Hockey fans can find temporarily relief from the NHL lockout this weekend as the Cape Cod Bluefins visit the Martha’s Vineyard Arena to host the Danville Dashers on Saturday night, Nov. 24. The puck drops at 6 p.m.
The Bluefins, who play in the single-A Federal Hockey League, last played at the arena in February. Vineyard varsity boys’ hockey assistant coach Max Sherman and JV coach Mick Vukota suited up for the team on one-game contracts in the Bluefins’ close 4-3 loss to the Danbury Whalers.
In the mid 1970s, shortly after the all-volunteer crew had begun work on the exterior walls encircling the patch of ice that would become the Martha’s Vineyard Arena, a gale swept through the Island and knocked down nearly all the cement blocks, destroying the steady progress.
A call went out. More volunteers rallied to the cause. The walls were restored and work continued.
Here are the cold, hard facts – The Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena plans to expand, and the public is invited to help plan. The Arena, along with Mashek MacLean Architects, will host an open forum at 5:30 p.m. on June 12 at the P.A. Club in Oak Bluffs. Everyone is invited to come and break the ice at the debate table, making suggestions for arena improvements. It will be a place to get in touch with your inner Zamboni — sharing opinions and asking questions to create a smoother ice rink experience.
While many people this week were thinking beach, as summer weather settled over the Island, at the Martha’s Vineyard Arena they were thinking ice.
Good ice is essential to good skating, and a good Zamboni machine is essential to good ice.
And after months of planning, wishing and fund-raising, the arena has a new Zamboni.
The machine that resurfaces the ice, made by the Zamboni family company, arrived at the arena on Tuesday morning after a journey from Paramount, Calif.
The Martha's Vineyard Arena got a huge boost this week for its
plans to improve the facility. On Wednesday, the arena received a
$350,000 donation from a charitable foundation in New Hampshire.
Island Ice Arena Fights Financial Crisis; Seeks Help to Secure
Future of Facility
By Mark Alan Lovewell
The Martha's Vineyard Arena is hurting. The arena is a
bustling recreational center, drawing hundreds of skaters daily
throughout the winter. Kurt Mundt, manager of the ice arena, said this
week there is a misperception that the arena is thriving financially
when it is not.
