Hockey league partners with St. Albert Sports City
A partnership between the Alberta Men’s Hockey League (AMHL) and the St. Albert Sports City complex could present an opportunity for future expansion, said AMHL owner and director Melanie Groeneveld.
Both organizations announced earlier this month they had entered into a partnership that will see the AMHL provided with preferential time slots in the St. Albert Sports City’s indoor sports area, a major component of the Major Sport Development Centre.
St. Albert Sports City is a proposed 120-hectare integrated real estate development of SAS Sports & Entertainment Group that would include a combination of residential, industrial and commercial development. The facility, if approved, would be built on a northwest quadrant of St. Albert.
Currently, the AMHL, which was started in 1983, has 82 teams in its winter program.
Groeneveld said a lack of available ice time is an issue among hockey teams in Edmonton and the surrounding area.
“We do get a lot of inquiries from teams in other leagues who want to join our league but we just don’t have any room to accommodate them. There is limited ice available in Edmonton and surrounding area,” she told the Gazette.
Don Henderson of SAS Sports & Entertainment Group said the company has had conversations from other sports groups.
“There have been an awful lot of groups that have indicated an interest,” Henderson said.
“Our intent isn’t to compete against Servus Place,” he said, adding that he thinks the two facilities will be “complementary.”
If completed, the facility would include five ice rinks and a baseball stadium, as well as several sport academies.
