Canberra Brave’s new temporary home at the AIS Arena. Photo: Canberra Brave website.
On 31 May, the Canberra Brave and the Adelaide Adrenaline will herald in a new era in the Australian Ice Hockey League with the opening game at the AIS Arena.
The Brave fans have already adopted it – 700 tickets were snapped up shortly after the move was announced.
The temporary ice rink at the AIS Arena will be the venue for the Brave’s next 11 home games after farewelling Phillip with an emotional 7-6 victory over Newcastle on 10 May.
The reigning Goodall Cup champions well and truly outgrew the Phillip rink.
It is no small feat to convert an indoor facility used predominantly for WNBL games into an ice rink for AIHL games.
However, the placement of a portable rink in venues catering for other sports has, of course, been done many times before in the National Hockey League in the US. This includes December’s Winter Classic at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, the home of baseball’s Chicago White Sox.
With 2700 seats, the AIS Arena is easily the biggest venue in the AIHL, far bigger than the 400-seat capacity at the Phillip Ice Rink, which was regularly sold out.
This provides a stopgap solution while waiting for the building of the Tuggeranong rink.
Two of the 11 home games at the AIS Arena clash with Raiders home games at the adjacent Canberra Stadium (GIO).
On 5 July, the Brave take on the Central Coast at 4 pm, while 90 minutes later, the Raiders face the Dragons less than 150 metres away at GIO.
The possibility of a genuine cross-promotion emerges on 19 July when the Raiders are at home to Parramatta at 3 pm, and next door, the Brave faces the Melbourne Ice at 6:30 pm.
I’m not sure how many Raiders fans are Brave supporters, but an AIS Arena packed with Raiders fans seeking another adrenaline rush could create quite a unique atmosphere.
For Raiders fans who have never witnessed an ice hockey game live, it’s an experience they’d never forget. Ice hockey takes physicality to a whole new level.
Cross-promotion could open a whole new market for the Canberra Brave.
Get your tickets to the Brave at Ticketek.
