New Arena for Grand Falls

As I mentioned in a previous post a new arena is under construction in Grand Falls. A very kind friend of mine took a few minutes out of his busy day to take a few pictures. He also gave me a more accurate latitude and longitude from his GPS receiver. Here are the photos of the "Centre E. et P. Sénéchal Center":

The Kay Arena - Reborn

The people of Lewisville (a former village amalgamated with Moncton in 1973) should be proud of their efforts to retain a community arena in their neighbourhood. The original Kay Arena and an adjacent school were demolished and the new Kay Arena was erected on the same site. I drove past the new Kay Arena in mid-December but it was still under construction. For more details and some history on the original arena please read Alan Cochrane's story that appeared in the February 15th edition of the Moncton Times and Transcript.

The Kay Arena can still be found at 99 Wynwood Drive and the phone number is 506-877-7715. And of course you can always find a map of the Kay Arena at the NB Sport Spots ice arena map.

Fredericton Honours Willie O'Ree

On January 16th the City of Fredericton renamed it's new ice arena complex. The Northside Sport and Leisure Centre opened only one year ago. It houses two ice surfaces, an indoor walking track, three rooms for community use, canteens operated by the Nashwaaksis Y's Men Club, the Fredericton YMCA Northside Wellness Centre, and a seasonal youth centre and indoor skateboard park. It is the finest ice arena I have ever visited. The NB Sport Spots ice arena map can be viewed here.

Yesterday it was renamed in honor of Willlie O'Ree - the first black man to play in an NHL game. The new name of the facility is "Willie O'Ree Place" or "place Willie O'Ree" en francais. I like to abbreviate the name to "WORP" when I am writing down my son's hockey schedule.

Willie O'Ree was called up to join the Boston Bruins in Montreal in a game aginst the Canadians on January 18th, 1958. Despite being nearly blind in one eye Willie played a total of 45 NHL games and he played in the minors until the age of 43. Willie grew up in Fredericton and was the youngest of 12 children. There were only two black families living in Fredericton at the time.

Check out more information on Willie O'Ree at Wikipedia.

Maps for New Brunswick Sport Facilities

The New Brunswick Sport Spots website is a fantastic source for maps of New Brunswick sport facilities. Currently NB Sport Spots has maps for all of the:

• Ice Arenas
• Curling Rinks
• Ski Hills, and
  
• Golf Courses
  

This image is a sample of the Ice Arena map. Every map includes an address for each sport facility and a link to get driving directions to the facility.