Just in time for Kamloops Blazers training camp, upgrades to the Sandman Centre boards and glass are now finished.
City of Kamloops parks and civic facilities manager Jeff Putnam says the new system is going in across the CHL.
“Number one was player safety, and the plan is and the hope is that it will reduce potential for concussions. It’s the glass that actually is the real benefit, because it has a real give to it. And it’s a lot noisier too, so when two players do go into the glass with a little bit of speed, it sounds exciting and it’s very dramatic.”
Putnam says the glass is also acrylic, making it far less likely to break or shatter.
Meanwhile, Blazers majority owner Tom Gaglardi joined the NL Morning Show today. He’s in town for training camp and also has his 15-year-old son Bennett attending.
Gaglardi says the Blazer home rink is still comparable to the best venues across the WHL.
“It’s got all the attributes that you want to have. Our lighting’s all replaced, it’s bright, it’s modern… We’ve got NHL-standard equipment in that regard. You push on the boards, they must give two or three feet at the top; we’re hoping to reduce injuries even more than we already have,” Gaglardi says.
“You know the city’s been a great partner. If you look at what’s happened in the last five years, we’ve added the jumbotron, we’ve added the loge boxes. They were a huge hit last year, we’ve now done the rest of the row up there, so that’s a several-hundred-thousand investment on behalf of the club.”
The matter of attendance was also brought up, and Gaglardi says he’s confident Blazer attendance is going in the right direction.
“It’s interesting when you talk to people who go, ‘it’s not like it used to be.’ But nobody really is of ‘like it used to be.’ I mean, back when the Blazers, back in the 90s, were winning Memorial Cups, and the building had sellouts on a lot of games, times have changed. We’ve settled in with a pretty consistent crop, attendance wise. In fact last year, I think we were third or fourth in attendance growth. This is a great hockey market. String seven wins together at the end, and you saw what happened to the town. It’s as much support as I’ve seen in many, many years.”
Blazer crowds have trended up the last three seasons, last year averaging 4,007 fans a game; an increase of four per cent.
(Photo: Jeff Putnam)