Since the recent folding of the Vermilion County Bobcats, plenty of talk has been going on about, WHAT’S NEXT? The main question is, can hockey return to the David S. Palmer Arena, and how soon? Numerous hockey fans attended the David S. Palmer Arena Board meeting last week. Barry Soskin, who previously ran the Danville Dashers for 11 years, has told Neuhoff Media that first and foremost, legal questions leftover from the Bobcats days would have to be taken care of.
AUDIO: It’s over as far as the fans and everybody’s concerned, but there still is a legal process that has to go on. And I am totally unaware of what kind of a time frame the building could be involved with.
Soskin says he’d love to bring pro hockey back to Danville. But coming out of the Bobcats days, he would want it to organized properly for all parties involved.
AUDIO: The past couple of seasons haven’t gone as well as probably anyone would have liked. And with that there has to be some provisions so that we can do what’s necessary to build up and get back to where we need to be; so that we can have the thousand fans a game and the stuff that we spent ten years building, or getting towards.
Soskin says he believes in getting the right coach, and letting him do his job.
AUDIO: Bounce a few ideas off of him, and pretty much let him do his thing. If it works, great. If it doesn’t work, then I need to step in and figure out what needs to be done to make it work.
Soskin says his first two years in Danville were challenging, but in the third year, as things improved on and off the ice, he remembers discovering that what he THOUGHT was in Danville, WAS in Danville.
The David S. Palmer Arena Board released the following statement after last week’s meeting:
“The Palmer Arena has received interest from a number of hockey team owners that would like to bring hockey back to Danville. The General Manager and attorney will be working on a vetting process and lease to learn from past mistakes and make sure we have a team that is a good fit for the Arena and the residents of Vermilion County.
We are committed to doing everything in our power to have professional hockey back for 2023/2024 season and hope to be able to send out request for proposals in the coming months.”
