09/23/2026
Welcome Home, Vikings!
What an exciting moment for Elliot Lake! After more than three years, the Elliot Lake Vikings are finally back where they belong, playing in front of their hometown crowd.
We are incredibly grateful to the Elliot Lake Vikings for their continued support of physician recruitment in our community, and we are proud to support them as they make their long-awaited return to home ice.
Community partnerships like these help us showcase what makes Elliot Lake such a welcoming place to live, work and call home.
Go Vikings!
🏒 AFTER 1,112 DAYS… HOCKEY IS COMING HOME. 🏒
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 • 7:00 PM • ROGERS ARENA
ELLIOT LAKE VIKINGS vs. ESPANOLA PAPER KINGS
This one is bigger than a home opener.
It has been 1,112 days since the Elliot Lake Vikings last played a hockey game in front of their hometown crowd.
On September 9, 2023, the newly renamed Vikings stepped onto the ice at Centennial Arena against the defending champion Timmins Rock. In front of roughly 500 fans, Elliot Lake fell behind by three goals… battled all the way back… and won an unforgettable 6–5 overtime thriller.
Nobody in that building knew they were watching the final game Centennial Arena would host for more than three years.
Just two days later, a routine structural inspection uncovered serious problems with the aging building. The arena was immediately closed over concerns surrounding the roof, foundation and the ability of the structure to safely withstand another Northern Ontario winter.
And just like that, the lights went out.
The Vikings lost their home.
The community lost its rink.
What followed was something nobody could have predicted.
The team became hockey nomads, relocating games to Massey and travelling throughout the region just to find practice ice. Players, coaches and staff spent countless hours on the road while the organization tried to keep a junior hockey franchise alive without the one thing every hockey team needs:
A home.
Eventually, it became too much.
The Vikings were forced to suspend operations midway through the 2024–25 season. Players were scattered to other teams. The franchise went dark. And for an entire season after that, Elliot Lake had no junior hockey team at all.
But while the Vikings waited…
Elliot Lake fought back.
Our community rallied behind Kraft Hockeyville 2024, and on March 30, Elliot Lake was named Kraft Hockeyville — NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. 🇨🇦
That victory brought $250,000 toward the arena and put the story of Elliot Lake in front of the entire country.
Then came the Armstrong Family Foundation, with Jamie and Jo-Ann Armstrong stepping forward with a $300,000 contribution and a fundraising challenge that helped inspire residents, businesses and organizations to push the community campaign beyond $1 million.
And then Edward and Suzanne Rogers stepped forward with an extraordinary $3 million donation, helping turn what once looked impossible into reality.
A building that had gone dark suddenly had a future.
A community that had been told to wait could finally start counting down.
And the old Centennial Arena began its transformation into the new Rogers Arena.
But this story was never just about concrete, wood, steel or millions of dollars.
It was about the people who voted.
The people who donated.
The businesses that stepped up.
The volunteers who refused to quit.
The families who missed spending winter nights at the rink.
The kids who wanted somewhere to play.
The fans who wanted their team back.
And an organization that somehow kept the Elliot Lake Vikings alive long enough to come home.
And now… they are home.
On Friday, September 25 at 7:00 PM, those doors open for Vikings hockey again.
A brand-new roster will step onto the ice.
The stands will fill again.
The horns will sound again.
And for the first time since that wild overtime victory in September 2023…
THE ELLIOT LAKE VIKINGS WILL PLAY HOCKEY IN ELLIOT LAKE.
Their opponent for the return?
The Espanola Paper Kings.
Perfect.
Because after three years of travelling throughout Northern Ontario on the road, there is only one place these players need to be this Friday night:
HOME.
ELLIOT LAKE VIKINGS vs. ESPANOLA PAPER KINGS
Friday, September 25
7:00 PM
Rogers Arena — Elliot Lake
WELCOME HOME, VIKINGS!
