Storm experience ranked 5th of all OHL arenas
By Dave Cottenie, Stadium Journey
OHL arenas offer capacities from 4,000-10,000 fans. The league features arenas that are very new like London and Windsor, while also featuring arenas that drip with history like Kitchener and Peterborough. The twenty teams in the league are spread across medium-sized cities in Ontario as well as Pennsylvania and Michigan. Although there is a wide variety of experiences in the OHL, there are a few things that remain constant … you will get to see players that will move on to be stars in the NHL, and you will have a great time.
The Storm played in the aging Guelph Memorial Gardens, and were making noises about a new arena. The City of Guelph entered in a partnership to build a new arena downtown, at the location of the Eaton Centre. The arena was dubbed the Guelph Centre for Sports and Entertainment and is currently owned by the City of Guelph. In 2007, Sleeman Breweries purchased the naming rights of the current Sleeman Centre, which injected some much-needed capital in the arena.
Also in 2007, the Storm were purchased by a group that included TSN broadcaster Chris Cuthbert. The Storm have produced great professional hockey players including Drew Doughty, Craig Anderson, Daniel Paille, and Todd Bertuzzi. With solid ownership, a solid building, and a solid fan-base, the future for the Storm seems to be on solid ground for many years.
