The fire that severely damaged Cranston Veterans ice rink brings an outpouring of help from other hockey facilities around the state.

03:07 PM EST on Tuesday, January 10, 2006

BY ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

CRANSTON -- The electrical fire that swept through Cranston Veterans Memorial Ice Rink early Sunday morning, causing an estimated $250,000 worth of damage according to Deputy Fire Chief Paul Reed, may have displaced five recreation hockey leagues and the Cranston East and Cranston West high school teams, but it has also brought the hockey community closer together.

"Bishop Hendricken coach James Creamer called me, as did North Smithfield coach Dick Ernst," said Michael Traficante, the athletic director for both Cranston high schools. "Burrillville coach [Shane] McConnell also called. They all offered to share ice time with us. They are hockey people who love the sport and want to see the kids have the best opportunities to play."

"That shows how strong the hockey community really is in the state of Rhode Island," added Cranston West coach Craig Sacco, who was also contacted by La Salle coach Thomas Fecteau about finding ice time. "The hockey community has been wonderful."

Fire officials yesterday attempted to determine if the center beam on the city-owned ice rink on Phenix Avenue had sustained structural damage. If there is no damage to the beam, Traficante said, then fire officials estimate that the rink will be able to reopen in about three or four weeks.

"Right now that is the best-case scenario," Traficante said.

If the beam is not structurally sound, Traficante said, the rink will have to be shut down for an extended period of time. As for the Cranston East and Cranston West hockey teams, the Falcons are currently practicing at West

Warwick's rink at 5:30 a.m.

"We are looking at other venues to try to get ice time, too, because I'm worried that skating at 5:30 in the morning for an extended period of time will hurt their performances both on the ice and in school," Sacco said.

Cranston East has not found a place to practice yet but Traficante said that he hopes that it will have some ice time at Burrillville by tomorrow.

Cranston West captains Christopher Luzier, Michael and Jason Imondi, and Justin Lundh told Sacco that although they would love to play at Veterans Memorial Ice Rink in front of their home fans and on their home ice, the team is not going to complain about playing in a different rink and they are going to skate just like they always do no matter where they play.

Cranston West is in first place in the Division II-Large standings with a 7-0-1 record. Cranston East is 0-7-0 and in last place in the Division II-Small.

"The Interscholastic League is in charge of scheduling makeup games," Traficante said. "There are always heavy cards in Cranston, so this will be an inconvenience. Our biggest concern is scheduling practice Monday through Thursday."

Cranston doesn't have any money in the school budget to purchase ice time, Traficante added. Since Veterans Rink opened in 1971, the Cranston school department has provided buses for transportation for city summer events and in return, the Cranston East and Cranston West hockey teams don't pay for ice time. So for opposing coaches to step up, share, and even give Cranston East and Cranston West their ice time is heartwarming, Sacco said.

There are still 40 Interscholastic League games scheduled to be played at Veterans Rink.

"The fire has a devastating effect on us," RIIL assistant executive director Richard Magarian said. "The problem is there are only nine rinks that we use so when we lose one, we are in trouble. Right now we are trying to scramble to get this weekend's games out of the way. After that, we are going to take it day-by-day."

Magarian said that right now the league plans to have tripleheaders around the state for the next few weeks to make up for the games that were scheduled at Veterans Rink. Extending the season by a week is also an alternative. If Veterans Rink is able to reopen by by Feb. 1, Magarian said, then the season may not have to be lengthened.

"The rink managers have been very cooperative with us and we have a meeting [tomorrow] at 10 a.m. with George Egan who does our scheduling," Magarian said. "It is a monumental task to schedule hockey in the first place and then this happened. We also have some games that we have to make up because of a snowstorm earlier this year."

Traficante said that he will be contacting Brown and the Dunkin' Donuts Center to see if they can get some ice time there.

"It's a long shot, but we aren't going to leave any stone unturned," Traficante said.

Sunday's fire apparently started around 2:15 a.m., shortly after the last employee left the building, according to Bill Bennett, a former Cranston East and National Hockey League forward who runs a hockey shop in the building. He has served as the rink manager since June.

The rink is owned by the city but has been leased to and operated by private companies since 1993. In 2003, the rink was cited for significant electrical problems, which included corroded and exposed wiring beneath the bleachers.

Last May the city signed a three-year contract with Rink Management Services Corp., which manages the Bank of America rink in Providence.

Arthur Gregg Sulzberger contributed to this story.

roblee@projo.com / (401) 277-7340