Beaner
04-12-2005, 12:28 PM
from, www.vancouversun.com
Giants to get new home in Ladner
The team will put up $850,000 in the next 15 years for a training and practice facility to be built
Stephen Snelgrove
Vancouver Sun
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
The Vancouver Giants have a new home.
The Western Hockey League team will move its practice and training facility to the Ladner Leisure Centre in time for the start of its training camp in August. The Giants have trained and practised at the Tilbury Ice Centre for the past four seasons.
The Giants, in conjunction with the Delta Parks, Recreation and Culture department, are building a $1.2-million facility that will include a 2,700-sq-ft. weight room, video room, offices and a new dressing room.
The Giants have put $100,000 towards the initial down payment of the facility and will pay $50,000 for each of the next 15 years for a total commitment of $850,000. The municipality of Delta, which owns the leisure centre, has agreed to pay the rest.
Construction on the 7,668-sq.-ft. project is expected to begin later this month.
"It's going to be a state-of-the-art facility that will rival that of any NHL organization," said Giants' majority owner Ron Toigo.
The top floor of the two-storey facility will contain the weight room, which will be open to the public full-time, while the bottom floor will contain the Giants' hockey operations. This will be the first facility of its kind in the Western Hockey League.
"It's worth the investment. It's important that we give ourselves the best chance to win every year and the way we do that is to have the best coach you can and the best facility you can," said Toigo.
"We've always tried to do the best job that we can afford to do. We never would have contemplated doing this in year one and two because of the extra expense. But with the support we have had and the extra events -- like the World Juniors and the Prospects Game -- that we've been able to win, and how well they have been supported, we really look at this as a long-term investment."
Toigo believes the new facility will assist the Giants in two key areas as they embark on their fifth season in the league.
"It will be big for recruiting and really help on the development side of things," he said. "We'll be able to maximize Don Hay's ability to coach and prepare players. Give Don a facility that matches his ability and we should be able to develop our guys much better than we have in the past. We should be a better team for it."
Ian Gallagher, the Giants' strength and conditioning coach, is like a kid at Christmas, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new facility.
"One of the biggest benefits is the variation that we will be able to approach training from, the fact that we will be able to use a variety of training tools to keep the mind stimulated," said Gallagher.
"And the fact that this will be the best training facility in the Western Hockey League will help from a recruiting perspective. We think that for a player thinking about playing in Vancouver, the fact that we have a full developmental approach to their hockey future, and that we can deliver on that through the facility, is going to help us recruit now and in the future."
The Giants are also continuing negotiations for a new lease at the Pacific Coliseum, where they have played their home games for the past four seasons.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
Giants to get new home in Ladner
The team will put up $850,000 in the next 15 years for a training and practice facility to be built
Stephen Snelgrove
Vancouver Sun
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
The Vancouver Giants have a new home.
The Western Hockey League team will move its practice and training facility to the Ladner Leisure Centre in time for the start of its training camp in August. The Giants have trained and practised at the Tilbury Ice Centre for the past four seasons.
The Giants, in conjunction with the Delta Parks, Recreation and Culture department, are building a $1.2-million facility that will include a 2,700-sq-ft. weight room, video room, offices and a new dressing room.
The Giants have put $100,000 towards the initial down payment of the facility and will pay $50,000 for each of the next 15 years for a total commitment of $850,000. The municipality of Delta, which owns the leisure centre, has agreed to pay the rest.
Construction on the 7,668-sq.-ft. project is expected to begin later this month.
"It's going to be a state-of-the-art facility that will rival that of any NHL organization," said Giants' majority owner Ron Toigo.
The top floor of the two-storey facility will contain the weight room, which will be open to the public full-time, while the bottom floor will contain the Giants' hockey operations. This will be the first facility of its kind in the Western Hockey League.
"It's worth the investment. It's important that we give ourselves the best chance to win every year and the way we do that is to have the best coach you can and the best facility you can," said Toigo.
"We've always tried to do the best job that we can afford to do. We never would have contemplated doing this in year one and two because of the extra expense. But with the support we have had and the extra events -- like the World Juniors and the Prospects Game -- that we've been able to win, and how well they have been supported, we really look at this as a long-term investment."
Toigo believes the new facility will assist the Giants in two key areas as they embark on their fifth season in the league.
"It will be big for recruiting and really help on the development side of things," he said. "We'll be able to maximize Don Hay's ability to coach and prepare players. Give Don a facility that matches his ability and we should be able to develop our guys much better than we have in the past. We should be a better team for it."
Ian Gallagher, the Giants' strength and conditioning coach, is like a kid at Christmas, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new facility.
"One of the biggest benefits is the variation that we will be able to approach training from, the fact that we will be able to use a variety of training tools to keep the mind stimulated," said Gallagher.
"And the fact that this will be the best training facility in the Western Hockey League will help from a recruiting perspective. We think that for a player thinking about playing in Vancouver, the fact that we have a full developmental approach to their hockey future, and that we can deliver on that through the facility, is going to help us recruit now and in the future."
The Giants are also continuing negotiations for a new lease at the Pacific Coliseum, where they have played their home games for the past four seasons.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005