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The Knoxville Ice Bears won’t take the ice at home this weekend due to “an unforeseen mechanical issue,” which the hockey team’s president is blaming on the city for a lack of investment in the local arena.
The issue at hand: a malfunction with the rink’s ice chiller. A backup chiller “had already been blown prior and the city failed to fund a replacement,” Joel Silverberg, director of broadcasting for the Ice Bears, told Knox News via email.
The city, however, says it has invested $15 million into the facility in recent years.
“The City understands the Ice Bears’ and fans’ disappointment and frustration. We share that, too,” David Brace, the city’s chief of staff, said via email. “We and the venue management contractor, AMS Global, are working hard to fix the problem and get the ice ready for action. The Coliseum is 62 years old and a treasured and iconic venue.”
The team was set to host two SPHL opponents this weekend: Roanoke on Dec. 15 and Quad City on Dec. 16.
The game against Roanoke is rescheduled for Jan. 7, and the Quad City game will be played March 24.
Ice Bears ‘very frustrated’ with Knoxville coliseum investment
Silverberg said he does not recall this issue happening before, but a separate mechanical issue led the team to postpone a home game in December 2021.
“We are very frustrated that there hasn’t been enough investment from the city to keep these things from happening,” Ice Bears co-owner Mike Murray said in the release.
Murray is also the GM and president of the team, which plays its home games at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium & Coliseum (the coliseum, specifically).
Between 2018 and 2019, the city says it invested $10 million to upgrade the facility with the following renovations:
- Repainted ceilings
- New LED sports lighting
- Two new HVAC units
- Redesigned, expanded restrooms
- A new center-hung scoreboard
- Roof draining improvements
- Power upgrades for larger performances
- Replacement of the original ice floor from 1961
- New dashers with wide-view acrylic glass
These improvements are in addition to upgrades inside the auditorium, which collectively make up about $10 million of the city’s $15 million investment.
Still, Murray feels like more needs to be done.
“I hate it for our staff, who have worked hard to prepare for a big home weekend,” he said. “I hate it for our team, which was looking forward to playing at…
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