McCormick Arena

We hope your day is filled with warm weather, good company, and time to enjoy the neighbourhood we are proud to be part of.

Unlike most modern rinks, which are built on concrete slabs, McCormick's ice sits on sand. This week we are starting the process of melting the ice for the first time since 1995!

What do you think hides beneath the ice at McCormick Arena?

Our predictions:
- A lucky loonie
- A barely used mouthguard
- Canadian Tire money
- Blockbuster VHS tape that someone swore they returned
- Doug Gilmor hockey card
- A Nokia phone (with one bar of battery remaining)
- The Oak Island Treasure
- Leafs’ playbook for making it past the second round

What is your prediction?

Very soon the skates will be replaced with steel-toe boots.

A quick reminder to our McCormick Arena community that the rink will be closing for renovations starting June 15, 2026, with a planned reopening in June 2027.

These upgrades will focus on improving accessibility and enhancing key facilities to better serve everyone who uses the space.

We know this rink is part of many routines, seasons, and memories. Thank you for being part of what makes it so special.

Follow along here for behind-the-scenes updates as the work gets underway. We look forward to welcoming you back next year.

At McCormick Arena, there’s room for everyone on the ice.
This Pride Month, we celebrate the players, skaters, coaches, volunteers, families, and community members who help make our rink a welcoming place to belong.
Recreational sports are most meaningful when everyone feels safe, supported, and included exactly as they are.
Happy Pride Month from all of us at McCormick Arena 🏳️‍🌈

Spring programs are coming to a close at McCormick Arena. Thank you to everyone who made this season what it was. This community is what makes the rink special.

As we wrap up, we’re getting ready for renovations beginning in June to improve accessibility and upgrading the space for everyone.

The schedule for our remaining programs is available on the website: https://www.mccormickarena.com/page3.html

If you are looking to squeeze in one or two more skates before we close, you can book ice times online using CatchCorner: https://www.catchcorner.com/facility-page/embedded/rental/mccormick-arena/Hockey

We’ll miss the day-to-day, but we’re looking forward to what’s ahead.

A few extra chances to hit the ice before we hand things over to construction!
See the most up-to-date schedule here: https://www.mccormickarena.com/page3.html

At McCormick Arena, we’ve always believed recreation is more than just movement. It’s connection, routine, and a chance to reset after a bad day. Whether it’s edgework drills, a pickup game, or time spent cheering from the stands, being part of a rink community can do a lot for your wellbeing.
There’s science behind that feeling. When we connect with others, our brain’s reward system is activated. Moments like hearing cheers or receiving a fist-bump can boost mood, motivation, and our sense of belonging. This happens because affirming social interactions release dopamine and oxytocin, our body’s natural opioids, which increases our motivation to bond.
Our arena is named in honour of Mary McCormick, whose legacy was rooted in care, community, and expanding access to recreation. Her spirit continues in the way people come together here, on and off the ice.
Whether it’s time on the ice or moments off it, those small connections can make a difference.
We’re grateful for this community, on and off the ice.



Source: Canadian Mental Health Association, “The Science Behind Social Connection”
https://cmha.ca/mental-health-week/toolkits/ -sheets

Happy Volunteer Appreciation Day!

At McCormick Arena, our volunteers are the real MVPs. Today we are giving special thanks to the legends behind the snack bar in The Nixon Room. Keeping the snacks stocked, the hot chocolate flowing, and supporting Parkdale Flames with every sale. The arena wouldn’t be the same without you!

From June 2026 to June 2027, McCormick Arena will be closed for renovations. That means no shinny, no toe picks, no fast laps laps… and temporarily, no post-skate candy machine runs (we know this may be the hardest part for some).

The work will focus largely on improving accessibility and upgrading facilities like the washrooms, helping make the arena more comfortable and welcoming for everyone.

While the ice is out, our staff will be busy tackling maintenance and other behind-the-scenes enhancements to help get the arena ready for its next chapter.

The City will work with arena user groups to help identify alternate ice times and locations where possible during the closure, though availability may be limited.

We’ll share renovation updates and behind-the-boards progress along the way. Thanks for sticking with us while McCormick Arena gets ready to welcome everyone back in 2027.

And don’t worry… the candy machines will return, fully stocked.

Mary McCormick believed recreation should bring communities together. That vision still lives here today.

Through her support for community recreation facilities, she helped create safe, affordable spaces where girls and women could learn and play sports. Community rinks like McCormick Arena made skating more accessible than the private skating clubs that existed at the time, and were important for women’s participation in sport, long before girls’ hockey leagues and other organized women’s sports existed.

This International Women’s Day, we celebrate Mary McCormick, whose philanthropy helped lay the foundation for the generations of women and girls in sport today.