A $600,000 improvement to the Sudbury Arena was revealed at a special ceremony Friday night. The event was the official unveiling of a new state-of-the-art video scoreboard riding high over centre ice.
Dario Zulich, owner of the Sudbury Wolves hockey club and CEO of SWSE, said the new scoreboard was a taste of better things to come. And with a bit of showmanship, Zulich dropped some interesting hints.
"So this is very exciting," he told the crowd of season ticket holders and VIPs.
"So I just want everyone in Sudbury to experience hockey like they've never experienced before. Especially these last few years while we're in this barn. We won't be here much longer. And I can just tell you this, the Sudbury Wolves, very soon we'll be playing in a brand new arena somewhere, somewhere," Zulich said as the crowd erupted into cheers and applause.
Zulich also told the fans that they would enjoy an "unbelievable few years" in "this barn".
After the ceremony, during a media scrum, Zulich dropped the hint again.
"And so this is an old facility and so I just wanted to give Sudbury something new especially as we finish the last few years of our lease right. So I want Sudbury to come out and enjoy the barn and relish it and remember it because we're not gonna be here forever, I can tell you that. Soon we'll be playing in a brand new arena somewhere."
When pressed to elaborate on his comments about where and when for the "brand new arena", Zulich was vague.
"I'm not sure but there's got to be a new arena somewhere. Right. So I'm looking forward to it."
In the meantime, Zulich said he was pleased with the new scoreboard which has a sponsorship agreement with Desjardin financial services. He said it was fitting in the 50th anniversary year for the Ontario Hockey League to provide fans with an improved experience.
He said the new video scoreboard was the best in the OHL at the moment, with high definitation video, computer animations and high-tech audio.
"It's true. Yeah, well, you know, every year, next year will be another model, probably better but for now we can boast we have the best," Zulich said.
"I'm very excited about it. We went as big as we could. And of course the building does have limitations. And so we have to work within those limitations," he added. Zulich said the arena was old. Tapping into the events of the day, Zulich reminded the group that the Sudbury Arena was built before Queen Elizabeth began her reign.
Zulich also promised an exciting season of hockey ahead and that Wolves fans will be well entertained.
