Asiago Hockey aims at the ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE

The application for membership of the Giallorossi to the ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE has already been submitted and the RENOVATION OF THE ICE STADIUM of Asiago is planned

After arriving at the final game of the Alps Hockey League, winning 2 to 3 in overtime in Game 4 of the Semifinal against Lustenau, Migross Supermarkets Asiago Hockey has announced its willingness to join the ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE, the European league of higher level, in which 14 formations currently participate. This with the aim of making a qualitative leap, to bring gande hockey back to the Plateau and to attract a greater audience.

The president of the Giallorossi club, Piercarlo Mantovani, in the press conference held on Saturday 2 April, confirmed the presentation of the application for admission of the Asian team to the ICE HOCKEY LEAGUE.

As explained by President Mantovani, the decision of the Giallorossi company is motivated by the undoubted decadence of the ALPS HOCKEY LEAGUE, which has lost important teams over the years, such as Bolzano, Milan, Val Pusteria and Ljubljana. The Asian team has well shown that it has all the potential to face the first Austrian League and to play a hockey of the highest level, which attracts a wider audience.

Participation in the ICE, however, will make it necessary to adapt the ice stadium of Asiago, now old. The structure must comply with certain standards that make it suitable for hosting high-level events and competitions.

The interventions would require an investment estimated at 6 million euros, of which 2.5 would be allocated by the Municipality of Asiago thanks to border funds, while the rest of the figure could instead derive from the funds of the PNRR, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The improvement of the Odegar to the standards necessary for an important championship such as that of the ICE would include the reconstruction of the track, the lowering of the structure with the approach of the stands to the playing field, the expansion of the capacity to 4 thousand seats, the arrangement of the roof, the affixing of a giant screen inside the structure, the heating of the entire system, the creation of new changing rooms and services.

The structure would thus be transformed into a place where a high-level hockey can be played and the public can be returned to the stadium, as stated by the mayor Roberto Rigoni Stern, who also highlighted how, thanks to the new underground parking, now in the final straight, the ice stadium will be able to count on a doubling of parking spaces.

The ideas are clear, therefore, now all that remains is to wait for the response of the Vienna Federation, which could arrive as early as April 19, when the board will meet, but could also come in a longer time, thus postponing the participation of the Giallorossi in the ICE even by a year.

(Photo by Serena Fantini)