Rumors of expansion and relocation of NA3HL and other junior teams are continuing to circulate.
The latest, has an un-named team owner looking to move a current or dormant franchise to New Ulm Minnesota. The New Ulm Civic Center has two sheets of ice, with seating for 300 on the NHL regulation size sheet.
Located less than two hours outside of Minneapolis, New Ulm is known to have a very active and growing hockey community.
New Ulm Parks and Recreation Director Tom Schmitz has confirmed with local media outlets that intial, yet confidential talks have already taken place.
“We have been contacted by the owner of a NA3HL Tier III Junior Hockey team who wants to locate his team to the New Ulm Civic Center,” Said Schmitz “The team owner [who Schmitz would not identify] has asked for an exclusive and dedicated locker room with showers.”
The team has also asked for concessions split and to take over the existing advertising in the arena while expecting to expand advertising and pay the arena a commission.
Schmitz went on to say “They are projecting 250-275 hours of ice time during the winter with two-thirds of those times being weekdays, mid-day Monday through Friday around noon for practices. Those are time periods where we rarely sell ice time. We have plenty of ice time available then.”
A potential candidate is rumored to be the Minnesota Flying Aces. The move would take the team roughly two hours south of its current location and lower travel costs for the team. The move would appear to make sense as the Flying Aces were next to last in NA3HL attendance averaging 86 fans per night according to the NA3HL website. A name change would also not be required. If the move is within the current USA Hockey district in which they play, it is unlikely that any objection would prevent such a move.
Stay tuned as TJHN will update this story when more information becomes available.
*TJHN received a call from Flying Aces Ownership today. Ownership denys looking into moving to New Ulm, they also deny attendance numbers as listed on the NA3HL website.
Given USA Hockey rules on relocation and activation of active and dormant franchises, it would appear that a current or former franchise located in Minnesota is the only option for New Ulm.
When offered an opportunity to make an official comment, Aces Ownership declined.
TJHN will update this story as it develops.
