OHL Road Trip
- Thread starter southsideIrish
- Start date
O
The fans are fiercely proud of the team .
There's not a bad seat in the house . Friendly knowledgeable fanbase.
Accommodation across the parking lot is the Best Western Inn on The bay .
The roads are well maintained in winter, located in the great lakes basin and snow belt.
November certainly a better time to come than February.
An easy 1. 75 hr ride north of either Guelph or Kitchener. Home games Saturday eve 7 pm on weekends. So you could do a Friday in Guelph or Kitchener then OS the next night.
The league's most welcoming fan club has their own permanent booth.
Owen Sound is a smaller (3200) rink, an old style barn , but well maintained . Come for the hockey game, the in- game 'distractions ' are thin.
The fans are fiercely proud of the team .
There's not a bad seat in the house . Friendly knowledgeable fanbase.
Accommodation across the parking lot is the Best Western Inn on The bay .
The roads are well maintained in winter, located in the great lakes basin and snow belt.
November certainly a better time to come than February.
An easy 1. 75 hr ride north of either Guelph or Kitchener. Home games Saturday eve 7 pm on weekends. So you could do a Friday in Guelph or Kitchener then OS the next night.
The league's most welcoming fan club has their own permanent booth.
OMG67
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Thu Nov 21 @ Windsor vs Barrie
Fri Nov 22 @ London vs Owen Sound
Sat Nov 23 @ Brantford vs Kingston
Sun Nov 24 @ Brampton vs Sault Ste Marie
If you want to spice things up, you could head to Oshawa on Sunday after the Brampton game and hit a Generals game vs Sudbury….
Fri Nov 22 @ London vs Owen Sound
Sat Nov 23 @ Brantford vs Kingston
Sun Nov 24 @ Brampton vs Sault Ste Marie
If you want to spice things up, you could head to Oshawa on Sunday after the Brampton game and hit a Generals game vs Sudbury….
That’s a solid group of 4 right there. Love Windsor’s arena. London is kind of a must see and is cool expierience/city but it wasn’t my favorite OHL trip ever. Owen Sound probsbly is though and Kitchener is currently the top of my list of places I haven’t visited yet. I highly doubt whatever you choose you’ll find an OHL arena where you say “That sucked, I never want to go back there.”
GoKnightsGo44
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This is perfect, honestly. But get tickets now to the London game, it will sell out all year.
OMG67
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I think it is a great mix of strong games. Some really good matchups.
Otto
Lynch Syndrome. Know your families cancer history
I split my tickets with someone, but send me a dm when you know what Knights game you're going to, if I have them for that game I'll sell for $55/pair
southsideIrish
Registered User
Great thanks everyone - still working out if, when, etc we're going to go but will definitely hit you up if I can.
What's the weather like in Nov and then in Feb? I assume cold and snowy esp. in Feb - is it easy to get around southern Ontario?
November is usually rainy sometimes wet snow February is cold and at times snowy thou last winter was mild . Main roads are cleared fast after any snow side streets can be tricky
No Kitchener? That would hands down be number one on my list (unless it was possible to see the old Windsor Arena and maybe the Gardens in London).
I would also do Peterborough over any of those rinks you chose if there would be a way to make that work.
OMG67
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With Kitchener you are guaranteed to get both. Easily number one on my list for best arena in the league and best place to watch good hockey and the team is good pretty much every year.
You have a fair question on Peterborough. The barn was mentioned though as a criteria. PMC is classic OHL. Yeah, the team might not be the best but the history in that rink is unparalleled. I think we are both far from Petes fans but to me that is the best way to see the OHL. Not in these cookie cutter new rinks like you listed (except Brantford).
OHLTG
Registered User
While the posters above have a good handle on which games/arenas to take in, I'll add this...
Our "Lower Great Lakes" area has some amazing local food and drink establishments. I'm talking about the things you won't likely find back home. Windsor has outstanding pizza and burger joints, and I'm sure other cities have their own "this is ours" specialty. Take advantage of those when you have a chance. I'm all for familiarity when it's needed but you're not coming all this way to go to a restaurant you can get back home.
November isn't too bad, especially early on. Once you get into mid November, you start running into the possibility of lake effect snow around London. It won't likely be anything to worry about but something to watch for. In February, it's snowy and cold. Heck, I was just SW of Buffalo last January (first weekend after NYE) and I had a few people tell me "battling the snow belt in January? Good luck!" I lucked out but... welcome to winter in the region. It's a guessing game.
Windsor and Owen Sound might not be contenders this year but I’d bet that Brampton/Soo game isn’t gonna be very close. Still, that’s a solid 4game/arenas in 4 days trip without a ton of drive time.
All the Answers
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All the Answers
Registered User
- Jan 19, 2020
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Feb 13-16
SAR/WSR
SSM/LDN
BRM/OSH (drive across Toronto sucks, but better game than ER/OS - Not a bad alternative)
BFD/NIA
SAR/WSR
SSM/LDN
BRM/OSH (drive across Toronto sucks, but better game than ER/OS - Not a bad alternative)
BFD/NIA
southsideIrish
Registered User
Answering several posts at once -
--Kitchener was on my list. I picked buildings/teams that we have an interest in/desire to see; have heard good things about and what can work with the schedule. At best I'll have 4-5 games to go to depending on how long we stay. Probably more like 3 games and a day to see Toronto/Niagara Falls too. Depends too on if it's just me and my son or also my wife & dau with us.
