Saskatoon hockey association calls current rink situation 'stagnant'

Saskatoon's hockey community is hoping to see more ice time a little closer to home.

The University of Saskatchewan is launching a campaign this week called Home Ice to help raise funds to build a new twin-pad ice facility on campus.

"We're excited that there seems to be something on the near horizon," said Kelly Boes, executive director of the Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association.

He said the current rink situation in the cityis "stagnant"with not enough ice surfaces around the city to keep up with the growing number of hockey players.

According to Boes, this year, the association is catering to 258 teams, which adds up to just over 3,900 kids.

"The issue is we don't have enough ice to provide enough practice time."

He added that teams that want more ice time have to arrange their own practices in various small town rinks, some as far as 60 kilometres outside of Saskatoon.

And although there is no shovel in the ground just yet, he said the launch of the U of S campaign is a step in the right direction.

"It's going to make a huge difference."