CENTENNIAL — We need to have a talk.
Let’s not dance around it: the ice at Family Sports Center is bad. Full stop.
This isn’t a shot at the people who work there — the staff is first-rate, tireless, and always hustling to make the best of what they’ve got. But no matter how hard they work, the reality is unavoidable: the facility itself simply isn’t fit for NHL standards.
And that matters. We’re talking about one of the league’s top-performing franchises over the past half decade. Players at this level
deserve a surface that reflects their caliber, not one that hinders it.
Family Sports has served its purpose. But if the goal is to sustain elite hockey in this market, the ice — and the infrastructure that supports it — needs a serious upgrade.
Trips and Wipeouts
Over the past week, the ice has been the source of numerous falls—not just among casual skaters, but at the highest level of play. And while I’ve taken my share of spills, this isn’t about me; it’s about the pros.
Players affected in recent sessions include Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Sam Malinski, and Gavin Brindley. On Monday, T.J. Tynan and Zakhar Bardakov nearly wiped out in the same exact spot during drills. The divot was so pronounced that the drill had to be altered on the fly, visible from the stands as a glaring hazard.
The problem resurfaced Tuesday when Drury fell after hitting a rather large divot near the net. Incidents like these are becoming increasingly common every session. With a team that was plagued as much as the Avalanche were last year with injuries, this is a situation that the team would surely love to avoid.
Money Could Be the Problem
Brittle ice is a sneaky problem because most people assume that hard ice is automatically good. The reality is quite the opposite: when the ice is too hard, it chips, cracks, and forms ruts that deepen into grooves capable of catching skates. That’s precisely what has been happening at this well-used arena.
Fixing the issue, of course, comes with a cost. On one hand, if the owners had the funds to upgrade the rink, one might assume they would have acted already. On the other hand, there’s always the incentive to let the revenue continue rolling in unchecked — why spend money if you don’t have to? That perspective, too, holds water. What’s needed is an incentive, a little nudge to get them to invest in improvements. Yet, it appears that step has already been taken.
Roughly 30% of the South Suburban Park and Recreation District’s capital improvement projects are funded through such grants. Just last year, over $30 million was allocated to capital improvements. While specific allocations for the Family Sports Center aren’t publicly detailed, it is reasonable to conclude that the facility has benefited from these funds.
I don’t know anything about their refrigeration units, but if they’re old and if the HVAC equipment needs a serious upgrade, it could cost at least $1 million if not more.
Stop Being Cheap
Family Sports Center arguably bears more criticism than it deserves, given that the facility was never designed to accommodate the demands of a full-time NHL team. At its core, the issue is far less about the arena itself and far more about a franchise unwilling to invest adequately in the resources its players require.
The Avalanche are valued at $1.7 billion as of December 2024, representing a 48% increase from the previous year. The team’s owner, Stan Kroenke, controls six different sports franchises and possesses a net worth estimated at up to $21 billion. He is among the wealthiest sports team owners in the world, not just the United States.
With that level of resources, a world-class team can absolutely be provided the practice facility and amenities it merits. And if Kroenke is unwilling to invest, public funding should be considered — as is often the case with billionaire-owned ventures.
If Family Sports Center cannot deliver, it is time to take proactive steps to ensure the players receive the support and infrastructure they more than deserve before someone gets hurt for no reason. We can do better than this.
