NTDP holds open house for fans at USA Hockey Arena
By @StefanKubus –
PLYMOUTH – As Bob Dylan once sang, “the times they are a-changin’.”
It continues to be the summer theme surrounding USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program and USA Hockey Arena.
The NTDP welcomed fans out to its new arena for an open house event Wednesday evening to help educate on what the changes will bring. Fans had the chance to skate on the USA Hockey Arena ice with a few of the NTDP players, the International Ice Hockey Federation U-18 World Championship trophy was present for photo opportunities and, among other things, fans had the opportunity to learn more about what the NTDP has to offer and also the chance to speak with the program’s coaches.
NTDP coaches Danton Cole and Don Granato were on-hand to help educate the fans who are unfamiliar with the program.
“It’s an all-encompassing program,” Granato said. “We have very high standards. We want not only the best hockey players, but we want to make sure in two years, those players are the best in the world.”
Despite the Plymouth Whalers’ departure, the arena is now hosting a development program for the entire United States with the ultimate goal pointing toward the Olympic hockey team. That’s a fact that Granato said he hopes people will learn to understand and cherish.
“It’s really hard for people to grasp, this is your country. We’re housing a national team program. There’s only one of those in the country. We’re playing against Russia, Sweden, Finland.”
While USA Hockey Arena will serve as the headquarters for the NTDP, the notion of having international team events like women’s teams come in for exhibition games and potentially training camps isn’t out of the question, either. In fact, senior director of operations of the NTDP Scott Monaghan said he hopes the arena can host such events. Also, though the capacity is not large enough for a World Junior Championship, they also hope to one day assist the new Detroit arena – should the Motor City win a bid some day – in hosting either exhibition games or training camps for the WJC, too.
“We have kind of a long-term goal to host several world-championship level events here,” Monaghan said. “We’re looking at the women’s world championship, we’re looking at the sled hockey world championship and we’d like to host all of the events over the next six-to-eight years, but we’re working currently with the (International Ice Hockey Federation) on that.”
Renovations continue
The continual makeover of the arena was evident, as it seems every time you step foot in the rink something else has changed.
MORE: Check out our story on USA Hockey Arena’s facelift.
The overhaul of the arena’s pro shop was underway as brand-new USA Hockey and NTDP merchandise was available for sale.
The main front entrance of the arena was blocked off, as it was undergoing its own renovations and the ceiling was recently re-painted red and blue. A sneak peak of some other future renovations was also available to fans via renderings on display.
“We’re doing what’s called ‘branding’ with the lobby, and I think our goal there, and it’s really a two or three year process is really make the building feel like a shrine to USA Hockey, to its history and to our national program, not just the NTDP, but our women’s program, our sled program, our youth hockey programs,” Monaghan said.
Monaghan added that the goal is to make Wi-Fi access available to fans, as well.