For most fans of sports, the only ghosts that concern them are the ones that haunt their teams, causing last-second losses or blown championships. But the Hockey Hall of Fame is not immune to its own ghostly apparitions.
By 1986 the Hockey Hall of Fame was running out of room. Sharing a space with Canadian Sports Hall of Fame was no longer viable. The Hall finally left its rigid confines in 1993, taking over the former Bank of Montreal within the newly developed BCE Place complex, but what they didn’t realize was the space was already occupied.
Dorothea Mae Elliott’s ghost haunts the second floor of the Hall. Most people refuse to go up to the second floor after 6 p.m. — and never alone. Common ghostly activities reported include cold spots, lights flickering, and doors opening and closing all on their own. Screams, moans and footsteps are also known to echo throughout the hallways. Sightings of a woman in vintage clothing and a phantom hand touching a few unlucky souls have also been said to occur.
The ghostly legend’s origins go back as far as 1953, when Dorothea, commonly referred to today as Dorothy, worked as a teller at the Bank of Montreal. Dorothea had an affair with a married bank manager. When their bliss wilted, the young woman shot herself on the upper floor of the bank. She died 22 hours later at St. Michael’s Hospital.
Per The Toronto Star, Rob Hynes, a former employee at the Hall, once encountered the ghost while he was helping set up an upcoming event. Collecting supplies in a kitchen on the second floor, he began to feel as if he was being watched, “but different than that.” He felt compelled to enter the conference room, which was engulfed in darkness.
“One of the chairs, and this is the God’s honest truth, was turning, as if a breeze was in there,” he says. “It actually moved right into my hand. I’m rather skeptical about ghosts, but I just freaked out and ran out of there.”
So, what do you think? Is the Hockey Hall of Fame haunted? Or do you believe there are reasonable explanations for what’s been reported? ■
Kyle Scully is a lifelong Sharks fan whose secret dream is to attend the Sloan Analytics Conference. Loves Zebra from Popcornopolis but only eats it at hockey games. Follow him on Twitter @socal_scully
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I live in Toronto and have been to the HHOF several times – this is the first time I have heard it is haunted. I will have to check it out after 6:00pm sometime. I hope I don’t regret it.