Fundraiser held for Hobbs Arena
Professors, students unite to improve structure
Josh Metz
Issue date: 10/16/08 Section: Sports
The city of Eau Claire has had a rich hockey tradition for a very long time. The popularity of the sport continues to increase with some highly successful teams at the college, high school and youth levels. The amount of interest in the sport, however, has raised some problems for teams and the city of Eau Claire.
Hobbs Ice Arena currently consists of two enclosed ice rinks and one outdoor ice rink. Both college teams currently dress in a couple of make-shift locker rooms where they have to walk up steps in order to get to them. The seating is less than optimal as it seats close to the fewest fans in Div. III hockey.
Fortunately, the Ice Sports Consortium, which consists of the City of Eau Claire and all the teams that play at Hobbs, has launched The Future of Ice Campaign. The campaign is a $6 million plan to renovate and expand Hobbs Ice Arena.
Head women's hockey coach Mike Collins thinks the project is long overdue.
"It's a great building, it's got a lot of history, it's got a lot of character, it's got a lot of tradition, but it's time to be upgraded," Collins said.
On Saturday, the women's hockey team and a few other students participated in a non-traditional preseason exhibition to help raise money for the project. They took on a team of college professors . This is the second year that the game has taken place.
Head men's hockey coach Matt Loen, who was also a participant on the professor's team, thinks the game offered students a fun chance to come out to Hobbs.
"It's a good opportunity for college students to come laugh and giggle at their professors," Loen said. "It also gives the students at the university a chance to come out and see what it is like to see their professors out of their comfort zone."
From a coaching stand point, both Loen and Collins talked about the importance that a new or improved ice arena would have to their teams.
"UW-Eau Claire is a tremendous school academically, and it's a great city," Loen said. "For me to go out and promote that in addition to the facility that we have, I think it would be a lot easier to attract hockey players to come to Eau Claire."
The student-professor hockey game is only one way that money is being raised for Hobbs. The Future of Ice Campaign has several different ways that people can donate money to the renovation. To find out more information about the campaign, just visit the men's or women's hockey sites at www.uwec.edu/athletics and follow the link that says "The Future of Ice Campaign."
Hockey is a sport that continues to grow not only in the city of Eau Claire, but also in the state of Wisconsin.
Both coaches agreed that in order for hockey to really take off it is going to take some help from others to build a suitable arena.
They said the student-professor hockey game is certainly a step in the right direction to reach that goal. If this game continues to grow in popularity, it will contribute to the sport of hockey.
Hobbs Ice Arena currently consists of two enclosed ice rinks and one outdoor ice rink. Both college teams currently dress in a couple of make-shift locker rooms where they have to walk up steps in order to get to them. The seating is less than optimal as it seats close to the fewest fans in Div. III hockey.
Fortunately, the Ice Sports Consortium, which consists of the City of Eau Claire and all the teams that play at Hobbs, has launched The Future of Ice Campaign. The campaign is a $6 million plan to renovate and expand Hobbs Ice Arena.
Head women's hockey coach Mike Collins thinks the project is long overdue.
"It's a great building, it's got a lot of history, it's got a lot of character, it's got a lot of tradition, but it's time to be upgraded," Collins said.
On Saturday, the women's hockey team and a few other students participated in a non-traditional preseason exhibition to help raise money for the project. They took on a team of college professors . This is the second year that the game has taken place.
Head men's hockey coach Matt Loen, who was also a participant on the professor's team, thinks the game offered students a fun chance to come out to Hobbs.
"It's a good opportunity for college students to come laugh and giggle at their professors," Loen said. "It also gives the students at the university a chance to come out and see what it is like to see their professors out of their comfort zone."
From a coaching stand point, both Loen and Collins talked about the importance that a new or improved ice arena would have to their teams.
"UW-Eau Claire is a tremendous school academically, and it's a great city," Loen said. "For me to go out and promote that in addition to the facility that we have, I think it would be a lot easier to attract hockey players to come to Eau Claire."
The student-professor hockey game is only one way that money is being raised for Hobbs. The Future of Ice Campaign has several different ways that people can donate money to the renovation. To find out more information about the campaign, just visit the men's or women's hockey sites at www.uwec.edu/athletics and follow the link that says "The Future of Ice Campaign."
Hockey is a sport that continues to grow not only in the city of Eau Claire, but also in the state of Wisconsin.
Both coaches agreed that in order for hockey to really take off it is going to take some help from others to build a suitable arena.
They said the student-professor hockey game is certainly a step in the right direction to reach that goal. If this game continues to grow in popularity, it will contribute to the sport of hockey.
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