A new hockey arena connected to the Schwartz/Reisman Jewish Community Centre at the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s Vaughan, Ont. campus was welcomed by Toronto-born NHL star Zach Hyman, who was on hand to commemorate its opening, along with elected officials.
The modern sports facility officially opened Aug. 21 and features a 400-seat and a 150-seat ice rink, along with a smaller ice pad for training.
It’s the first and only hockey arena in North America to be owned by a Jewish federation, as The CJN reported in 2023.
The Honey and Barry Memorial Arena (HBMA) was secured by a $52 million donation by Jonathon Sherman, son of the late billionaire philanthropist couple.
The couple were found slain in their home in 2017 in an unsolved case that made headlines and prompted inconclusive investigations about what happened and who was responsible for their deaths.
In a statement, Jonathon Sherman wrote: “Just as my parents touched the lives of so many throughout our community, this arena will benefit the Jewish community and all Vaughan residents for generations to come.”
Hyman, a graduate of Toronto’s TanenbaumCHAT Jewish high school who now wears number 18 for the Edmonton Oilers, is among the NHL players who have been training over the summer at the facility, which will now house the Hyman Hockey Camp for children each summer, starting in 2026.
He says there was “nothing like this” when he grew up playing hockey in the area.
“This facility provides the next generation with all the tools to be successful and to be hockey players if they choose to be hockey players,” Hyman said in a brief interview.
“Hockey is an unbelievable sport that, even if you’re not a hockey player, you learn so many life skills and life tools that you can take” into other areas, he said.
Watching young players show passion and excitement for the game serves as a reminder of the value of playing “just for fun.”
Hyman stood at the top of one of the two rinks, while a group of kids skated and performed hockey drills on the ice below.
“When you look out there … [I see] how lucky I am to be in the business that I am in, to be a professional player and to do what we all love on a daily basis,” he said.
Hyman and several other NHL stars — including some of his Oilers teammates — have been training at the facility over the summer with Gary Roberts, a former NHLer from the Toronto area who’s moved his sports coaching and performance business into the facility as an anchor tenant.
With a modern training gym and rooms for recovery and treatment, such as a cold plunge tub and a sauna, as well as a full nutrition and smoothie bar, Roberts’ part of the facility caters to his sports performance clients like Hyman and other elite players, including from the major-junior level Ontario Hockey League, according to Roberts.
Gary Roberts, right, an ex-NHL player who runs a sports performance coaching business, has signed on as an anchor tenant at the new facility within the Vaughan Jewish Community Centre campus. (Jonathan Rothman photo)
Jeremy Blustein, UJA’s director of sports programs, says he’s had a chance to watch major hockey stars practice in the mornings during the off-season training with Roberts.
Blustein was standing in the facility’s upstairs lounge, where framed hockey jerseys embroidered with Hebrew lettering for the last names hang in a naturally lit space overlooking the two ice rinks. (Separately, in the entry hallway to the facility, Jewish NHL stars and top former players — Hyman, Adam Fox, David Levin, Mathieu Schneider, Mike Cammalleri, and Zeev Buium, as well as former U.S. national women’s team goalie Sara DeCosta-Hayes — are featured in large, glossy photos.)
“If you’re here in the morning, you may look over to your right, and you can see Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and Zach (Hyman) and many other NHL superstars practicing,” said Blustein.
“And then you’re going to look to your left and you’ll see a community hockey camp, of which, at any given time, about one-fifth of them are subsidized and underprivileged kids that wouldn’t have that opportunity to play otherwise. So it really is a very cool space, and what this rink was meant for.”
NHL team jerseys with special Hebrew lettering for Hy Buller, left, and Zeev Buium, right, hang in the lounge at the new Honey and Barry Sherman Memorial Area. (Jonathan Rothman photo)
At the arena opening, the City of Vaughan also renamed an adjacent park at the south end of the campus as Honey and Barry Memorial Park.
Two of the couple’s children, Jonathon and Lauren Sherman, joined officials including Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca and Member of Parliament for Thornhill Melissa Lantsman to unveil the new park sign.
Chris Ainsworth, the Vaughan city councillor for the area, said the Shermans “led by example through the generosity they showed in a lifetime,” adding that the park becomes part of the couple’s “profound and remarkable legacy.”
“Their involvement in many charitable organizations helped change many lives in the Greater Toronto area and beyond. They truly embodied the spirit of giving back,” said Ainsworth.
Vaughan city councillor Gila Martow acknowledged the Sherman family members and the family’s gifts to future generations.
“In Hebrew, we say of blessed memory, and they are blessed people. We are blessed to have known them when they were with us and part of the community, but they are going to remain part of the community with all their many, many legacies here, and in Toronto as well.”
Lauren Sherman, centre, and brother Jonathon, right (in hockey jersey), the only son of the late Honey and Barry Sherman, participated in the renaming of a Vaughan park next to the new arena, Aug. 21, 2025. (Jonathan Rothman photo)
The facility will house a range of local community programs, serving as the base for the Vaughan JCC Warriors hockey program and playing a role in Greater Toronto’s hosting of the 2026 Maccabi Games, according to a press release.
“The arena will play a key role in the competition that unites thousands of young athletes from across North America. It will also serve as the home rink for Maccabi Canada, along with other Jewish community organizations,” read the release. City of Vaughan recreation programs, such as free skate, will also be offered at the arena.
