Interview with Dan McKnight

Partial Transcript: Okay. Well, my name is Dan McKnight, and I was born in Toronto and grew up in Toronto…

Segment Synopsis: Dan introduces himself before discussing his childhood and his family, including his wife and three children. He then shares how he got involved with the Garden City Arena and the hockey and skating related activities in which he participated.

Keywords: Maple Leaf Gardens; Niagara IceDogs; Old Timers Hockey Challenge; Sport -- Baseball; Sport -- Hockey; St. Catharines Falcons

Subjects: Family; Fundraising; Junior B Hockey; OHL Hockey

Partial Transcript: Oh, just amazing. I mean, it's really hard to put in the words when you think about it…

Segment Synopsis: Dan discusses how he Oldtimers Hockey Challenge was special to him because he got to share experiences with his son that mimicked his experiences as a child and because of the hockey legends that they saw.

Keywords: Bobby Hull; Hockey -- Fan; Hockey Heroes; NHL; Sport -- Hockey

Subjects: NHL Hockey; Old Timers Hockey Challenge

Partial Transcript: Yeah. Yeah, because the Buffalo Sabres did their training camp at the arena in like September…

Segment Synopsis: Dan recalls attending the Buffalo Sabres training camp at the Garden City Arena, the smallness of the arena, and the impact that meeting hockey legends has on a child.

Keywords: Buffalo Sabres; Hockey -- Fan; Memorabilia; Rob Ray; Sport -- Hockey

Subjects: NHL Hockey

Partial Transcript: Yeah, it was me and my son mostly…

Segment Synopsis: Dan recalls attending St. Catharines Falcons games with his son and his neighbours. He then shares a story about a man who lent him money at a Falcon’ game so that he could get an autograph from Walter Gretzky.

Keywords: Memorabilia; St. Catharines Falcons; Walter Gretzky

Subjects: Junior B Hockey

Partial Transcript: Okay. I'll tell you a story about Bobby Hull, which that thing might help with that…

Segment Synopsis: Dan tells a story about Bobby Hull mistakenly telling the whole arena that he and his wife came all the way from Winnipeg to St. Catharines to watch a game and how the arena applauded them despite them living not far from the Garden City Arena.

Keywords: Bobby Hull; Hockey -- Fan; Old Timers Hockey Challenge; Sport -- Hockey; Winnipeg Jets

Subjects: NHL Hockey; Old Timers Hockey Challenge

Partial Transcript: Let me think. Well, I mean, I have another story and it's kind of-- I'll tell the story to see how this works, because it's basically about Chuck and he lives here, like he came from sort of the Hamilton Niagara area…

Segment Synopsis: Dan tells a story about how his neighbour managed to get them and their sons autographs from Dominik Hašek. He also explains how the St. Catharines Standard gave him free tickets to the Oldtimers’ Hockey Challenge, and the pride St. Catharines has in the Falcons.

Keywords: Buffalo Sabres; Community; Dominik Hasek; Facilities; Memorabilia; St. Catharines Falcons; St. Catharines Standard

Subjects: Junior B Hockey; NHL Hockey; Old Timers Hockey Challenge

Partial Transcript: That's a great question, you know, and it's almost, you could ask almost any Canadian that question, right?

Segment Synopsis: Dan explains how hockey is deeply rooted in Canadian identity, and the history of hockey is Canadian. Dan then discusses his experience watching NHL games as a child and he relates it to watching Junior B hockey games and meeting the same hockey heroes with his son.

Keywords: Canadian Identity; Family; Hockey Heroes; Maple Leaf Gardens; NHL; St. Catharines Falcons

Subjects: Junior B Hockey; NHL Hockey

Partial Transcript: Well, I mean, I think the first games I went to were the Junior B Falcons…

Segment Synopsis: Dan discusses how he started watching St. Catharines Falcons games at the Garden City Arena in 1999 and shares close and intimate the Garden City Arena is. He then talks about how he never forgot his experiences with his dad and so he hopes his son never forgets their experiences either. He relates this to coaching and teaching the kids life skills.

Keywords: Childhood; Hockey -- Coaching; Hockey -- fan; NHL; Niagara IceDogs; Old Timers Hockey Challenge; Sport -- Hockey; St. Catharines Falcons

Subjects: Junior B Hockey; Old Timers Hockey Challenge

Partial Transcript: Yeah. I have a daughter named Carly and she's not so into hockey as my son was, my son played, and we saw a lot of games…

Segment Synopsis: Dan talks about how his family joined him at the Oldtimers’ Hockey Challenge and meeting Jimmy Mann. He recalls non-hockey related actives at the arena such as elephants in the circus, the home shows, and ice skating. He shares that ice skating was something they did as a family and by himself. He recalls the skating on New Year’s Eve with the Niagara IceDogs and professional hockey players.

Keywords: Atmosphere; Circus; Gondola; Home Show; Jimmy Mann; Maple Leaf Gardens; Memorabilia; Niagara IceDogs; Public Skating

Subjects: Family; OHL Hockey; Old Timers Hockey Challenge

Partial Transcript: Yeah. I mean when you're first learning to skate you need a lot of help…

Segment Synopsis: Dan recalls helping his children learn how to skate, having them watch him, and helping them get their stride down. He talked about his son’s determination to learn how to skate despite it being difficult for him. He then shares story of a coach encouraging his son because his son was not a great skater and talks about how it was amazing to watch his son play hockey.

Keywords: Detroit Red Wings; Hockey -- Coach; Hockey -- Player; Owen Nolan; Public Skating; Sport -- Hockey

Subjects: Family; Skating

Partial Transcript: Yeah, I'm going to borrow a phrase, which is “memories and dreams”…

Segment Synopsis: Dan discusses how he has so many memories from the arena, the sense of community, and the beauty of the building that cannot be replicated.

Keywords: Community; Facilities; Sport -- Hockey

Subjects: Family