Apr 2010

The big news out of the Portage Minor Hockey Association annual general meeting was the general consensus of an increase in ice fees would be OK if the City of Portage la Prairie is willing to save Centennial Arena’s west ice sheet.

“We used to have three ice surfaces and 17 teams,” said PMHA past president Ferdi Nelissen. “Now we have 27 teams and two ice surfaces.”

Currently, the PMHA is paying $67 per hour of prime time ice, but it was discussed that the association would be willing to pay more should there be more ice time allocated to each team, and as well, that the ice be in town. While the fees would increase, teams would have three practice times in two weeks, as opposed to only one ice slot per week (or less for the younger groups, who combine practice slots due to a shortage of ice). Money would also be saved with practices staying in town, saving costs on fuel driving to Oakville and MacGregor.

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