Hurricanes to play at Nicholas Sheran Arena as curling championship takes over ENMAX Centre in March

Brass from the team met with media and fans Wednesday morning to discuss the solution to the conflict.

To make up for the unavailability of the ENMAX Centre, the Hurricanes will play their playoff games during that time period at the Nicholas Sheran Arena.

The arena is home to the University of Lethbridge’s men and women’s hockey teams, the Pronghorns.

“I think from a hockey standpoint, I just want to point out that it’s not uncommon for hockey teams to face different types of adversity throughout any group of years,” Hurricanes General Manager Peter Anholt said at the Wednesday morning press conference.

“This is a different type of adversity that the Hurricanes are going to be faced with.”

Anholt said something like this has happened before. In 1995, the Brandon Wheat Kings were displaced from their home arena for a month due to curling events and winter faire. The team didn’t let that stop them and made it all the way to the Memorial Cup in Kamloops, B.C. that year.

“You can overcome adversity if you approach it in the right way,” Anholt said.

“What we’re losing from the on-ice side is basically the familiarity of playing here (the ENMAX Centre), playing in front of a large ENMAX crowd and as we all know, what our fans are like come playoff time and how passionate they are, so we’ll lose that side of it.”

Anholt said the team is fortunate though, as they’ve developed a strong relationship with the Pronghorns team and staff.

“I think we’ve come together, we worked hard, the Western Hockey League, the City and ourselves to walk through Nicholas Sheran and bring it up to Western Hockey League standards. There’s a lot of things that are gonna need to be done, so we are working through all those details,” he said.

“Our playoff schedule, as everybody knows, is still very much up in the air. With our division being as tough as it is, we could finish from first to fifth, so it’s really unclear what our schedule will be like come playoffs so we’re trying to prepare as best we can.”

Team brass said that their goal in finding a make-up venue was to not leave Lethbridge, which helped lead the organization to Nicholas Sheran Arena.

Anholt said other teams they spoke with who have faced similar situations advised the Hurricanes to not leave their home city, because “for the most part, fans won’t travel anyways.”

He added that a free “Hurricanes Family Fun Zone” will be set up as well, as a way to celebrate the team and have everyone in the community involved. Further details on that will be released in the future.

Anholt noted that if the team finishes as a top seed, they will be able to play their first two playoff games at the ENMAX, as those would be scheduled before the start of the curling event.

He said games five and seven would then be played at Nicholas Sheran, depending on the team’s positioning in the standings.

“If we get into the second round, we could play games two and three in our building (ENMAX). We can maybe massage that a little bit even if we’re the top seed,” he said.

“Maybe we can play away from home for games one and two and come back for games three, four and five. If we’re the second seed, it doesn’t matter at that point anyway because we’ll start here…we’ll have games three and four here (ENMAX).”

Anholt added that the move to a new arena shouldn’t have that much of an effect on the team’s morale, as there is enough time for players to prepare for playing in a different, smaller building.

SEASON TICKET HOLDER IMPACTS

Team management stated that unfortunately, there will be no guarantee that a season ticket holder will be able to attend a playoff game, due to a major capacity difference between the two venues.

The ENMAX Centre boasts a capacity of over 5,000 for hockey games, while the Nicholas Sheran Arena has 968 fixed seats and 200 standing room spots.

For season ticket holders, a lottery-style draw will take place to determine seat availability.

“The lottery will be based off of whoever opts in to our season playoff package. Playoff packages will go on sale at tonight’s (Wednesday) game, and can be purchased if you are a 18-19 season ticket holder, or if you commit to a 2019-2020 season ticket,” explained the team’s General Manager of Business Operations, Terry Huisman.

“For every playoff package purchased by season ticket holders, you are eligible to have one entry into the draw for two free tickets to the game located at Nicholas Sheran Arena.”

Huisman said that all ENMAX Centre suite holders will have three entries per suite, with the ability to receive up to six tickets, if their name is drawn.

All the draws will be made in advance for the three potential games at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

“Should one of your entries be pulled for the first game, that entry will be withheld from the draw for game two until all remaining have received their tickets for one of the games,” he said.

Anyone who’s name is not drawn for tickets can enjoy the game in the Hurricanes Family Fun Zone.

The only way the general public can purchase tickets for the playoff games is if they purchase the playoff package and their name is not drawn from the lottery.

The team said that tickets for the Nicholas Sheran Arena games will be free. The only time fans will have to pay for tickets is if the games are played at the ENMAX Centre.

UPGRADES TO NICHOLAS SHERAN

The ENMAX Centre’s General Manager Kim Gallucci said “a number of changes” will be coming to the Nicholas Sheran Arena as a result of the Hurricanes’ time at the venue, and some of those changes will be permanent.

Improvements include a new acrylic glass and post system, the installation of video goal judge cameras, augmented IT and communications systems, provision of a second ice resurfacer, WHL certified game nets, WHL ice markings and a fully serviced dressing room area.

“Some of the work we will be doing will be about $60,000 at least,” Gallucci said.

“It will be great for the users after the (WHL) playoffs are done.”

Gallucci said the curling event will be a huge draw to Lethbridge and the local arena. He said the championship will help put the ENMAX Centre in the international spotlight.

“I don’t know the actual number, but its economic impact is somewhere around $6 million,” he said.

“It will bring a lot of people from out of town. It will bring a lot of people that we don’t normally have, a lot of new faces and a lot of people experiencing Lethbridge.”

by Justin Goulet (@JustinGoulet21)

Hurricanes to play at Nicholas Sheran Arena as curling championship takes over ENMAX Centre in March

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