Rink Will Be Open, Free Of Charge, Friday Through Sunday
POSTED: 5:12 pm MST January 8, 2011
UPDATED: 10:58 pm MST January 8, 2011
CHUBBUCK, Idaho — It hasn’t been available for those living in Pocatello and Chubbuck for some time, but ice hockey made a comeback last year thanks to a rink from the Chubbuck Pocatello Hockey Association.
This year, yet another rink was built but this one is NHL size with real boards from an old rink in Michigan. An added bonus is that there will be free public skating on weekends.
It’s been a dream in the making and this week that dream became reality.”It’s a dream come true and it’s happened faster than we could have hoped for. We’re thrilled right now,” said John Young, president of the Chubbuck Pocatello Hockey Association.
The Chubbuck Ice Rink will be used for hockey games and open skating on the weekends. Possible future NHL players couldn’t be more thrilled.
“Checking was awesome and we had pretty good passes and nice shots,” said Christian Grabeloe, player for the Chubbuck Nighthawks.
The rink is 192 feet by 85 feet and between 10 and 20 percent bigger than the rink last year.
“The full size ice rink will accommodate players of all ages. We had a great adult game out here last night. We couldn’t be happier to have this footprint in the city of Chubbuck,” said Young.
Parents like Mark Disselkoen and Annette Dennison said having a rink in their neighborhood helps to bring people together and save them from driving long distances just to play.
“Some of the kids here in Pocatello and Chubbuck used to have to drive to Idaho Falls to play hockey. So now we can do it locally and also get other kids interested,” said Disselkoen.”It’s just really exciting that we have a nice rink. It’s as big as the other rinks in Logan and Idaho Falls. They really just worked so hard to do it,” said Dennison.
Open skating will be free to anyone with a pair of skates on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays when there isn’t a hockey game on the ice.
If you’d like to find out more information about the rink or if you’d like to join an adult or kids league, log on to www.pocatellohockey.com
