Toronto Marlies
Rink: Coca-Cola Coliseum
Capacity: 8,100
Built: 1921 (Heavily Renovated 2003)
League: AHL
City: Toronto, Ontario
Home Of: Toronto Marlies
Games Attended: 4
First Game: November 21, 2003 vs Cleveland
Most Recent Game: January 31, 2026 vs Laval
Unique Arena: #6
AHL Arena: #1
The Coca-Cola Coliseum was originally built in 1921, and for decades was used for agricultural and trade shows. This front facade is the original from 100 years ago. However, in 2003 the building was heavily renovated and converted to be able to host hockey in anticipation of the arrival of the AHL’s Toronto Roadrunners. The Roadrunners only lasted one season, but the building was a hit and the Leafs soon after moved their AHL affiliate in from Newfoundland. The actual main entrance is the opposite side of the building from this front facade and connected with more convention centre space. The Gardiner Expressway is right behind this shot so getting a nice long shot of the front facade isn’t exactly easy. Luckily, in addition to a lot of onsite parking the building is easy to access with a Go train station right next to the building.
The Coliseum holds just over 8,000 for hockey and has been modernized with comfy seats, suites and plenty of concession stands. However, walking through the concourse there is tons of exposed brick everywhere and it’s easy to see the real age of the original structure. There are some oddities that you don’t really get in modern buildings. The Marlies themselves have to walk from their dressing room across the concourse and through the fan access tunnel between the benches and down some stairs to get to the ice. Meanwhile the visitors have the much more common walk from the Zamboni entrance in the corner.
There is a narrow concourse in the middle of the seating bowl about 6 rows up from the ice. The seats between the glass and this small concourse are very very shallow. Personally, I don’t think they would be very good seats, as they are much further from the ice than your typical first 5 rows would be. The bowl above the in-bowl concourse is a bit steeper, but not overly steep. That said, sightlines aren’t bad from most of the bowl. You cannot walk 360 degrees around the building in the main concourse under the seats. To access the far end, you either have to walk down to ice level or walk up to the top of the bowl where there are plenty of standing room spots as well. I was surprised to see one end of the bowl tarped off when the rest of the seats had been sold.
The atmosphere for my most recent game here was very good and better than I expected it to be. The sound system however I found horrible, as the music (in a rare complaint) was much too low and the PA announcer’s voice was lost in an echo. I am not sure if this is just a bad sound system itself or if the acoustics of the building aren’t great. That said watching a hockey game here was an overall enjoyable experience and I would recommend it to anyone in the area who wants to see a much cheaper alternative to the parent club.
Games Attended
November 21, 2003: Toronto 4 – Cleveland 4
May 2, 2008: Syracuse 5 – Toronto 1