Children skate at hockey practice at Cabot Stadium in Bonavista, N.L., a facility built in 1960 with a regulation-sized rink.
For anyone visiting Newfoundland, Bonavista is a must-see. During the fair-weather months, whales, puffins and warm ocean breezes keep tourists steadily rolling into the fishing village, located at the tip of the Bonavista Peninsula on the east coast.
But when the temperatures dip below zero, it’s the residents who remain. And they more than anyone know how important connection is in their remote environment. The peninsula is home to around 12,000 people spread over roughly 1,600 square kilometres.
You wouldn’t expect to find a world-class destination for a crowd to gather indoors on this sparsely populated stretch of land along Iceberg Alley. But Bonavista offers the perfect place to meet, socialize and skate off the winter blues: the Cabot Stadium, a state-of-the art ice rink with regulation-sized dimensions.
The NHL jerseys of two Bonavista locals, Adam Pardy and Michael Ryder, get pride of place in Cabot Stadium.
Since it was built in 1960, the stadium has played host to countless hockey tournaments, curling matches and figure skating competitions. It was graced by the Stanley Cup in 2011 when NHL champion Michael Ryder, playing for the Boston Bruins at the time, brought it home for a visit. And the hand-painted, vintage signs and wooden benches offer a good dose of nostalgia.
It’s not just the locals who make use of the stadium. Many travel from farther away to use the professional-grade facility, like Jolita D’entremont and her daughter Mya, who drive more than 50 minutes each way from Plate Cove West to hit the ice with the Silver Wings Skating Club. Some, like Jeffery Tremblett and his grandson Bentley, travel from as far as Summerville, driving about an hour each way three times a week for hockey practice.
Bonavista has produced two NHL hockey players – Ryder and Adam Pardy, as well as provincial champion figure skater Matthew Lawlor. The current mayor, John Norman, was himself an accomplished figure skater and a coach with the Silver Wings for many years. The stadium is both a place for athletes to excel and for residents to connect, including Anastasiia Safiamiuk, who relocated to Bonavista with her family from Ukraine in 2022. “We didn’t have any opportunities to skate in such a wonderful skating rink in Ukraine. This is special,” she says.
Shafts of light come through the storm clouds over Bonavista Bay, an area known for spectacular sunsets. The peninsula is a good place to view passing icebergs, particularly in May and June.
Sue-Ann Johnson, head coach at the Silver Wings Skating Club, trains skater Hannah Stringer with a jumping harness, a tool coaches can use to guide students who are learning a new skill.
The Bonavista Curling League, which meets at the stadium every week, has more than 90 members and climbing.
Powerful waves crash on the shore near Bonavista’s historic lighthouse, built in 1843. There is a provincial museum but it is closed in the winter; it reopens in mid-May, when iceberg season will bring a new batch of visitors to the peninsula.