CUP OF HOT CHOCOLATE FROM ARENA HAS UPPED ITS GAME

Compared to sludge of the 1970s, the quality today is heavenly, Terry O’Shaughnessy says.

West Islanders love their sports. Ask anyone who grew up here and chances are good they remember the football fields and hockey arenas; the swimming pools and baseball diamonds that played such an important role in their lives.

The one I remember most is the old Pierrefonds arena, where my brother played hockey and my father coached. I was in charge of keeping the stats for his team, which I enjoyed even though I was also envious of the girls who glamorously took figure-skating lessons on the other rink. And essential to it all was the requisite cup of hot chocolate that accompanied each game — a 1970s Pierrefonds arena brew that had little obvious correlation to chocolate but was a necessary ritual of Sitting in the Stands.

The quality of a West Island hot chocolate, circa 1970s, could leave a lot to be desired.

On Friday nights when my friends and I would sneak on some forbidden blue eyeshadow and head out to watch the Pierrefonds Pirates play hockey, we always bought a chocolat chaud before the game. Fiery enough to strip the taste buds from your tongue until Sunday, it was also watery enough to make you wonder what its actual contents were. But there wasn’t much time to think about it because the flimsy Styrofoam cup would already be buckling with the heat and you’d have to quickly down it right to the sludgy grit at the bottom, making sure to remember to rub your teeth clean afterwards in case a Pirate smiled at you.

So when my nephew started to play hockey and I found myself back in the stands, I was shocked at how much things have changed. A quick sampler of West Island arenas shows that the quality of hockey hot chocolate has upped its game.

Pointe-Claire’s Bob Birnie Arena produces a delicious cup of cocoa with one of those super lids, and offers the unexpected refinement of Earl Grey tea if you want that instead, a choice undreamed of at the counter of the old Pierrefonds arena.

Dollard Civic Centre offers a good hot chocolate in a non-buckling cup which is recyclable — an environmentally-aware quality unthinkable back in the day. They also offer the possibility of not only cappuccino, but frappaccino as well — and egg rolls.

Dorval has a slightly more retro hot chocolate, but also offers Greek-style probiotic yogurt, a healthy food choice that would have shocked the regular patrons of the old days.

And while Beaconsfield provides a tasty hot chocolate, it further comes in a cardboard cup that is compostable, which you simply have to applaud.

As for the sleek Pierrefonds Sportsplexe with its upstairs bar and restaurant aerie looking out over one of the rinks, there’s no telling what end of proper food you could obtain in addition to your hot chocolate.

In a way, it’s almost too much to choose from.

So much quality and choice were never to be found back in the old Pierrefonds arena, where healthy food and environmentally-friendly products were still safely in the future.