Hockey arena to be used by Swiss team
The Bridgerland Community Ice Arena currently under construction will host foreign Olympic athletes using it as a practice facility during the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The Swiss National Hockey Team already has a “handshake deal” with the BCIA for practice time on the ice, said Janet Borg, executive director of the BCIA, and other teams are considering using the facility as well.
Borg said the Swiss plan ahead and are one of few teams with their schedule already worked out. She said the BCIA will probably get more offers from other foreign teams as the year goes on.
The Swiss team will arrive in Logan Jan. 31, 2002, and will stay until Feb. 7 before moving to Olympic Village in Salt Lake City, Borg said. They have scheduled an exhibition game with Slovakia Feb. 5 at the BCIA; tickets to that contest will be available to the public later this year.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Swiss national team to Cache Valley and are excited to have Olympic-level athletes train here,” Borg said. “It’s pretty neat that they’re coming.”
The BCIA hosted a welcoming reception Feb.19 for Ralph Krueger, the head coach of the Swiss team, who was here touring the valley and the site of the arena. Borg said he told her the athletes would make themselves available to the community as long as security was taken care of, so there will be opportunities for the public to meet them, though details haven’t been worked out yet.
“I think Cache Valley residents will have the chance of a lifetime to interact with the team and watch the practices and exhibition games,” Borg said. “The team is very willing to make Cache Valley its ‘home away from home’ and will be signing autographs and posing for photos.”
Borg said the arena could accommodate one or two more hockey teams besides the Swiss squad and two figure skaters as well, depending on their needs for practice time. The French National Hockey Team has expressed interest, but hasn’t made any definite plans yet.
The groundbreaking for the BCIA was June 2, 2000, but construction didn’t begin until January of this year. If construction continues as planned, the arena will be completed Dec. 30 of this year, Borg said.
The arena will remain open to the public during the Olympics, with the Swiss using it for practice about two hours a day, Borg said. She said she expects the arena to be busy during the Olympics because most of the rinks in Utah will be closed.