Attraction Toronto — Financial District, Canada

Hockey Hall of Fame: The Cup, the Vault and the Shoot Out

Two hours in Toronto's hockey shrine: shoot on a virtual NHL goalie, walk the history of the game, then climb into a Victorian bank hall where the Stanley Cup stands.

Duration: 1 day
Distance: 1.1 km
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: Year-round (quietest on weekday mornings outside March Break and summer)

Print day cards

The Hockey Hall of Fame is the one museum in Toronto that locals will send you to with a straight face. It is part shrine, part archive and part arcade: two floors under Brookfield Place full of jerseys, sticks, masks and trophies from the whole history of the game, a hands-on zone where you can shoot on a virtual NHL goalie, and, at the end, a nineteenth-century Bank of Montreal banking hall under a stained-glass dome where the Stanley Cup itself stands.

The Hall was founded in 1943 and moved into this building at the corner of Yonge and Front in 1993. The layout rewards a particular order. You enter on the concourse level, where most of the exhibits are: the NHL zone with a replica Montreal Canadiens dressing room, the World of Hockey galleries on the international game, the broadcast zone and the games. Only after all that do you climb the stairs into the old bank, the Great Hall, lined with portraits of the Honoured Members and the major NHL trophies, with the original Stanley Cup bowl in the former bank vault off to one side.

Plan on about two hours; hockey fans can easily spend a day, and the ticket lets them.

Getting there. The entrance is on the concourse level of Brookfield Place, 30 Yonge Street, not through the historic bank’s front doors. King and Union subway stations both connect underground through the PATH, and Union Station is also served by GO trains, VIA Rail and the UP Express from Pearson airport.

Tickets & hours. Tickets are sold online and at the door, with no timed entry. The Hall is open daily, with longer summer and March Break hours, and closes on induction day in November and a few winter holidays. Hours and prices change: check the official site before you go.

Good to know:

Admission is valid all day with re-entry, so you can break for lunch.
There is no coat check or locker, which matters in winter.
Outside food and drink are not allowed.
The presentation Stanley Cup often travels; a replica takes its place when it does.

Tips & Insights for this route Planning this route? Read our practical tips before you go — 9 tips. Read the tips

Download waypoints (GPX) Points of interest in walking order — not a trail trace.

Day by day

DayDistanceAscentDescentWalking time

Day 1 Hardest dayFrom the concourse to the Cup

Distance1.1 kmAscentNot recordedDescentNot recordedWalking timeNot recorded

Day 1

From the concourse to the Cup

Brookfield Place concourse entrance → Great Hall, corner of Yonge and Front 1.1 km

Navigate this day Print day

Enter through Brookfield Place, play the interactive games while they are quiet, tour the NHL and World of Hockey galleries, and finish in the old Bank of Montreal hall with the Stanley Cup.

Segments

Brookfield Place and the concourse entrance 0.1 km Map

Front Street or the PATH → Hall of Fame admission desk

Indoor atrium and concourse

Arrive through Brookfield Place, the office complex whose tall, tree-like white galleria is worth a look on its own. The Hall's entrance is down on the concourse level in the southeast corner; the old bank on the corner of Yonge and Front is part of the museum, but you reach it from inside. About 10 minutes.

About this place

Brookfield Place is an office and retail complex in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, comprising the 2.1 ha (5.2-acre) block bounded by Yonge Street, Wellington Street West, Bay Street, and Front Street West. The complex contains 242,000 m2 (2,604,866 sq ft) of office space, 59,000 sq ft (5,481 m2) of retail space, and consists of two towers, the TD Canada Trust Tower and the Bay Wellington Tower, linked by the Allen Lambert Galleria. Brookfield Place is also the home of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The complex also includes 12 preserved heritage buildings. The complex is also connected to the PATH, which includes several shops and a food court in its basement.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: JK Liu · CC BY-SA 4.0
The interactive zone 0.2 km Map

Admission desk → Shoot Out and Shut Out rinks

Indoor exhibit floor

Start with the games while the lines are short. In the Shoot Out you take real pucks and a real stick against a life-sized, computer-simulated goalie that reacts to your shot; in the goalie challenge the roles flip and the shots come at you. The broadcast zone next door lets you try calling the play. About 30 minutes, more with kids.
The NHL zone 0.2 km Map

Interactive zone → Replica Canadiens dressing room

Indoor exhibit floor

The league from the inside: team displays, the current season, and a replica of the Montreal Canadiens dressing room, stalls and sweaters included. Goalie masks, skates and sticks trace how the equipment changed from felt and leather to what players wear now. About 30 minutes.

About this place

The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams, 25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional ice hockey league in the world. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) views the Stanley Cup as one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The league's headquarters have been in New York City since 1989, when it moved from Montreal; the league also has offices in Toronto and Montreal.
Read more on Wikipedia
World of Hockey 0.2 km Map

NHL zone → International galleries

Indoor exhibit floor

The game beyond the NHL: national teams, world championships and the Olympics. It is the part of the museum that explains why hockey is Canada's game but not only Canada's. About 20 minutes.

About this place

The International Ice Hockey Federation is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 84 member countries.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: David Shilling David · CC BY-SA 2.5
The Great Hall 0.2 km Map

Concourse level → Esso Great Hall

Stairs or elevator into the historic banking hall

Climb into the former Bank of Montreal building, a Victorian banking hall under a stained-glass dome, and the mood changes from arcade to cathedral. The walls hold the portraits of every Honoured Member, and the NHL's major trophies stand in the centre. Most visitors go quiet here. About 20 minutes.
Lord Stanley's Vault and the Cup 0.2 km Map

Great Hall → Bank vault

Indoor, historic hall

In the old bank vault off the Great Hall sits the original Stanley Cup bowl, donated by Lord Stanley of Preston in 1892 and long since retired from the trophy itself. Out in the hall stands the Cup the players lift, when it is in town, or a replica when it is on the road. Photos with the Cup are part of the visit. About 15 minutes.

About this place

The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) considers it to be one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The trophy was commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the governor general of Canada, who donated it as an award to Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. The entire Stanley family supported the sport, the sons and daughters all playing and promoting the game. The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to the Montreal Hockey Club, and winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games and league play. Professional teams first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906. In 1915, the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the two main professional ice hockey organizations, reached an agreement in which their respective champions would face each other annually for the Stanley Cup. The PCHA's successor, the Western Hockey League, dissolved after the 1925–26 season, and no other leagues apart from the NHL were deemed worthy of challenging for the Cup, making it the de facto championship trophy of the NHL. It became the de jure NHL championship trophy in 1947.
Read more on Wikipedia Photo: Alex Goykhman · CC BY-SA 4.0