Oshawa Generals
Arena Name: Oshawa (Hambly's) Arena
Capacity: Unknown
Built: 1930
Burned Down: 1953
Address: 140 Bond Street W, Oshawa, ON, L1H 7L3
Ice Surface Size: Unknown
Oshawa Arena
What Was the Arena Like?
Oshawa Arena, also known as Hambly's Arena after owner William (Bill) Hambly Sr., was built in 1930 and replaced Bradley's Arena which had burned down in June of 1928. It was built with the help of donations from local auto magnate Colonel Sam McLaughlin. It was the home of the legendary Generals teams of the 1930's and 1940's, who dominated junior hockey in Canada like no team before or since. Between 1937 and 1944 the Generals won seven consecutive league championships and three Memorial Cups. The arena itself was made of brick and steel.
On September 15, 1953, the arena caught fire and burned down in a legendary conflagration that is still remembered by old-timers in Oshawa. The smoke created by the fire was visible for miles around. All that remained of the building when the fire was finally extinguished was remnants of the brick facade and twisted steel in a pile of rubble. Officials of the Oshawa Fire Department estimated the loss at about $350,000.
The pictures on this website were contributed by members of the Hambly Family. I have virtually no information about the old arena. The Generals themselves were rendered homeless and ultimately disbanded, although pieces of the team were ultimately reorganized into the equally legendary Whitby Dunlops, who won the Senior World Championship in the late 1950's. The Generals would not reappear until 1963, and even then they played their first season and part of the second in the nearby Bowmanville Memorial Arena while the Oshawa Civic Auditorium was under construction.
Click here for a gallery of shots of the Hambly Arena fire.
The Site of Oshawa Arena
What's the Arena Used for Today?
An auto dealership, Ontario Motor Sales, currently occupies the site of the old arena. There are no traces on site that it ever existed, apart from that the side street is still called "Arena Street". In the background of some of these pictures you can see the floodlights of Kinsmen Stadium, which is still standing and used by the Oshawa Dodgers baseball team.
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Last Revised: December 8, 2019