Windsor Spitfires
Rink: Windsor Arena
Capacity: 4,400
Built: 1924
League: OHL
City: Windsor, Ontario
Former Home Of: Windsor Spitfires
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: October 9, 2008 vs Brampton
Unique Arena: #16
OHL Arena: #12
I only had the pleasure of seeing one game at Windsor Arena, and it was two months before the Spitfires moved to the new WFCU Centre. While the rink remained open for a few years afterwards for university and minor hockey, it’s now used as storage for large piles of road salt for the city of Windsor to use in the winter. Over the years many plans have been drawn up for what to do with the Barn which is now over 100 years old, but most of those plans fell through, so as we get closer to the 20 year mark since the Spitfires left the old arena still sits awaiting… something.
When I attended my lone game here in the fall of 2008, I hadn’t exactly perfected taking wide interior arena shots yet so excuse the angles of my photos in this review. Windsor Arena was a pretty crazy place to see a hockey game. The seating was incredibly steep to the point it felt like you were hanging over the ice, even when you were in the back row. While most of the arena got newer plastic seats during the 90s which believe it or not actually came from the London Gardens, the upper rows had so seats at all so you would just sit on concrete steps like I had to. Bringing a seat cushion for these spots would be recommended. There were also standing room spots everywhere like you can see in the photo above, where again people would be practically hanging over the ice above the net.
Prior to my visit I had always heard about the horror stories that visiting fans experienced back in the day. Fist fights were as common in the stands as they were on the ice, and sometimes, they would even come together with blows being thrown both ways over the glass that was much too short even for its time. There were also stories of fans chucking D batteries at visitors in on the ice or in the stands. The story goes that back in those days there basically was no security at the rink, and the inmates were basically left to run the asylum. Thankfully by my visit those insane antics had come to an end, and I had no issues cheering on the Battalion that night. But this was also still during the days of in/out privileges which we took full advantage of by visiting the convenience store attached to the front of the building and bringing back in cheaper drinks and snacks.
Even in 2008, taking in a game at Windsor Arena was like stepping back in time and I wish I had gotten the chance to go to even more games there before it closed up shop. It was cramped and uncomfortable, but it was an awesome hockey watching experience that I know many in Windsor long for the days of.
