Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame

For further information on Ottawa sporting legends, be sure to check out the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame on the second level concourse at Scotiabank Place.

Founded in 1966, the Hall is open whenever Scotiabank Place is, and has since inducted more than 200 members, including Cyclone Taylor, Larry Robinson, Denis Potvin, Aurel Joliat, Mark Kosmos, Phil Maloney, Franklin Thomas Ahearn, Francis (Frank) Amyot, Marjorie Blackwood, Donald Booth, Sheryl Boyle, Cyril Joseph (Cy) Denneny, Francois Xavier (Frank) Boucher, and John George (Buck) Boucher.

Sam Bats: A Bat Maker of our Own

Batter Up: Ottawa may be a hockey town, but it’s also home to a little factory that just happens to produce bats for Major League Baseball’s all-time home run king. Barry Bonds and a number of other major leaguers use bats produced by the Original Maple Bat Corporation, founded by Ottawa’s Sam Holman, who produces well over 10,000 bats a year in his inconspicuous shop.

Developed in 1997, the “Sam Bat” is made out of Canadian maple; it doesn’t dent easily and thus lasts longer than any others. Holman claims that living in Ottawa offered an advantage for developing his product.

As the company’s website says: “[Ottawa] was a researcher’s dream centre: home of the Canadian patent library, two first-rate universities, the Wood Council, the Canadian Forest Research Centre, the National and other extensive Libraries – all in the centre of the richest deciduous forest in North America.”

The (Former) Ottawa Lynx

Ottawa’s own minor league baseball team, the Lynx were formed in 1993, and were for many years the farm team for the Montreal Expos (which also no longer exist). The Lynx were sold in August 2006, making
them a Philadelphia Phillies affiliate.

The team played out the 2007 season in Ottawa
at Lynx Stadium (300 Coventry Rd.), but moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania, for the 2008 season, as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Notable Lynx alumni include Orlando Cabrera, Ugueth Urbina, Javier Vazquez, José Vidro, and Canadian Adam Loewen.