By Doug Hare EBS STAFF
BIG SKY – On Saturday,
Jan. 25 at 5 p.m., a ceremonial puck drop at Town Center Rink will break the
ice for a hockey match between the Bozeman Stingers and Sun Valley Suns. The
game will be free to the public, and will include music, a drink garden and a youth
skate with the Stingers from 3:30
p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The event will mark the
first time that Big Sky has ever hosted teams from the Black Diamond Hockey
League, comprised of mostly ex-junior, collegiate and professional players. The
league is made up of the Jackson Hole Moose, Sun Valley Suns, Park City
Pioneers and the Bozeman Stingers, with games typically attracting hundreds to
thousands of fans.
“The Stingers have been
around for about 12 years. In 2014, we became a non-profit. We’ve been playing around
ski towns in the Northern Rockies for a while now,” said Justin Cook, president
of the 501(c)4 organization and a player on the team as well. “We thought Big
Sky would be a great venue to bring the team. This is the first time, I think,
any team in the league has done an outdoor game. We’re treating this like the
NHL Winter Classic.”
According to Cook, the Stingers and Sun Valley Suns have the
longest running rivalry in the league, although he also noted that the
competition is intended to be a relatively amicable affair that will draw
attention to Big Sky’s new and improved ice rink as well as the quality of BDHL
hockey to Big Sky residents that have never attended a Stingers game.
“We’re thinking futuristically about this match. This is
something that we would like to be an annual event in Big Sky, something that
can continue to grow in upcoming years” said Tony Randall, head of operations
for the Stingers. “We really want to draw attention to how special this venue
is and hopefully show off the highest level hockey being played in Wyoming,
Montana or Idaho.”
