The NHL at Birch Run, the first NHL-licensed ice
facility and the league's entry into rink development,
officially opened Thursday in MI. NHL Commissioner Gary
Bettman attended the ceremony, along with Red Wing Steve
Yzerman, who brought the Stanley Cup. Signature Sports &
Entertainment, the league's first rink development licensee,
was represented by Chair Jeffrey Kerr. The 115,000-square-
foot facility features a 200'x 85' regulation NHL ice sheet
with seating for 800, a 200'x 100' Olympic ice sheet with
seating for 300, eight NHL-themed dressing rooms, conference
rooms, a 5,000-square-foot NHL Center Ice retail store, an
NHL-themed Cyberlite Show, and a 15,000-square foot
mezzanine level that includes an NHL FANtasy Zone (NHL).
FROM THE EVENT: Bettman put the cost of the facility at
$8M: "This is a first for us and a dramatic brick-and-mortar
example of the league's dedication to promoting hockey"
(Jodie Valade, DETROIT NEWS, 9/12). Hockey officials "have
long maintained" that hockey's growth "has been stunted" by
the lack of facilities for participants. Bettman said that
the "best way to assure" the construction of more arenas"
was to build them. USA TODAY's Kevin Allen reports that
"another rink is planned" for CT (USA TODAY, 9/12).
