Brantford Titans
Rink: Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre
Capacity: 1,200
Built: 2013
League: GOHL
City: Brantford, Ontario
Home Of: Brantford Titans
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: December 6, 2025 vs Pelham
Unique Arena #116
GOHL Arena #4
The Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre is a large and impressive community complex located in the north end of the city just off Highway 403. Part of the complex was originally opened in the early 1970s, but in 2013 a massive new addition was built which includes several ice pads, including one that is now home to the GOHL’s Brantford Titans. The complex is obviously named after Brantford native Wayne Gretzky. A statue of the great one hoisting the Stanley Cup sits out front, and on one side of the building is a large photo of Wayne while playing for the 1998 Canadian Olympic team. Upon entering the complex there are many different directions you can go for all the different facilities that lie within. But one impressive spot is the Brantford Sports Hall of Recognition. This area has a large section dedicated to Gretzky himself, but also displays about all the other great athletes that hail from the Telephone City. It’s an impressive collection that is worth your time to check out.
After passing by the Hall of Recognition you will come upon the main arena on your right. You can take stairs up to the next level or you can enter at ice level. The bench side of the ice has a very large grandstand of nearly 1,000 seats. The penalty box side of the ice has a much smaller grandstand of about six rows of seats. It’s a design somewhat reminiscent of the Civic Centre in Ottawa minus any end or corner seating. If you go to the top of the large grandstand there is a very wide concourse that doubles as a walking/running track that circles the entire ice surface from high above. The view of the ice from this track behind one of the nets and the penalty box side is fantastic. While technically standing on this track wouldn’t be permitted, you would still have to pay the Titans admission fee to use the track during a GOHL game, so it’s not really used much during these games, however we did see a couple people using it.
Behind one of the nets at the running track level also sits a glassed-in suite/lounge area that was dark and unused for the game we attended, but is there should the need ever arise. Unfortunately, due to the warehouse style shape of the arena, PA announcements during the game are nearly impossible to hear properly, and the music played between stoppages is fairly loud as the sound just bounces off all the steel siding and metal support beams.
As OHLAG and I have dipped our toes into going to Jr B games we have for the most part really enjoyed the on-ice product. In Brantford we were treated to a fantastic game between the hometown Titans and the visitors from Pelham. But in the GOHL, there seems to be two different kinds of arenas and markets. One is the real small towns that play in barns and are the biggest game in town that attract several hundred or in some cases even a couple thousand people to their games. The other are teams that play in larger cities and play in community complexes to small crowds of family and friends only. Unfortunately, Brantford falls into the latter category. The OHL’s Bulldogs now call the city home, and most hockey fans gravitate towards the higher level of play. The GOHL’s Titans, for some reason, also play the bulk of their home schedule on Saturdays at 1PM which is not a typical time for this level of hockey. The Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre is a community complex that would be the envy of any community across the country, and if the Titan could ever draw 1,000 or so people to a game, I would imagine the atmosphere would be fantastic thanks to the echoing mentioned earlier. But as it stands, going to a game feels like seeing any rec league group, just with a much higher quality of play on the ice. OHLAG and I were fully entertained at the game, but we also wondered if trying to see a game in every GOHL arena is really worth it if this is the experience in other communities.
