The Cube: The new ice rink that has a bright future here in Santa Clarita.
For 20 years the Valencia Ice Station was the place where hockey players, figure skaters, and speed skaters could always go to work on improving their skills and to be ready to make the next steps in their careers. The Valencia Ice Station was also home to a local special needs hockey organization, SNAP Hockey.
The news of the rink having to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic was not surprising to hear, as many other indoor sporting facilities had to do the same. The biggest shock for the ice skating community came on March 25, 2020 when it was announced that the rink would remain closed for good.
The first step taken to save the rink was the creation of a petition advocating to save the rink. The petition has received over 26,000 signings which shows how important it is to have an ice rink in Santa Clarita. Leigh Ann Dunleavy created the petition and was one of the biggest supporters of the movement to save the rink.
Dunleavy stated “We agreed a petition was the way to get everyone in the ice community on the same page.” Once the petition began to gain a larger following on social media Dunleavy and others decided to speak to the Santa Clarita City Council on the matter.
“We had numerous conversations with the former Mayor, Cameron Smyth, to make the case for saving the rink and I think these conversations, the petition and all the ice community members that spoke at city council meetings planted a seed for the city to step in and buy the rink.”
Dunleavy’s belief that the residents speaking to the council having an impact became fact when current Mayor Bill Miranda stated, “ We would not be here if it wasn’t for the passion and commitment and the grassroots movement of all the people here, and more beyond here, that said ‘we can’t let this stand,’” during his speech at the rink grand opening.
After the City of Santa Clarita purchased the rink for $14 million, the next step was to find a company to run the newly purchased rink. Eventually the LA Kings and American Sports Entertainment Centers (ASEC) were selected to be the Joint Venture company to run the operations of the rink, which was renamed by the City of Santa Clarita as The Cube Ice and Entertainment Center.
Luc Robitaille, President of Hockey Operations for the Los Angeles Kings said the purchase was important because “There is a high hockey demand in Santa Clarita, with a lot of fans in the area.”
“Running The Cube gives us the opportunity to get involved in day to day hockey coaching, sharing knowledge and communicating with fans.”
With renovations complete, The Cube’s grand opening was held on April 12, 2021, and included various speakers, guests, members of the local community, and the media. Two of the speakers at the event were Representative Mike Garcia from California’s 25th Congressional District, and Luc Robitaille. With its doors open The Cube was ready to welcome back the different clubs that called the Ice Station their home. One of these clubs is the West Ranch Wildcats high school hockey team.
Before The Cube reopened the team was forced to hold their tryouts, practices, and games at the Iceoplex in Simi Valley. The commute was tough on the players who were also trying to balance school along with making it to practice on time. Most of the players live in Santa Clarita which means they were in for a 40 minute drive every time they wanted to get on the ice.
Being able to have practices at The Cube was much easier than in Simi Valley because of the location, and the Simi Valley rink had much stricter rules around COVID such as making players put their gear on in the parking lot instead of a locker room.
With The Cube now open Santa Clarita residents are excited to regain their home of all things related to ice skating, and the city council is confident that the rink will be very successful.
