WYTHEVILLE, Va. – Hockey excitement is starting early in the New River Valley as Wytheville officials unveiled the new hockey team for the area.
Wytheville officials made this announcement at the new facility, the Apex Center.
“I can’t go anywhere in the community without somebody asking me about hockey,” said Matthew Hankins, assistant county administrator of Wythe County. “We’ve been looking forward to finding out what the team is called and we are glad they picked a name that is representative of the region.”
The new team’s name will be the Blue Ridge Bobcats. Town leaders said the facility will hold much more than just hockey games.
They said they hope the new building will help during the town’s off-season and plan to have events like ice skating, concerts, and potentially other sports teams.
At the event, the team owner was there to speak on the entire process of picking the team’s name and the struggles of keeping everything a secret.
“The last team’s name I mentioned, it was leaked out. It was leaked out before I even had it as a name,” said Barry Soskins, owner of the hockey team.
He said though it has been stressful, he is still excited about everything coming together.
“You plan for one thing, and you do something completely different,” said Hoskins. “Danny has a lot to work to do, and that is probably the biggest thing.”
Town officials said the plan is to have ice down by the end of September, and then have the facility open to the public soon after.