey Hall of Fame is clearly a labour of love.
4. The Stamping. When you enter and pay your ticket the front-of-house staff stamp the back of your hand. This allows you to exit and enter for the whole day. So if you get hungry or the museum too busy for your tastes you can head out to Tim’s or anywhere else for a bite and head back in later.
5. The lighting. Most of the collection is very light sensitive (fabrics) and often small museums will have to lower the lighting in the whole space to protect their items but instead the Hockey Hall has well directed lighting to help protect both their objects and ensure their guests can see.

I probably wouldn’t go back to the Hockey Hall of Fame

This is less of a statement of the museum and more a statement about Museums of Specialist Subjects, as I called them in my FAQ I am not a hockey fan. I have been to the hall twice in my life and that’s enough for me. For someone who eats/sleeps/breaths hockey this might be a yearly pilgrimage. If that person has accessibility needs I think the hall is an accessible space.

There are Museums of Specialist Subjects I would love to visit more than once though. What about you? Have you been the Hockey Hall of Fame? or any other Hall of Fame? Would you go back?

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