When you plan to open a hockey museum just over 50 km away from Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame, it’s probably best to adopt a very different approach.
This is just the challenge the town of Clarington, Ontario faced with the creation of Brian McFarlane presents Clarington’s Total Hockey — a museum featuring artefacts from the collection of the well-known hockey commentator and historian. For gsmprjctº, this presented a unique opportunity to do something a little less formal. Though the museum does display dozens of pieces of memorabilia, Total Hockey was designed to offer a friendlier, more evocative experience in which visitors learn about the history of hockey and the game’s relationship with the media.
Several immersive environments — an outdoor pond, an old-fashioned dressing room, an indoor ice rink, a 1960s-era living room, and a vintage Hockey Night in Canada studio set — underscore the idea that hockey is played or watched as a team, as a family, or with friends. Audiovisual material features local hockey fans, players, and connoisseurs speaking about their memories and their love of the game. Old articles, along with radio and television broadcasts, are used to draw parallels between the history of hockey and the history of the media. Finally, an interactive zone allows visitors to test their abilities and see if they’ve got what it takes to be a good hockey player.