Saturday, May 31, 2014

Ice owner discusses future

Indiana Ice owner Paul Skjodt discussed the team's championship and its future in the wake of the Clark Cup championship in an interview with Larry Hawley that aired on WXIN Friday night.

Click here to watch the interview.

The Ice are going to go dormant in the 2014-15 season because of lack of available places to play -- although the franchise will retain full USHL membership as a non-playing team, signaling both the Ice and the USHL plan for the franchise to be revived.

The dormancy is taking place in part because the Pan Am Pavilion -- where they played the majority of home games the past two seasons -- is slated for redevelopment into a hotel complex during the upcoming year. The other home, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, does not allow the scheduling flexibility to play a full slate of 30 home games, plus playoff dates. After praising the Ice players and coaches for the way they won a title, playing through having two home rinks, Skjodt talked about the future. 

Click and watch the interview, but here are a couple of highlights:
  • Skjodt said he'd been approached by "some very significant community leaders" in the last couple of months about a new facility.
  • He and his family have been looking for a smaller venue that "fits the demographics of the market," and has to include youth hockey, and would likely be a multi-sport, multi-purpose venue. "We're more about helping the community and trying to support at-risk kids, both in health and wellness and education. ... Unless there's a larger facility that can house multiple types of sports, has some educational components to it, allows us to give back to the city, we're not going to do it." 

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