WATERVILLE — Area athletic directors met with central Maine rink officials for more than two hours Monday at Colby College to discuss financial and scheduling ramifications of Sukee Arena closing for the winter season.

Sukee Arena manager Annette Marin said Thursday the rink would be closed for the season, citing ice equipment failure at the more than 30-year-old building.

Members of the Messalonskee hockey team celebrate a 3-1 victory over Camden Hills in a Class B North semifinal last season at Sukee Arena. Photo by Jeff Pouland

The decision forced schools to scramble and recover lost ice time as girls teams began practicing Nov. 7. The boys start Nov. 21.

Four high school teams — Messalonskee, Lawrence/Skowhegan and the Winslow boys and girls — call Sukee Arena home.

Messalonskee athletic director Tom Hill said schedules were just about finalized Monday, as Colby College, Kents Hill School and the Camden National Bank Ice Vault will help displaced teams.

“All but one of our (18) games will be on the same day it was originally scheduled,” Hill said. “They might have a different time or a different venue than what was on the original schedule, but all but one will be on the same day.”

Scheduling, as logistically problematic as it can be, is just one issue facing central Maine schools. Another is money as the sudden closing of Sukee will result in added transportation, rink rental and game-day costs.

Sukee Arena officials approved high school hockey league schedules in September, Hill said, without any mention of the possibility that Sukee would not open.

Sukee Arena owner Doug Sukeforth has not returned phone calls for five days. A man who answered the phone at the Sukeforth home Monday evening abruptly hung up.

Hourly ice rental varies depending on the rink. Sukee Arena charged just $175 per hour, while an hour at Bonnefond Ice Arena on the Kents Hill campus is $225, Hill said.

“It was one of the items we first discussed,” said Bonnefond Ice Arena manager Todd Wheelden. “When Colby, the Ice Vault and Kents Hill got together, we said ‘we need to work together to figure this out.’ That was a topic of discussion.”

Rinks will continue to charge their normal rates for ice time this winter. At Kents Hill, the designated ‘home team’ will run the gate and collect all revenue.

“None of our policies are designed to make money,” Wheelden said. “We really only charge enough to cover expenses and to make ice available to as many people as we can.”

Messalonskee is a good example of what hockey programs are facing with Sukee’s closure. For home games or practices at Sukee, Messalonskee did not need to provide transportation to and from games for its players; now a home game or a practice at Kents Hill would require transportation and an increase of ice rental costs.

Furthermore, the home team will also be required to provide security for the game.

Waterville police spokesperson Kathleen Kenney Haley said the department charges $50 per hour with a minimum four-hour slot for security detail.

Winslow and Gardiner entered into a cooperative effort to field a girls hockey team this winter for the first time. Instead of practicing at Sukee Arena for the vast majority of the time — as was originally planned — the team will practice regularly at the Ice Vault in Hallowell.

“While it might make it easier for our girls, it doesn’t make it easier for our team,” Gardiner athletic director Steve Ouellette said. “We are just fortunate to have three places that are so willing to help out in such a difficult situation. Nobody really imagined that this would have happened so late in the year.”

The Central Maine Youth Hockey Association will play at Colby’s Alfond Rink and Bonnefond Ice Arena. The Waterville high school team — which won the Class B state title last season — will continue to practice at Alfond regularly.

“It’s amazing how people have come together, been flexible and are trying to create the best environment for the kids to have the opportunity to do what they love and do it reasonably,” said Wheelden, who added that many scheduling conflicts could be remedied by making 10-minute adjustments throughout the course of a typical day. “That’s why we’re in the business. That’s why we love the game.”

Travis Barrett — 621-5621

tbarrett@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TBarrettGWC

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