--Would love to see Peterborough and/or Oshawa also - but just trying to minimize the driving, etc. even if everything is compact. Especially if it's snowy. Best use of the schedule would be fly into Detroit and then go west to east across Ontario, most of the schedules work well that way, although the reverse is doable too in some cases. I'm limited to which weekends I can go cause of the kids school, I'm trying to use a week they have off.
--On the food and drink options - absolutely if anyone has any good suggestions please pass it on. Mainly Windsor, Sarnia, London, Kitchener, Guelph, Owen Sound and maybe St. Catherine's as well. Or heck anything in the area, if you have a recommendation please share. Knowing my son we'll hit every Tim Hortons or A&W in lower Ontario but would love some better ideas.
Thanks again for all the tips - keep em coming. Like how's the drive from Kitchener/Guelph to Owen Sound? Looks remote but pretty, some waterfalls closer to OS. Or what about parking, that looks straightforward in most places.
The post above that Feb 13-16 trip is looking like the most likely for me cause my kids are out the week of Feb 17-21. We could even squeeze in a game that Monday maybe with it being Family Day in Canada. And the schedule works out almost perfect. Just the weather is the wild card.
--Kitchener was on my list. I picked buildings/teams that we have an interest in/desire to see; have heard good things about and what can work with the schedule. At best I'll have 4-5 games to go to depending on how long we stay. Probably more like 3 games and a day to see Toronto/Niagara Falls too. Depends too on if it's just me and my son or also my wife & dau with us.
--Would love to see Peterborough and/or Oshawa also - but just trying to minimize the driving, etc. even if everything is compact. Especially if it's snowy. Best use of the schedule would be fly into Detroit and then go west to east across Ontario, most of the schedules work well that way, although the reverse is doable too in some cases. I'm limited to which weekends I can go cause of the kids school, I'm trying to use a week they have off.
--On the food and drink options - absolutely if anyone has any good suggestions please pass it on. Mainly Windsor, Sarnia, London, Kitchener, Guelph, Owen Sound and maybe St. Catherine's as well. Or heck anything in the area, if you have a recommendation please share. Knowing my son we'll hit every Tim Hortons or A&W in lower Ontario but would love some better ideas.
Thanks again for all the tips - keep em coming. Like how's the drive from Kitchener/Guelph to Owen Sound? Looks remote but pretty, some waterfalls closer to OS. Or what about parking, that looks straightforward in most places.
The post above that Feb 13-16 trip is looking like the most likely for me cause my kids are out the week of Feb 17-21. We could even squeeze in a game that Monday maybe with it being Family Day in Canada. And the schedule works out almost perfect. Just the weather is the wild card.
donjohnson
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- Jan 29, 2013
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If you're going to Owen Sound and are staying the night, just stay at the Best Western...you can just walk to the rink and it's a good hotel. We ate at Boot & Blade when we made our road trip there.
We've never been to a game in London but we stopped on a trip and had lunch at the Works Craft Burgers which was right across from the arena...fun spot where they serve drinks in pyrex measuring cups.
If you're stopping in Sarnia (been to a few games there) I recommend the Bad Dog Brewery. Good food and some good "mocktails" for the kids as well.
Would encourage the "Far East" trip if you can make it...Peterborough and Ottawa were a fun trip many moons ago.
We've never been to a game in London but we stopped on a trip and had lunch at the Works Craft Burgers which was right across from the arena...fun spot where they serve drinks in pyrex measuring cups.
If you're stopping in Sarnia (been to a few games there) I recommend the Bad Dog Brewery. Good food and some good "mocktails" for the kids as well.
Would encourage the "Far East" trip if you can make it...Peterborough and Ottawa were a fun trip many moons ago.
OHLTG
Registered User
Windsor food options...
- Smoke n Spice southern BBQ - less than 5 min drive south from arena.
- Parks n Rec Gastropub - 5-10 min drive east
- John Max Sports n Wings - 5-7 min drive south
- Sir Richard's Wine and Ale House - 10 minutes east
- The Bourbon Tap and Grill - 10 min east (just past Sir Richards)
- Average Joe's - just a few blocks north on Lauzon, not sure of the menu/drinks but it's very popular.
- There are a handful of spots downtown, too, if you don't mind a 15-20 minute drive west.
- Restaurant inside WFCU Centre. I don't know much about it but there's usually a good turnout before games.
Windsor parking is very straight-forward. Lots to the north, east, and south. NE corner is "Platinum parking" and pass is required, but the rest is easy access. Just allow patience and time. It's all free, too, at least so far.
southsideIrish
Registered User
Thank you! I had the Works in London and the Bad Dog in Sarnia on my list but didn't have the Boot & Blade in OS. Figured the Best Western would be the best option in OS....
southsideIrish
Registered User
Thank you! I heard some good pizza places in Windsor are Terra Cotta, Sarducci's West, Krusty's, Armando's, Napoli....but I imagine opinions vary on pizza....
OHLTG
Registered User
I've had... Terra Cotta, Sarducci's West, Armando's out of that group, I'd even add Antonino's in there, one of the better ones (IMO) in the city. Plus Capri, but it's a hair more in cost. Really, you won't go wrong with pizza from any of the spots here.
JMCx4
Welcome to: The Dumbing Down Era of HFBoards
YOU STOLE MY ITINERARY! But since I'm targeting the 2025-26 season, you'veĺ done me a HUGE favor by smoothing the ice with this thread & soliciting opinions from folks in the know. Thanks, and safe travels for you & your son.
