Key Takeaways
- The Hilton Garden Inn Moncton Downtown is sold out every weekend through June 1, 2027, typically housing four to five teams at once.
- The ball hockey rink cost roughly $3,000 to build and, according to the hotel’s general manager, recouped that almost immediately.
- Within days of announcing a second season, the 117-room hotel logged more than 200 voicemails and about 300 emails from teams.
- Team managers are already calling to lock in room blocks for late 2027 and into 2028.
A youth hockey tournament hotel in Moncton, New Brunswick, has turned a dead corner of its underground parking garage into the most in-demand amenity on the Atlantic Canada tournament circuit. The Hilton Garden Inn Moncton Downtown built a 60-by-20-foot ball hockey rink for roughly $3,000, according to Front Office Sports, and the 117-room property is now fully booked every weekend through June 1, 2027. General manager Francis Goguen told the outlet the hotel fielded more than 200 voicemails and about 300 emails in the days after announcing the rink’s return for a second season.
How a Hotel Parking Garage Became a Ball Hockey Rink
Moncton, a city of roughly 100,000, hosts multiple major youth hockey tournaments every winter weekend at the Avenir Centre, a few blocks from the hotel, per Front Office Sports. The arena is also home ice for the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League’s Moncton Wildcats, which keeps the tournament calendar full from fall through spring.
The hotel opened in 2020 and, according to Front Office Sports, staff identified the hallway mini-sticks games as a problem almost immediately. For years, employees floated the idea of a dedicated space. Goguen told the outlet he finally committed last fall, and CTV News reported that maintenance worker Maurice LeBlanc finished the build in a couple of days after the hotel had started with just a pair of nets and a few balls.
The location did most of the work on the business case. Front Office Sports reported that the rink sits in an awkward, otherwise unused corner of the below-ground lot, which meant the project needed little corporate sign-off and, in Goguen’s words, paid for itself virtually right away. Front Office Sports did not specify the currency of the $3,000 figure, and Hilton corporate did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment.
What a $3,000 Rink Buys a Traveling Team
The specs are closer to a real rink than a hotel conference room. CTV News reported the 60-by-20-foot surface has painted blue and red lines, 4-foot-high boards topped with mesh fencing, and two regulation-size nets. Flags of the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs hang above each end, per Front Office Sports.
Usage runs from check-in to lights out. Goguen told Front Office Sports the rink is pretty much packed every day until roughly 10 p.m., when most tournament teams call it a night. CTV News found the U-13 Metro West Force playing an evening game there after two wins on the ice earlier that day.
Next to the rink sits the Parents Corner, a nod to the Hockey Night in Canada segment, furnished with patio sets pulled in from the hotel’s summer outdoor area. Front Office Sports reported that parents brought a projector for movies and set up picnics there last season.
For the people booking rooms, that combination solves a specific headache. Janice McPherson, who manages a U11 team from Bedford, Nova Scotia, told Front Office Sports that teams assigned to the hotel are told they “won the lottery,” and that it makes managing seventeen families far easier. Nicole Hinkley, in Moncton from Halifax for the Fall Freeze tournament, told CTV News that most hotels will not even allow mini-sticks in the hallways.
Sold Out to June 2027, With Ice Time the Only Thing Left to Ration
The second season sold out before it started. Front Office Sports reported that as of the week of October 30, the 117-room property is fully booked on each weekend through June 1, 2027, usually with four to five teams in house at a time. Some managers have already called to reserve blocks for late 2027 and into 2028.
The rink has also pulled in visitors beyond the tournament crowd. Front Office Sports reported that former NHL players Max Talbot and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped by while in town for the NAPA Hockey Heroes Weekend charity event, which Moncton hosts every June. Goguen told CTV News that local and international media outlets have reached out since the announcement, and that he is not aware of another hotel with a comparable setup, outside of possibly a couple out west or in the United States.
Goguen, who told Front Office Sports this is the most successful idea of his 25-year career in hotel management, now faces a problem of his own making. Access is first come, first served, and he told CTV News the hotel has not implemented a schedule but that this may be the year it has to. With five teams a weekend sharing 1,200 square feet of concrete, the next decision in Moncton is who gets the rink at 7 p.m. on a Saturday.
Source: Front Office Sports, Ellyn Briggs, October 30, 2026, https://frontofficesports.com/article/moncton-hilton-mini-sticks-parking-garage-rink/
Source: CTV News Atlantic, Derek Haggett, November 7, 2026, https://www.ctvnews.ca/atlantic/new-brunswick/article/this-is-so-canadian-hotel-hockey-rink-a-hit-with-tournament-teams/
Image: Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic
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Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
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Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
