Outdoor rink will support Kraft Hockeyville 2012 bid
Submitted By Heather Boa on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Bullet News GODERICH – A company that manufacturers plastic boards for ice rinks has stepped forward with an offer to build a temporary outdoor rink in the Court House Park.
E.J. Bauer, representing Sport Systems Unlimited, the company that is offering a molded plastic portable rink system, stood alongside Kraft Hockeyville 2012 supporters Steve Hewitt and Monique Sykes at Goderich Town Council (Jan 9).
Since one of his roles is grassroots development of hockey, when he saw that Goderich was in the running for Kraft Hockeyville 2012, he convinced the company to jump on board. Sport Systems has built four outdoor rinks for the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation, and just this week is building one in a joint project by Hockey Canada Foundation, the Ottawa Senators and the City of Ottawa.
“A lot of these are to take skating and hockey back to the grassroots, back where the passion of the sport was developed,” he said.
Local supporters of the Kraft Hockeyville 2012 bid see an outdoor rink as a boost to their entry, as well as a boost to community spirits.
“To see the businesses start to get up and going again, January in our town is usually the worst business month. If there was something to draw, like an outdoor ice rink, I think that would help,” Hewitt said.
Bauer said he and his family were affected by the tornado that ripped through Goderich and area on Aug. 21. Two of his brothers were in town at the time of the tornado while someone else was at the family cottage north of town.
“It struck our family to the core as far as what Goderich has gone through,” Bauer said, noting his family has been in the area for five generations.
Bobby Bauer, who played 10 seasons for the Boston Bruins and was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1996, used to swim out to the breakwall. Father David Bauer came back to the area after being diagnosed with cancer. He was founder of a national hockey team, taking the first team to the 1964 Olympics in Austria. He was named posthumously to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 1989.
The Catholic priest died in Goderich in 1988.
“During that four-week period, the final hours, there were more people from hockey from around the world that came into Bayfield and Goderich than I’ve ever seen in my life,” Bauer said.
