Renfrew – Last year’s incredible surge in interest in women’s hockey across the nation, thanks to the launch of the Professional Womens Hockey League (PWHL), has inspired a new display at the NHA (National Hockey Association)/NHL (National Hockey League) museum at the myFM Centre in Renfrew.

Bonnie Hastings, executive administrator of the museum, board chair Bob Barker, and board member John Hunt, showcased the new display, which was launched in August, to the Leader last Thursday.

The display includes photos of the six PWHL teams, a mannequin wearing the clothing and equipment the earliest women players would have used, photos of the earliest womens teams in the area, and a goalie stick of one of the most well-known female goalies ever, Team Canada Olympic silver medalist, Manon Rheaume.

“We discussed it and we thought it would be the prime time to get into it with the interest in women’s hockey,” Mr. Barker said of the new display.

“When the game took off in Ottawa, we said we better do something,” added Mr. Hunt.

Ms. Hastings started to collect any information she could find on womens hockey, adding Ms. Rheuame’s stick was part of the museum collection in the past.

“That stick was actually borrowed by the Museum of History in 2017 for their display of 100 Years of Hockey. We loaned it to them for that and it went on a Cross-Canada, and even down into the States tour.”

She noted Renfrew native, Charlotte Whitton, who went on to become the flamboyant mayor of Ottawa, is pictured in one of the earliest photos in the display.

“She liked hockey and used to go to the NHA games,” Ms. Hastings explained. “She knew Cyclone Taylor quite well, so for her 16^th birthday, they let her sit on the bench at the arena.”

“Charlotte played for Queen’s University,” Mr. Hunt noted. “There’s a picture of the team and she’s in the hockey gear.”

The display also includes a copy of the Eganville Leader story on Lindsay Eastwood, a former member of the Toronto 6, who brought the Isobel Cup, presented to the winning team in the Women’s Premier Hockey Federation in 2022/23, to the Bonnechere Museum in Eganville.

Ms. Hastings said the response to the new display has been very positive.

“Most people don’t realize there were womens teams back in the early 1900s,” she said. “Apparently most of the universities did have womens teams because there’ s several pictures of teams here,” she added. “And Haileybury and Cobalt that had men’s teams in the NHA apparently also had women’s teams.”

Mr. Hunt said they have a photo of a women’s hockey team circa 1920 from Renfrew that was donated and they are hoping someone can identify the players.          

Need More Space

The museum first opened in 2013 and was located on the second floor of the post office on Rgaln St. South. When the post office was sold, the museum was relocated to the then Ma-te-way Centre, in 2019.

“But then we had COVID, so we didn’t open until 2022,” Ms. Hastings noted.

She said traffic at the new location is on par with the previous site, but she sees that increasing as it is a much more visible and busy location at the arena.

“It’s quite good,” she said of attendance. “We get about 1,000 a year.”

“There’s more activity here; it gets the crowds,” Mr. Barker added of the new location.

Mr. Hunt noted the current location is much more in the public eye because of the two ice pads.

In 2015, visitors  recorded were 781, 1,222 in 2016, 1,294 in 2017 and 777 in 2018. Then COVID closed the museum until a full re-opening in 2022 when 797 visitors were recorded. In 2023, 1,085 people stopped in and as of September 30, 1,053 were recorded this year.

Mr. Hunt noted just a few weeks earlier, Ms. Hastings welcomed bus tour of 21 people from Vanier.

“That went over very well,” he noted.

Ms. Hastings said visitors to the museum are very appreciative of the historical content and the displays on exhibit.

“People are just thrilled that we’re preserving the history,” she remarked. “A lot of them don’t even know the history of the NHA/NHL, and they really enjoy what’s here.”

Some visitors hope to see more on the NHL side of things, however the lack of space does not permit larger exhibits at this time, she said.

“We have everything in storage from the different teams. Even the history of the buildings they were in … we have pictures of the original six (Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, Chicago, Boston, New York) buildings.

“And we have pictures from the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and Russia which were very popular,” she added. “We have a huge picture the Toronto Star had given us of Paul Henderson scoring the winning goal.” 

Ms. Hastings said people have been really good to donate artifacts, adding the Montreal Canadiens hockey club last year contributed memorabilia, and the late Dan O’Neill, CEP of Molsopn’s and later vice-president of hockey operations in the NHL.  Which included a collection of autographed sticks Mr. O’Neill received from players like Ron Tugnutt and Wayne Gretzky, and a leather jacket signed by Maurice “the Rocket” Richard and Jean Beliveau.

“He was a big supporter of the men’s and women’s Olympics and he had a gold medal from the Olympics in Nagano that his wife, Lise O’Neill,  donated,” Ms. Hastings shared.

Mr. Barker noted that in 2016 the museum even had the Stanley Cup at its original location that included a gala dinner at the Ma-te-way Hall with guests Ron Ellis and Laurie Boshman.

Mr. Hunt said the board is anxiously waiting for the town to approve an expansion of their location which would allow them to take many of the items they currently have in storage to be put back on display.

“We definitely need more room,” Mr. Barker remarked.

The museum had 2,800 square feet to operate in at the post office location and the new space is only 600 square feet, so the board had to decide what to display.

“Some of the board decided they were just going to go with the NHA things at the start,” she explained.

“We wanted to focus on the history which was the NHA/NHL,” Mr. Barker added. “That’s what the theme is all about.

“Our main thing is the history and how it started with M.J. O’Brien,” he added.

He said the more modern day exhibits on the sport are important too, especially to the younger visitors, but the limited space prevents most of those artifacts from being displayed now.

Mr. Hunt said he is hoping to invite some high-profile members of the Ottawa Senators alumni to visit the museum in the future to help promote it.

“I’d like to get them in for day to help promote it,” he said.

Ms. Hastings, has a summer student assisting her in July and August, but otherwise it’s up to her, the board, and the volunteers to handle all the duties and responsibilities. Both Mr. Hunt and Mr. Barker said they would welcome any new volunteers as many of their group are getting older and new blood is needed.

“We’re trying to build our board of directors,” Mr. Barker said. “Some of our members are in their 80s.”

The board was originally made up of nine members but now it sits at six.

The NHA/NHL Museum is open from September to June on Thursdays from 1 to 4 p.m. and on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In July and August, it is open from Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is no admission fee, but donations are gratefully accepted.