Wanderlust Megan

Hockey has been a part of my life since I was a child. I have fond memories of Saturday night, making a Lego scoreboard and watching the Toronto Maple Leafs play. I started playing hockey at a young age, every position from goalie to center. Travelling on the weekend and playing hockey in different cities across Ontario. A lot of my childhood was spent around practices, games and watching my favourite team, Toronto Maple Leafs. We didn’t go to many games in Toronto (too expensive) but I remember travelling down to Buffalo to see the Leafs play and I enjoyed every win, skating at Maple Leaf Gardens on fan appreciation events and hoping every year they would win the cup.

Despite living in Vancouver, the Leafs have remained my team and when they come to Vancouver, I try to attend the games. Being a Leafs fan isn’t easy here as almost anyone who enjoys hockey either likes or dislikes the Leafs, there does not seem to be anyone in the middle. I’m still hoping to celebrate the Leafs winning the cup in my lifetime, I haven’t lost hope yet.

Visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame was something I had to do when I returned to Toronto for a visit. The last time I went was when I was a child and I don’t remember much. My Dad and I explored the museum during the week, it was great as it wasn’t too busy and we were able to take our time and explore.

We had the opportunity to try the interactive games, including being shot on by a video Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier and go one on one with a goalie. Considering I haven’t played in a while I succeeded, scored and stopped the shots. We also attempted doing play by-play. I watched the video of myself and saw how poorly I did, but it was still a lot of fun! We also went to the Great Hall and were able to view the Stanley Cup up close and take our photo with it. We walked around the hall and viewed the other NHL trophies including the original Stanley Cup, which is behind glass and in a vault, which is open to the public. We walked around and viewed the plaques of our favourite players that had been inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

After spending time in the Great Hall, we walked around and viewed the exhibits in the basement and other memorabilia from the NHL and international leagues. If you are a fan of hockey, the Hockey Hall of Fame  is a great place to visit. I felt like a kid again. I enjoyed reading about players that I knew from old hockey clips as well as the players I had watched growing up.  Hockey is one of my passions and being able to visit was a highlight.