Which Canadian city for a short family hockey trip?

[denverdevil]

My 13 year old son has gotten into hockey and I was very happy to hear him suggest that we go on a trip during a school break to somewhere in Canada to watch a game or two. Neither of us have been before, so seeking some suggestions. We'd likely go for 4-5 days sometime during February 17-25, 2024. It looks like every Canadian team is playing at home at least once during this time.

Here are the things we'd like, in order of importance:
1. NHL hockey (obviously). Stadium & game day experience, reasonable ticket availability and cost, ability to tour stadium, things to do around stadium, lower level hockey in the same city, other non-game hockey related things to do in the area.
2. Non-hockey sightseeing, things to do in the city.
3. Good food.
4. Not an outrageously expensive city would be a plus. Not looking to break the bank here.
5. Proximity to another NHL city, though we'd be okay with just staying in a single city, too.

Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg? Happy to hear any not-just-ripping-on-another-teams-city suggestions, thanks!

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[Washed Up 29YearOld]

You might regret visiting Canada in February.

 

[KaN19]

Vancouver for sure if you insist on visiting in February. Mildest weather in the winter and lots of beautiful places to visit.

Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg are frozen, depression inducing wastelands at that time of year. Montreal and Toronto have their pros and cons.

 

[Avs9296]

Montreal or Toronto. Weather will be cold but so will every other city minus Vancouver. Vancouver has no game day experience really, and not really close to other NHL cities (Seattle is the closest like a 3 hour drive away).

You could probably do a Montreal and Ottawa are pretty close to eachother. Could probably do both.

Vancouver for sure if you insist on visiting in February. Mildest weather in the winter and lots of beautiful places to visit.

Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg are frozen, depression inducing wastelands at that time of year. Montreal and Toronto have their pros and cons.

Vancouver doesn't have a great atmosphere like Montreal or Toronto and quite frankly there isn't as much to do and see as Montreal/Toronto. And this is coming from someone who lives in Vancouver. Only thing we have over them is weather.

 

[ZJuice]

You guys are nuts. I love Edmonton winter.
Could catch the Oilers, walk the river valley, go to the science center, drive to elk island park, best of all you can go to the outdoor rink.
I’m not much of a foodie but I would recommend Canadian Burger King just once. I hear that the BK in the US should be called trash king

Edit: I am sorry for suggesting BK.

 

[Dominance]

I would suggest Montreal (catch the Capitals game on Feb. 17 so your son can say he watched Ovi play live) and Ottawa (Dallas game on Feb. 22 could be some quality hockey between two fast young teams). Quebec is gorgeous in the winter and there’s a lot to keep a young family busy in Montreal; less so in Ottawa, so maybe end the trip there.

 

[jigglysquishy]

If you're coming from Denver Calgary and Edmonton are the easiest and will be familiar. Calgary is the closest Canadian city to Denver in physical makeup, geography, proximity to mountains.

They're only 3 hours apart which is handy if you want to city hop.

Kids love West Edmonton mall. Great in the winter, the water park is fantastic, the theme park is crazy for being indoors. I loved skating in the mall too.

You can add a mountain visit too if that's your speed.

It'll be cold though. But if you time it right you can do an NHL game in each city and take in a WHL game too.

 

[BWJM]

Vancouver if you’re wanting to visit in February. You might even be surprised what Canada can be like mid-winter.

 

[abo9]

Its been a few years now but when I did an internship in Ottawa I was surprised by how cheap the hockey tickets were.

And it might be an unpopular opinion but I think its a great place to visit a few days.

To your points:

1- unfortunately the stadium is in a suburb iirc. But you can take a bus from downtown Ottawa near the byward market whigh is super lovely and has lots of restaurants and things to see. And with Ottawa winning I bet the atmosphere is a fun one inside. I went to a Dallas vs Ottawa game when Ottawa was terrible but my experience was fun. Obviously a place like Montreal is thundering with noise and has great atmosphere when win, but ive been 2 times in the past 5 years and I think losing all the time has really hit the vibe... plus extremely expensive.

1b- Im pretty sure Ottawa is also home to an OHL team , so theres lower level hockey to explore.

2- non hockey sightseeing: Ottawa is home to a bunch of very cool museums if youre into that. Most notably for a kid thats 13 might be the war museum: theres a room with a bunch of tanksz, theres interactive displays like you go in mini trenches etc. Also lots of nature walk (and Gatineau has a nice provincial park right across the bridge), byward market,etc.


3- cant say i went to a bunch of restaurants there, but I think you can find your fill, depending what you expect as "good food". Any of rhe canadian cities will have enough restaurants to please most palates im sure.

4- Ottawa is less expensive than Mtl, vancouver, toronto.

5- 1.5 to 2 hours from Montreal where you could go watch a AHL in Laval, theres "The Forum" and obviously a bunch of touristy stuff to do.

Oh, and Ottawa in the winter you might be lucky and be able to skate the Canal Rideau.

Toronto is extremely expensive, isnt that close to another NHL city (Buffalo maybe? But its not in canada), but they do have the Hockey Hall of Fame!

I cant comment on the other cities

 

[TheForsbergShow]

You guys are nuts. I love Edmonton winter.
Could catch the Oilers, walk the river valley, go to the science center, drive to elk island park, best of all you can go to the outdoor rink.

