This article is part of our NHL Arena Rankings series, in which we rank all 32 current rinks and present stories about memorable rinks of the past and present.

One night, during my time covering the Calgary Flames for The Athletic, I was minding my business in the Scotiabank Saddledome press box when a visiting broadcaster approached.

The broadcaster, a former NHL player — who will remain nameless because he didn’t respond to a recent request for an interview — was searching for the broadcast booth. The problem was, he was on the wrong side of the arena. And the only way he could get to the opposite side, without a lengthy trip back downstairs, was by crossing a metal drawbridge — the catwalk — that hangs dozens of feet directly above the ice surface, with wooden boards as guides.

When another colleague and I explained this, our guest was horrified. He couldn’t believe he had to essentially walk over the arena’s scoreboard while using the accompanying railings to protect him from potentially falling. There are even stairs to navigate in some areas. It was like asking him to walk a tightrope above a pit of swimming sharks. So, he asked my colleague and me to cross the catwalk with him.

For @TheAthleticNHL listeners, here’s a video I took of the Scotiabank Saddledome catwalk hanging above the ice https://t.co/SE9FuTcNfg pic.twitter.com/xjOyJFmVUy

— Julian McKenzie (@jkamckenzie) September 29, 2022

The three of us tried not to look down — especially because while doing the walk, you literally could look down through the Saddledome video board (until the team got a new one in 2024). The broadcaster finished his journey, and my colleague and I bravely made the walk back to our seats.

Moments later, another reporter from The Athletic received a text from the broadcaster, saying that his legs were still shaking. He is not the only one to face his fears along that catwalk, known as the scariest walk in the NHL.

“I don’t think I’ve done it in 20 or 25 years,” said Vancouver Canucks broadcaster John Shorthouse, who’d much rather take the long way and reach the broadcast booth through a public elevator filled with fans. He’s not alone.

The Scotiabank Saddledome is the NHL’s second-oldest arena, behind Madison Square Garden in New York City. It opened in October 1983 and hosted events at the 1988 Winter Olympics. It has endured as one of the city’s most prominent landmarks, thanks to the literal saddle shape of the arena.

And inside, near the ceiling, is that dreaded catwalk that has struck fear, or curiosity, into many media members and journalists.

“You walk on that plywood,” TSN broadcaster Gord Miller said. “How long has that plywood been there?

“There’s a GM I know who is famous, and he rides the public elevator. He’ll sign the autographs and pose for pictures (with fans) rather than walk that catwalk.”

For those who might want to avoid the public elevator — or might have to cross from one side of the press box to the other and prefer to not take two elevator rides — the catwalk is the way to go. None of it is for the faint of heart. Even the press box itself — and the walkway that leads to it — is suspended in the air over a section of seats.

The Calgary catwalk is the stuff of legends.

With the building entering it’s final years, I had to give it a shot.

With a deep fear of heights, what could possibly go wrong? pic.twitter.com/MYStRAkfYg

— Logan Reever (@loganreever) December 11, 2025

TSN broadcaster Jamie McLennan did a video call with his wife and son while walking the catwalk before a game last season. During his days as the Flames’ goalie coach, he crossed the catwalk back and forth between each period to go downstairs and meet with then-coach Darryl Sutter.

“It was a gong show,” McLennan said. “But it’s a bit of a rite of passage.”

Decades ago, Shorthouse made the fearful walk along the catwalk with former broadcast partner Tom Larscheid and would not let go of him.

“He would go ahead,” Shorthouse said. “I would just hold on to the back of his jacket, and stare at the back of his head, and walk and not look down. Because it freaks me out.”

Sportsnet broadcaster Jason York, who flies in from Ottawa to call several games a week in Calgary alongside play-by-play man Jon Abbott, avoids the catwalk due to his fear of heights.

“My kryptonite is heights,” York said. “I don’t know when it started. When I was a kid, I wouldn’t go up on the CN Tower. When I have a straight look down, my legs get super light. All of a sudden, I’m like, ‘I might lose my balance and fall over here and plummet to the ice.’

“You will never see him cross it,” Abbott said. “He doesn’t even really like putting his back to the ice, like when we have to turn around for the camera (in the booth).”

But that treacherous walk to the broadcast booth isn’t for nothing. Once broadcasters enter the Pete Maher broadcast booth — named after the longtime, legendary Flames broadcaster — they’re treated to some of the best sight lines in the league for broadcasters.

“It’s old-school,” York said.

“You are right over the top of the ice,” said Sportsnet’s national television play-by-play broadcaster Harnarayan Singh. “So it’s just a phenomenal view for calling the game when you need to cross over to the other side.”

Abbott said, “You get the ambience and the crowd noise because you’re not at the top of the rafters, you feel like you’re more in it. When I’m at the edge of the booth, I can see the fans beneath me. I can hear them behind me. I can see the ice extremely well. I’m able to pick up all the little details. It just puts you in the middle of the ambience. It puts you in the middle of the vibes. It puts you in the middle of the atmosphere in the arena. And so you feel it’s just so easy to have an energetic call because it’s surrounding you, and all you have to do is embrace it.”

Despite the charm, the Flames’ days in the Saddledome are numbered. Its successor, Scotia Place, is currently being constructed across the street from the ‘Dome and is set to open in the fall of 2027. And once the new arena is operational, the Saddledome and its terrifying catwalk will be demolished. Broadcasters, obviously, hope their vantage points will be just as good in the new rink. But some will still miss the Saddledome’s charm when it goes away.

“It’s going to change part of the identity that goes with Calgary,” Abbott said. “The new one will take over the new era. But it’s one of those long-standing hallmarks of the city of Calgary, so it’s going to feel a lot different when that place isn’t there.”

But not everyone will feel nostalgic about the arena’s catwalk.

“I hope the new building doesn’t have it,” McLennan said.

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