Kingston Frontenacs

When I first had this page up, I had some negative things to say after a trip here in 2019 when we encountered rude arena staff more than once through the evening. I am thankful to report after a six-year layoff my return trip on the final day of 2025 saw no repeats of that. I even was down on them that night for not even playing a single Tragically Hip song. But in 2025 the song Locked in the Trunk of a Car was the teams intro song hitting the ice at the start of the game which was totally awesome. I would love to see Kingston get a Memorial Cup tournament one day, as the city is beautiful and I think the rink would be a good host. My only negative comment about the 2025 trip would be the banners. The team has done a great job with a ton of banners honouring players of Canadiens and Frontenacs past but I noticed there is not a single team achievement banner in the rafters or on the walls anywhere. Yes, the Fronts haven’t won a league or conference title, but they have won a few division titles over the years, and I know they had one up on my last trip in 2019. Now they have none which I found odd.

Bonus point to this building for hosting the final Tragically Hip concert ever.

A funny story. My first game here was on the first weekend the rink opened in February 2008, and it was the second ever Fronts game at the rink. During pre-game warmups, a pane of glass at each end of the ice shattered. The new arena apparently had no replacements so for the first period pieces of plywood were put up in each end to replace the broken glass. Thankfully there was a smaller crowd there that day, and ushers allowed people behind the wood to move. The rumour was they went down the street to the Fronts old home the Memorial Centre to get replacements which were installed in time for the second period. It ended up being the Fronts’ first win in their new home.