APEX, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes are opening their first outdoor rinks Saturday in Apex, the team said.
The two street hockey rinks were built in partnership with the NHL’s Industry Growth Fund, aiming to develop the fan base and get new players involved. The fund provided $550,000 to the project.
Thomas Whitmeyer-Weathers, the Hurricanes’ youth and amateur specialist, says the team is hoping to reach a growing hockey community.
“We are going be able to interact with a much wider demographic of people, introduce this sport to a lot of different people,” Whitmeyer-Weathers said. “It's inexpensive, it's accessible to where, again, you don't need much equipment except a stick and a ball.”
The rinks are intended to focus on ball and street hockey, he said.
“What people may not understand is there are a lot of different forms of hockey, too,” Whitmeyer-Weathers said. “So roller hockey is probably the first thing that people think about when they come out here, but the main focus of these courts is to help build some ball and street hockey focus, which is shoes where all you need is a stick and a ball.”
One of the two 160-by-75-foot rinks will be a multipurpose court suitable for futsal and basketball as well as hockey, while the other will be strictly for hockey.
The town’s mayor says the rinks will improve accessibility to hockey by lowering the cost to participate.
“To have this collaboration with NHL and also the Carolina Hurricanes is quite extraordinary,” Mayor Jacques Gilbert said.
A grand opening for the rinks, at Apex Community Park, 2200 Laura Duncan Road, is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, featuring food trucks, bounce houses and two Hurricanes players who will play in the facility’s first games.