St. Louis Blues Officially Have New Future Practice Facility
By Todd Panula
The St. Louis Blues will finally be able to leave the mall behind. It is now official that the team will have a new place to practice.
The St. Louis Blues have been languishing in a local mall for several years now. Many years ago, the team and ownership of the US Ice Sports Complex/Summit Center ran into some disagreements and the Blues took off.
They spent the remaining time practicing at the rink inside the St. Louis Mills Mall – later re-named St. Louis Outlet Mall.
It was a surprising turn at the time. It has been a depressing fact since then.
That’s not a slap at the people that run the rink in the mall. They keep the ice in top shape, especially considering it is somewhat open air (no doors sealing in the cold air). They keep things clean in there for the most part as well.
The issue is that the overall facility is just depressing. The mall itself is a ghost town with barely a handful of stores still open in the entire complex. The only reason to even go there anymore is the rink.
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It just is not a situation befitting a professional franchise. You should have a top notch complex.
This is not collegiate sports, since money is the biggest factor in attracting players. However, it is not a selling point to tell guys you’ll be practicing in a semi-abandoned mall.
That is all changing now. The Blues will officially be getting a new home to practice in after Maryland Heights approved a $68 million facility.
The complex will be built on land between the Hollywood Casino and the Hollywood Casino Amphitheater. Access to the facility should be reasonable easy being near the intersection of Interstate 70 and Highway 141.
Additionally, from a personal standpoint, it is exciting due to the rumors of a USHL team accompanying the facility. The last time the St. Louis area had a junior hockey team, it was one of the most successful franchises in the NAHL with the St. Louis Bandits. It was mainly a split ownership group that led to that team folding. Their on-ice performances were some of the most exciting you would see outside of the pros.
From a Blues standpoint, it is a top facility to hone your skills in. From the community standpoint, it continues to build the sport in St. Louis, which has already gained notoriety by producing several future NHL talents in the past few years.
The complex will have four rinks, a training center and a performance/health center. It is not just going to be for the Blues and/or a USHL team either. It will be open for community activities as well, which is a big benefit to the surrounding area.
I just returned from Toronto, where the Scotiabank Pond held a prospects tournament. That is a facility very similar to what this will be and it can only help the area and the sport.
As mentioned, these are professionals and this is not a college sport. Facilities don’t make or break a program. It cannot and will not hurt, however.
The Blues needed to get out of the mall. This facility was going to be built closer to the city, but there was a large debacle about beginning construction without permission from the National Parks Department. That was another in a string of embarrassments after the NFL left and the city did not vote for an MLS stadium.
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Now St. Louis can maintain its growing status as a hockey city in America. We might never gain the notoriety of the blue blood areas like Boston, but this new facility will keep the progress in hockey growing.