“When the arena re-opens, we will have the best ice surface in the league !”
29 years ago to this day, on Sunday 3rd October 1993, Peterborough’s “Ice Arena” played host to a Benson & Hedges Cup fixture between Pirates and the Romford Raiders. It was a game that saw Pirates come out on top with a 9-7 victory that added to the general, and for the times quite rare, positive vibe among the city’s hockey fans who had been promised two weeks earlier that the ice-pad was going to be relayed to a standard that would be the “best surface in the league” ….. what could possibly go wrong ?
The biggest issue with the ice-pad at the time was an emerging ridge running across one of the blue-lines. Known by fans as “The Hump”, the ice pad was slowly being lifted by the frozen sandy foundation and was known to require substantial effort and financing to put right thus the sudden upbeat announcement of repairs was met by as much surprise as enthusiasm !
The surprise arose from the known dislike for the rink by the building’s owner who had cashed in on the early 1980s hockey explosion that saw a packed rink week in, week out but who had watched as crowds declined and costs increased. He knew he could make more money by returning the building back to its original purpose as a general warehouse but was being frustrated by the terms of his lease that limited his ability to force out the hockey club. Having publicly stated in recent seasons that if Pirates were relegated from the top flight then he would close the rink no matter what, relegation the previous season after an impossible play-off match up with the Sheffield Steelers backed by 10,000+ fans left hockey fans and officials looking around nervously.
Anyway, the unexpected relaying of the ice pad announcement must surely indicate that the rink owner had suddenly rediscovered his love for the sport ….. right ?
Late on the Sunday evening, long after the rink had fully emptied, the rink owner implemented his “cunning plan” which was far from improving the ice-pad but was more a case of launching a one-man crazed assault on the facility in order, as he viewed it, to make any return to ice hockey impossible. The refrigeration units were closed down to melt the ice, the refrigeration pipes were ripped from the surface of the sandy foundations and as much of the piping as he could haul outside through the zamboni entrance was doused in fuel and burnt.
By first thing Monday morning, the Ice Arena as a business had ceased to be, legal administrators were in the building, doors were chained shut and notices posted to state that the rink was closed and would not be re-opening.
As the day progressed, a steady stream of players turned up to try and rescue equipment that was trapped inside the rink and a growing number of fans also responded to radio reports and homed in on the rink to view for themselves what appeared to be a total disaster for Peterborough hockey.
Of course this was only the beginning of what was to become one of the greatest chapters in Peterborough hockey’s 40 year history as fans and officials rose up to defy the closure and rebuild the rink. At the same time, players stayed loyal despite having no rink, defiantly training and playing in whatever rinks they could gain access to.
By Christmas and against all the odds, Pirates were back in their rink and the Peterborough hockey story was able to resume !
