Stratford is rife with stories of the past, and it revels in sharing those stories with those willing to listen – something that Ian Denomme is banking on.
Denomme, the deputy managing editor for The Athletic NHL, has authored a new book called ‘100 Years of the Stratford Arena’, telling all the tales of the William Allman Memorial Arena as the facility closes in on its 100th anniversary this coming December. It’s an idea he first began kicking around in his head in 2010 when Stratford hosted ‘Hockey Day In Canada’, and was something he just couldn’t shake.
“I grew up in Stratford, but I was living in Toronto when Hockey Day happened so I came to cover it for work,” he said. “I was with Yahoo Sports at the time, and that was just such an iconic moment in the arena’s history, and in the city’s history as well. But it was that day that I first had thoughts of writing a book about this place.”
It was in that seminal moment, as he called it, that the blueprint began to form in his mind. With the Allman being granted heritage status, he knew there would be lots of stories the building could tell. It wasn’t until 2014 when Denomme finally put things in motion with a trip to the archives for the first of many research sessions. But life got in the way and the project got shelved, at least until the itch returned and he couldn’t resist scratching it any more.
“People kind of knew about the basics about when it was built and the great teams that played there as well as some of the more periphery stuff,” he said. “You know, urban legends about Wayne Gretzky scoring his first minor hockey goal there. Those stories were out there, and as I started doing my research I wished I’d started 10 years ago because there was a lot to go through. Everyone at the archives was great, but if you’ve ever worked with microfilm you know how tedious that can be.”
Hockey stories can dominate any discussion of the Allman, and Denomme found lots of them; tales of the Montreal Canadiens splitting their team in two with the younger players squaring off against the veterans, the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League hosting training camp there with a young Johnny Bower, the scores of exhibition games that locals bore witness to. Denomme said he’s broken the book into three parts, with a narrative history of the building, how it was constructed and the renovations over the years, and the ups and downs with the financial troubles it ran into.
“I think it’s interesting that the building is turning 100 years old but it almost went bankrupt after five years,” he said. “They almost shut it down and were going to sell the bricks and steel to other construction projects. But this building is about the people and the stories they have of it, whether they played there or worked there.”
One of the first calls Denomme made when he really dug into his research was to former Stratford Culliton Ed Olczyk who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League. His memories of playing at the Allman are among the fondest of his hockey career, according to Denomme. He talked with zamboni drivers, concession operators – anyone who had a story, he wanted to hear it.
“Those were the ones who had all the ghost stories about that place,” he laughed. “There are stories about the day William Allman died and the arena’s clock stopped working the moment he passed away. And when I talked with (Olczyk), that was the moment when I really felt like there was something here. He’s this guy from Chicago and played just one season here, some 40-50 games when he was just 16 years old. Eddie went on to play a long time in the NHL and now he’s a well-known broadcaster, but he kept saying how much the arena felt like home.”
In an era where there are so many cookie-cutter arenas with no character, Denomme admits this book will play to the nostalgic vibe a little bit and show a younger generation what they’re missing at the same time.
“I remember going to all those old barns in Woodstock and Niagara Falls back in the 1980s, where they all had a similar look and feel, and those places don’t exist any more,” he said. “I have my eight-year-old son who plays hockey all over Toronto and it feels like if you’ve been to one arena you’ve been to them all.”
Denomme wants one thing to be clear: this isn’t a book strictly about hockey history in Stratford. The Allman has played a role in some other legendary local stories, and he’s hoping those stories will be just as enthralling.
“I’ve got a story about Princess Margaret visiting Stratford in 1958 and there was a Duke Wellington concert at the arena and the princess was supposed to go see Duke,” he said. “Duke had written a special song for her and she basically stood him up – she went to see a shot a the theatre and said she was too tired for the show, so she got back on the train and moved on to Niagara Falls or wherever was next.”
For a guy who grew up in the arena’s shadow and worked there himself, Denomme has his own memories that were stirred during this project. He remembers his days in Rotary Hockey and getting the chance to go play in a ‘Little Cullitons’ game prior to the juniors taking the ice and being wowed by the packed house.
“I think that’s my earliest memory of the arena, stepping onto the ice and doing that,” he said. “It was probably just a two-minute game before the flood, but when you’re that age and you skate out there and the seating’s all around you and you see that high ceiling … it might as well be Maple Leaf Gardens. Writing this book has rekindled a lot of my own memories, and I’m sort of a history buff and I enjoyed learning more about it and trying to dig a little deeper and provide something for people that they’ll enjoy.”
Being a self-published book, Denomme isn’t sure exactly when it will be available but he’s hoping it will be in time for the December 15 anniversary date.
“What I’d like to do is set up a table at the arena on a Friday night and sell them during the intermissions,” he said. “I know Stratford plays St. Marys on December 13, so I know it’ll be no later than that (for the book’s availability) but I’m hoping for mid-November.”
Anyone wishing to pre-order a copy of '100 Years of the Stratford Arena' can contact Ian Denomme at [email protected].
