Instead of heading up to Anchorage for a pair of games this weekend, the Homer Mariners hockey team will square off against the Soldotna Stars tonight in an effort to raise money for the Big Lake Rec Center. The Mat-Su valley rink was damaged in last Friday’s earthquake.
Indy Walton is the head coach of Soldonta Stars. The team was scheduled to play in a tournament at the damaged rec center this weekend, but the games were canceled due to school closures following the quake.
“Then it was trying to find some ice that was available in our local communities and try to put something together with Kenai or with Homer, and of course the idea came up to make it a fundraiser and focus on the people that are really struggling,” Walton said.
The game will raise money for the Big Lake Rec Center. Bill Haller is the building manager, and he said the rink itself suffered minimal damage from the quake. But he estimates that repairs to the rest of the rec center will cost about $50,000 to $70,000.
“We had some plumbing damages, we had some big water tanks and hot water heaters that pulled away from the wall and ripped all the plumbing out, which is all big two-inch copper plumbing line and then we had interior boiler lines, copper boiler lines inside the building also break,” he said.
Haller said the rec center was built with community donations similar to how the construction of the Kevin Bell Arena was funded here in Homer.
Ian Pitzman is the manger for the Homer Mariners Hockey Team.
“When the idea was pitched to have a charity game, a fundraiser, for the Big Lake Ice Rink to help repair the earthquake damage, the folks here jumped onboard and can relate to how to keep an ice rink operating in a small town,” he said. “So helping out even in a small way, seemed like the right thing to do.”
Spectators at Friday’s game will be charged $5 at the door. The rink will also be accepting additional donations. The puck drops at 6:30 p.m. at the Kevin Bell Area.