Last week, a pump failure on Winkler Centennial Arena's ice plant forced last-minute changes at the ICON Arena next door, including becoming the evening's host rink for the Winkler Flyers home game.
Jordan Driedger, Director of Community Services for the City of Winkler, says a pump was found locally as a short-term fix Wednesday morning, however, there was not enough time to get the ice into the condition they were comfortable with to host the Flyers. Along with the Flyers organization, he says the decision was made to move the game to ICON Arena.
"Anytime you go from two sheets to one sheet, it will impact a group here or there. But we worked with our various users and they understood where the Flyers are at with the team traveling in from a few hours away, and we were able to kind of accommodate the different groups in different ways. We recognize the impact that it has on those users, and it's not an ideal situation in that way, but we work with them the best we can to make up that time somewhere else or work with them to make something work for them as well."
Driedger says they recognize the Centennial Arena's ice plant is coming to the end of its life, which makes the upcoming renewal project very timely.
With spectator seating and standing areas on the upper level and lower level around the ice at the ICON Arena capacity for fans is around 700, which was the attendance at Wednesday's game.
Driedger was asked if he felt Wednesday's attendance was too much for the game.
"No, I think there are things that we can do in the building that would suit the Flyers and the atmosphere they want to have and that it would provide a positive experience. I think, yeah, like, does it feel crammed around the spectator area? Sure it does, but that's pretty common in most arenas. But I think there are things that we can do within the building that would supplement that many people at one time."
In difficult circumstances, Driedger says the situation on Wednesday was a good trial run for next hockey season.
"I thought the atmosphere in the building was unique in the sense that it felt like the fans were sitting right on top of the ice surface, which probably provided quite a unique experience for the players as well," said Driedger. "The fans were kind of wrapped around the ice surface on the main level as well, so it made for a bit of a unique atmosphere. And there seemed to be really positive feelings amongst the spectators that were there."
The ICON Arena will become home rink for the Flyers while the Centennial Arena undergoes a multi-million dollar renewal project that's slated to start following the 2023-2024 hockey season.