The Talbot Gardens is a

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

arena in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

community of

Simcoe Simcoe may refer to: Geography Canada * Simcoe, Ontario, a town in southwestern Ontario, near Lake Erie, Canada * Simcoe County, a county in central Ontario, Canada * Lake Simcoe, a lake in central Ontario, Canada * Simcoe North, a federal and pro ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. Opened in 1946, Talbot Gardens played a role in filling a need for ice hockey in North America in addition to other sports that could be played indoors during the summer months. A professional hockey team, the Norfolk IceCats, once played out of Talbot Gardens before the

North Eastern Hockey League The North Eastern Hockey League was a semi-professional ice hockey league from 2003 until 2008. It was created by entrepreneur Jim Cashman, who served as league president. The NEHL was built to focus on giving players that were not quite ready ...

became defunct. It was also once home to the Norfolk Vikings of the

Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League The Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL) is a Canadian developmental junior ice hockey league. The league has primarily had teams in the Greater Toronto Area, Central Ontario, Northeastern Ontario, and Quebec. In 2019, they added three t ...

. A Junior "C" team, the Simcoe Shamrocks of the

Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League The Niagara & District Junior C Hockey League is a former Junior "C" ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association. The Champion of the Niagara competed for the All-Ontario Championship and the Clarence Schma ...

played at this arena until 2018.

Summary

Certain hockey games pertaining to the former Simcoe Shamrocks were broadcast on Community Cable Channel 5 during the weekends. During the 1990s, the arena was given a facelift to look more like

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

(the former home of the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

). Thus, the architecture was re-arranged and the arena received a new coat of paint. Local sponsors (most notably

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's, or Timmie's is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, doughnuts, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service rest ...

) have always decorated the scoreboard in addition to the interior of the hockey arena. Roller hockey is a featured attraction in the summer and is played by children as a practice game for the winter ice hockey games. Hockey season at Talbot Gardens typically lasts from September 1 (just before Canadian Labour Day) to April 15. Part of the arena is also a

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

, which replaced the Campbell Clark Preschool. On September 12, 2012, Talbot Gardens was the venue for the construction dispute involving the renovation of Ontario provincial

Highway 3 The following highways are numbered 3, H-3, PRI-3, AH3, E03 and R3. For roads numbered A3, see A3 roads. For roads numbered M3, see M3. For roads numbered N3, see N3. For roads numbered 3A, see 3A. International * Asian Highway 3 * Europea ...

from Simcoe to neighboring

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. A mixed gender charity hockey game is a

Family Day Family Day is a public holiday in the countries of Angola, Israel, South Africa, Uruguay, Vanuatu, and Vietnam; in the Australian Capital Territory; in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and soon New Brunswi ...

tradition at Talbot Gardens; allowing spouses to play alongside each other in a non-competitive environment.A new Family Day tradition at Talbot Gardens
at The Simcoe Reformer

References

External links

Arena Maps - Talbot Gardens

Rink Time

Norfolk Community Services
{{Coord, 42.836891, -80.308106, display=title 1946 establishments in Ontario Buildings and structures in Norfolk County, Ontario Indoor arenas in Ontario Indoor ice hockey venues in Canada