How many times in February have we had extreme cold spells. Nobody is going to walk the river valley or want to be outside at -25 with wind lol.

 

[denverdevil]

You might regret visiting Canada in February.

We spend a lot of time in cold temperatures in the mountains here so I wasn't really concerned about the weather, but seeing you're from Buffalo and are saying that, maybe I should be concerned.

Vancouver for sure if you insist on visiting in February. Mildest weather in the winter and lots of beautiful places to visit.

Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg are frozen, depression inducing wastelands at that time of year. Montreal and Toronto have their pros and cons.

Vancouver if you’re wanting to visit in February. You might even be surprised what Canada can be like mid-winter.

I don't make the school schedule, so have no choice on the dates. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Boris Le Tigre]

Calgary is good choice because Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise are like 45 minutes away (especially if you guys ski).

Vancouver/Whistler is better but more expensive.

Montreal is a nice city but the scenery isn’t like the above.

Edmonton to Jasper is ok too …but Jasper is 4 hours away from Edmonton.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Vancouver or Montreal. No question

 

[Lshap]

Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are the coolest tourist cities. Montreal is probably less expensive, factoring in hockey tickets and hotel.

Ottawa and Montreal are the two closest hockey cities, about a two-hour drive apart. You could see games at both arenas and also enjoy some nice areas in Ottawa.

By the way, take a moment to appreciate how beautiful it is to plan this vacation with your son!

 

[GrumpyKoala]

If you want to watch a combo of games at two different places you can do.

Tor Mtl
Tor Ott
Mtl Ott
Edm Cgy

If you are on a budget Edm Cgy or Mtl Ott combo would be probably the least expensive

Avoid Toronto if money is an issue.

 

[denverdevil]

Montreal or Toronto. Weather will be cold but so will every other city minus Vancouver. Vancouver has no game day experience really, and not really close to other NHL cities (Seattle is the closest like a 3 hour drive away).

You could probably do a Montreal and Ottawa are pretty close to eachother. Could probably do both.


Vancouver doesn't have a great atmosphere like Montreal or Toronto and quite frankly there isn't as much to do and see as Montreal/Toronto. And this is coming from someone who lives in Vancouver. Only thing we have over them is weather.

I would suggest Montreal (catch the Capitals game on Feb. 17 so your son can say he watched Ovi play live) and Ottawa (Dallas game on Feb. 22 could be some quality hockey between two fast young teams). Quebec is gorgeous in the winter and there’s a lot to keep a young family busy in Montreal; less so in Ottawa, so maybe end the trip there.

Montreal and Ottawa seems like a great suggestion, thanks! Only a bit over 2 hours via car is not bad at all, so seems like a definite possibility to hit both.

 

[ZJuice]

How many times in February have we had extreme cold spells. Nobody is going to walk the river valley or want to be outside at -25 with wind lol.

I feel like I recognize everyone in the river valley that walks during those cold spells lol
Maybe myself and those people are freaks!

 

[Mickey Marner]

How many times in February have we had extreme cold spells. Nobody is going to walk the river valley or want to be outside at -25 with wind lol.

He also suggested that OP eats at Burger King, so I wouldn’t take his opinion seriously.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

You might regret visiting Canada in February.

Let's pretend Florida is part of Canada?

I'm not going to suggest Toronto in February. Vancouver maybe?

I was going to suggest Quebec but dang............ You don't really want to be doing tourism at that time of year.

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

We spend a lot of time in cold temperatures in the mountains here so I wasn't really concerned about the weather, but seeing you're from Buffalo and are saying that, maybe I should be concerned.



I don't make the school schedule, so have no choice on the dates. Thanks for the suggestions!

Yeah Buffalo's a little warmer but I wouldn't recommend going outside in Feb. here either

But seriously, I'd visit Montreal. Personally, I have ancestry from there but seems like an awesome place to visit.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

For hockey fans I'll say Toronto just because you can visit the Hockey Hall of Fame

 

[wetcoast]

If you want to watch a combo of games at two different places you can do.

Tor Mtl
Tor Ott
Mtl Ott
Edm Cgy

If you are on a budget Edm Cgy or Mtl Ott combo would be probably the least expensive

Avoid Toronto if money is an issue.

Avoid Vancouver if money is an issue as well.

I'm from Vancouver but would recommend the 2 Alberta cities and heck even Winnipeg for value.

 

[Random Comment]

Vancouver is great. Montreal another good option. Since it’s February, you could also stay in Ottawa, and do winterlude activities. Cheaper place to stay than the other cities. Lots of museums.

 

[Frank Drebin]

You guys are nuts. I love Edmonton winter.
Could catch the Oilers, walk the river valley, go to the science center, drive to elk island park, best of all you can go to the outdoor rink.
I’m not much of a foodie but I would recommend Canadian Burger King just once. I hear that the BK in the US should be called trash king

Just watch for needles by rogers

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Toronto for things to do. Hall of Fame, site seeing etc.

Lower level hockey has the AHL, OHL, Jr. A, GTHL etc.

Drive to Ottawa (4 hrs) or Buffalo (1.5 hrs) for lower cost NHL game.