Drawings submitted by Ohio Arenas to the city of Westlake for a 100,000 square foot, two-rink facility on Viking Parkway.

Hockey team won’t practice in Westlake
Plans for ice rink still proceeding
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published Dec. 20, 2006

The pro hockey team owned by a group led by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert will practice in Strongsville, not Westlake.

Kerry Bubolz, president of the yet to be named hockey team, announced Sunday the team had signed an agreement to practice at Ice Land USA, located at 15381 Royalton Road in Strongsville.

Bubolz also announced the American Hockey League franchise will be affiliated with the National Hockey League’s Colorado Avalanche.

“The Avalanche have a very high operating standard for us to focus on,” Bubolz said in a statement. “We’re confident the players they are developing with us will have a great environment to reach their potential, not only at The Q, but also at our new, dedicated training facilities at Ice Land USA in Strongsville, which we feel are the very best in the region.”

Ohio Arenas, an ice rink management company which plans to open a 100,000 square foot facility on Viking Parkway in an industrial section of Westlake, had sought to be the practice home of the American Hockey League franchise.

Nevertheless, the company plans to go ahead with its plans for the facility, which will consist of two pro-sized ice rinks along with a pro shop.

Stephen McCann, president of Ohio Arenas, told West Life not hosting the hockey franchise’s practices may actually help the company’s efforts.

“Maybe people will now realize that it’s not Dan Gilbert putting money in,” McCann said.

McCann acknowledged the financing phase of the facility took longer than originally anticipated. The hockey team, which will begin play for the 2007-08 season at Quicken Loans Arena, needed a rink ready by September, he added.

McCann said it became apparent the AHL team would be practicing elsewhere about two months ago.

“At the end of the day, it was no financial loss to us,” McCann said of the team’s agreement with Ice Land USA. The AHL team was never a revenue source for the ice rink, he explained. In negotiations with the team’s ownership, McCann’s group had been discussing giving the team free ice time in exchange for marketing considerations, such as an advertisement in the team’s official program.

Hosting the team’s practice sessions would have been fun, McCann said.

“But it didn’t really add to the bottom line or add to the revenue,” he said.

Meanwhile McCann said plans for the facility are moving forward.

Westlake City Council passed a conditional use permit Dec. 7 allowing an ice rink at the site, which was purchased from Beacon Marshall about a month ago, McCann said.

McCann said a meeting with a potential big player in the facility’s future will take place at the beginning of next month.

Ohio Arenas will manage the facility and make money from pro shops and other amenities offered in the building, McCann said. The building itself, which will cost about $7.2 million, will be owned by a separate not-for-profit organization, he added.

McCann said his group intends to sell naming rights to the Westlake facility as well as similar rinks the group hopes to build in Chesterland and either Cuyahoga Falls or Macedonia.

Ohio Arenas hopes to tap into what McCann says is a shortage of quality ice time in the region. Reaction to his group’s plans has been positive, he noted.

“Interested users have come out of the woodwork” following news reports about the planned facility, McCann said.