Adelard opening on July 6
Rink has been shut down since March 12
WOONSOCKET — Youth sports are slowly starting to come out of hibernation in the Blackstone Valley.
Lincoln, Cumberland and Burrillville Little Leagues began practicing earlier in the month and Upper Deck and Howard Rogers started preparing for the R.I. Elite 19-20 League in the last two weeks.
Starting Monday, July 6, indoor sports will begin with the re-opening of Adelard Arena.
Adeland general manager Matt Campanelli has been working through the pandemic, but he returned to the Logee Street rink Thursday to begin preparation for a busy summer at the former airplane hanger.
“We’re looking forward to getting people back through the doors and having kids – albeit 10, 15, 20 at a time – back on the ice,” Campanelli said Friday afternoon. “We’re making adjustments as we open up, but it’s good to have the camps and the clinics as we get going again.”
Campanelli said July 6 will be a soft opening with figure skating groups coming to the facility. The real challenge for Campanelli and his crew starts on Tuesday, July 7 with the start of the Bill Belisle Hockey School, run by former Mountie and current UMass-Boston coach Peter Belisle. Beginning at 9 a.m. with elementary-school kids and going until high school players leave the building at 3 p.m., the staff will have to make sure kids safely get on and off the ice and disinfect the lobby before the next group comes in 30 minutes later.
The hockey school runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for six weeks, so the Adelard staff will get plenty of practice before the Mount St. Charles Hockey Academy’s four teams return to begin their seasons in August.
“It will be a little bit of juggling and discovery the first few weeks, but we’re almost booked up morning, noon and night when we open up again with the new modified schedule,” Campanelli said. “It’s not a tremendous amount more work because we always tidied up the locker rooms every time someone used them. We have fewer spaces being used, so our attention will be on the lobby where kids can tie their skates and get on the ice.
“What you’ll see now is the home dresser will be more the norm. Kids will be getting out of their cars in full equipment and can use the lobby to put on their skates.”
Speaking of the cavernous lobby, the wood paneling that adorned the walls is a thing of the past, as the entry has a new paint job that brightens the area. There are other improvements coming and Campanelli is looking at selling ads on the boards.
The general manager hopes with the addition of the streaming service Live Barn, area businesses will be interested in buying space on the boards.
Campanelli fired up the two compressors in the rink Thursday and he hopes to start making ice this weekend. The last time Adelard Arena was open to the public was on Saturday, March 7 when the Mount Hockey Academy U18 team blasted Boston Advantage, 4-0. Later that night, the Mount varsity team beat Bishop Hendricken in overtime to clinch a spot in the state final.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state final wasn’t played and the final time a team skated on the Adelard Arena ice was when the Mounties had a team skate on Friday, March 12, just a few hours after the state title series was canceled.
“After the varsity team got on the ice for the final time in March, we melted down the ice a few days later,” Campanelli said. “This building needed that, it needed a break. Any hockey rink needs the floor to settle and give us some time to do maintenance and needed repairs. We did some painting ant spruced some things up. Soon, we’ll add some banners for the Academy teams and the varsity team being the co-state champion.”