TRI-CITY STORM

by ED BRUCE edbrucevegas@yahoo.com

WHAT IS THIS ?

The world is so full of new adventures and this turned out to be a real good one !

Our trip from Las Vegas to central South Dakota to visit relatives went through Omaha, immediately at the airport I grab the Omaha World Herald in search of events to see, cover or attend. USHA hockey in Kearney, Nebraska....only 165 miles west on Interstate 80...three hours...lets go...the cell phone and the GPS led us perfectly down the interstate to the game. Truly incredible that the airport, our Omaha Motel and the hockey arena were all right on the Interstate....a super adventure is underway.

At 705 in Kearney, Nebraska...the sun is setting, 10,000 Canadian geese were honking and we were arriving right on time at the Viaero Event Center for hockey.

I had no idea what the brand or level of this was but I like the game itself... and this was super. 16 to 20 year-olds, pre college players in a league from Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota in one division to Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois in the other division.....15 teams !

About 1999 somebody built this perfect 4000 seat arena especially for hockey, rather flat, suite seating, lots of room, facade sold advertising, sold advertising on the boards, clean fresh venue, just an excellent managed arena for this...they made us feel right at home. First class concessions, nice program and souvenier shop and the entire staff was warm and friendly....just no negatives....I hate it when there is nothing to complain about.

Incredibly two referees unlike the ECHL in Las Vegas, the two teams wore my favorite colors...Omaha in Orange and Tri-City in purple ! Who would ever thought Hastings, Kearney and Grand Island Nebraska would have hockey but they do and now, over a decade with good crowds on most weekends. They played up youth hockey, chuck a puck for cash and local promotions into the program and they did a needed info piece on the replay screens....explaining nuances of the game. I wanted more of it and I want some of it in Las Vegas !

Onto the game and this one had its twist with Omaha comming in 5-0 against Tri-City and leaving 5-1 in a competive nice game where everyone just chased the puck like the should. The players here not anxious to fight or drop the gloves, few penalties and the 2 hours just flew by...another 4 stars in my cap for selecting this event !

Thanks to the Tri-City mangement and the USHA for producing a world class entertainment event and venue that started on time and is recommended to the world.
I hope in my lifetime I am again in one the league cities for this...I am there in a heartbeat !

100 A+