Bay Arena Rovers living up to their name in wake of rink fire

Bay Roberts and Harbour Grace have long been natural rivals in sports. Whether it be softball or hockey, the neighbouring Avalon Peninsula communities have had many battles over the years.

In minor hockey circles, Bay Arena Rovers consider the CeeBees to be their biggest rival.

The CeeBees, while a more noted hockey entity in this province, consider as their No. 1 foe.

Just because they battle it out on the ice week after week, and just because there's probably a few tussles along the way, and just because some mayhem may have ensued between the two teams, don't think for a minute that there is a hatred or strong dislike there.

In fact, rivalries like this often see teams have a grudging respect for one another, and if one is down, the other is more than likely to help them up.

Such is the special case this year.

Rink won't be ready till mid-February

On Dec. 18, Bay Roberts hockey rink had a fire inside the building, damaging a portion of the electrical room, forcing closure of the stadium. Originally, arena management hoped to have the building opened by Jan. 31. However, last week, user groups like figure skaters, junior, midget and bantam AAA hockey teams and the Bay Arena Minor Hockey Association were told the rink won't be ready to open until Feb. 15.

BAMHA president Brenda Cole says the closure of the facility has cost her association 200 hours of ice time, and will be close to another 50 tacked on in February. That means the more than 400 kids registered with Bay Arena were without hockey through the Christmas holidays.

After regrouping through the holidays, Cole reached out to towns and associations for help, and was welcomed with open arms.

Arenas tried to slot in a few hours for the kids who were displaced. These facilities are used to peak capacity most times, but many arena managers or minor hockey executives understand Bay Arena's dilemma and tried to help.

A funny thing, rivalry

Cole said the offers of assistance have come from near and far, most notably their neighbouring community.

"It's funny," Cole said, recognizing the irony. "I say funny because Harbour Grace and the Cee Bees association and the Bay Arena Rovers have traditionally held a big rivalry. I'd say it's a friendly rivalry, but we always want to beat each other when we get into a competitive situation with one another. But the manager at Harbour Grace has been fantastic.

"Mike Adam, the arena manager there (at SW Moores Memorial Stadium), agreed to open up the stadium beyond normal operating hours and to put staff on to offer us some time, so we have been able to take advantage of some time there. We greatly appreciate that.

"We have put it out there to the Cee Bees minor association. I emailed (president) Dean Whelan to ask at the executive level if they might be able to do something for us as well, and I have all the confidence in the world they will help us."

I'd say it's a friendly rivalry, but we always want to beat each other when we get into a competitive situation with one another.- Brenda Cole

In fact, Cole says she's been "overwhelmed" by the response from the minor hockey community.

Bay Arena operates programs for kids from fivethrough 17 in a house league program. The kids then try out for various all-star teams from atom through midget. The house league has been completely stripped of ice (although Cole is expecting the arena to remain open until the end of April, allowing BAMHA to get the house league kids back on ice to end their season).

However, their all-star teams have been getting invitations from a number of groups, none bigger than the response they've received from the Town of Placentia and the Placentia Minor Hockey Association.

So far, Placentia has offered ice time for teams to practice on their own, and have even offered up games between the Lions and the Rovers.

Hosting the game in Placentia

This past weekend, however, was the best. Bay Arena's pee wee B team 'hosted' a six-team tournament, at Unity Parc in Placentia, as Bay Roberts purchased 21 hours of ice in a strange rink.

"We were most successful in finding ice time at Unity Parc in Placentia," Cole explained. "The person I was dealing with there was George Daley and he's been awesome. He's told me anything he can do to help us out, he will.

"We were very surprised that Placentia offered us an entire weekend. We actually put off a home tournament that was supposed to take place at Bay Arena. The pee wee B team organized a six-team tournament. We also put some of our extra all-star team in there for practice time, so we were able to use about 21 or 22 hours of ice time there this weekend. And that is just completely outstanding that they have been able to offer us that amount of ice time.

"They've also offered some invitations for individual teams to go out there and have some games with them during the weekend days."

Invitations from St. John's

Cole also noted that she has been invited by two St. John's groups to come in for games or practice times, and that many of their all-star teams are receiving invitations to tournaments across the province.

While she hasn't fully replaced the 250 hours they will lose, the invitations and welcome Bay Arena is getting has been tremendous. She also says that while minor hockey gets a bad name most times it makes the news, this is a sign of the spirit of cooperation that exists in the sport.

"I've been overwhelmed by the support that has been shown from other associations and people involved in the hockey scene and I think that speaks well for our sport," she said. "It's definitely not all about winning."

The fire at the rink was not a good news story for Bay Arena minor hockey. But what was bad has turned into a good thing, Cole says. She adds it also makes residents of that area realize how lucky they really are, saying things could have been much worse.

"If we lost the Bay Arena," she said, "we'd be in the situation where it would be extremely difficult for us to have an association at all. We're lucky we didn't lose the Bay Arena and be out of hockey for the remainder of this year and next year, in the case where it would have to be rebuilt. So we're thankful for that.

"We're trying to do the best for our kids and relying on the generosity of other associations, and so far, they haven't been disappointing us."