Blind River council is stepping up to provide the Elliot Lake Vikings with practice and game ice time at the town’s community centre arena.
Council approved charging the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) team $63.99 + HST/hr daytime use and $99 + HST/hr evening to align with Elliot Lake's fees bylaw. The decision is one time and will only apply to the 2023-2024 schedule.
The approval came after last week’s announcement of the closure of Elliot Lake’s Centennial arena for an indefinite period. The closure meant Viking owner Jef Jarmovitch was scrambling to find ice time for the Vikings which he has been successful at doing in Blind River and Espanola.
An email he sent asking for ice time was part of the report presented to Blind River council at its Monday evening meeting where council looked at what the team would pay.
“I would like to thank The Town of Blind River for going above and beyond to support our team. Your staff were in contact with our club and the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) within hours of us receiving our devastating news. Our team was provided with practice times and helped organize upcoming games. As we began to scramble during this stressful time, we at minimum could rely on Blind River,” Jarmovitch wrote.
“Your municipality has helped plan out our season, practices, storage options, and more. I do not want to think about the added stress our organization would be under without your community.”
Jarmovitch requested council consider granting a one-time favour to the Viking organization.
“We are asking to be grouped in with your Junior A ice fees. Our budget is stressed for this year and we are desperate to remain a player in the NOJHL. We assure you that if we had known about this information in the spring, we would have had an opportunity to fundraise and pay visitor’s fees,” he said in his request.
Karen Bittner, the town’s director of facilities and community services, brought the request to council to consider two options for ice time rental with council deciding on the approved fees.
The recommendation prompted a number of questions from council members including one from Councillor Jennifer Posteraro on what the additional ice time would mean for local arena users.
“I’m just wondering what this is going to look like,” the councillor asked.
Bittner said the town could accommodate time for 12 Vikings games should the closure of their home rink go longer.
“This is using empty ice,” Bittner said. “We are not moving other groups around. We are not suspending our user groups to solve Elliot Lake’s problems…we’re using ice that was not scheduled. We’re not moving other groups around.”
Bittner added accommodating the Viking request could help ensure the team will operate for its first season without any disruption in the NOJHL, which includes the Blind River Beavers.
“I would be hesitant to extend this offer to any other user group,” she said on a personal note. “The reason we want the Vikings to stay in play is it directly impacts our Beavers schedule, and if a team falls off the map because they don’t have ice, that’s going to rejig our schedule for other user groups.”
Several councillors supported assisting the neighbouring Junior A hockey club.
“It’s nice to see a regional group of arenas helping out,” Coun. Jim Dunbar said of assistance from Blind River and Espanola.
Bittner said when the Vikings are holding a home game in Blind River, the team will be responsible for ticket sales and operating the game, with the exception of canteen sales which remain in town. Beavers home games work the same way.
The same applies to any 50/50 draws. The Beavers have a lottery licence with Mississauga First Nation to run a draw, while the Vikings will have to get a licence for draws at home games played in Blind River.