In the photo from the left: Shane Weatherby, parents of Justin Williams, Denise and Craig and Andrew Watson
A new multi-million dollar state-of-the-art hockey training facility will be breaking ground in the upcoming weeks north of Highway 401 in the Municipality of Port Hope.
The initiative is the idea of three local men – Shane Weatherby, Andrew Watson and three time Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe winner Justin Williams.
The NHL style elite training hockey centre will be located on a 30-acre property at the south west corner of County Road 28 and Dale Road.
Pending approval by the municipality, the trio of partners said they hope the foundation will be installed before winter.
The idea for the facility came about in December, but the group has been working on it since Spring.
“It’s a long process and there are many things we had to provide to the town,” said Watson.
“We can say collectively that the Municipality of Port Hope and the GRCA have been fabulous to work with since the start.”
“The unfortunate part is that COVID has slowed down some of the processes, but we’ve overcome that and it’s full steam ahead now.”
Once the foundation is complete, over the winter the structure will be built.
Leeswood Contracting will be constructing the 20,000 square foot facility with as much local sub-contracting as possible.
Former Toronto Maple Leaf, Dave Gagner who owns Custom Ice Inc. will be putting in the actual training rink.
The ice surface will be 60′ x 130′ which is a standard for a ice training surface.
A NHL ice surface is 80′ x 200′ and Olympic is 100′ x 200′.
Inside the facility there will also be a full gym geared towards hockey training and cardio.
A skate treadmill which is similar to a running treadmill only you wear your skates and hockey stick so you can stick handle and shoot while on it.
There will also be stationary bikes, treadmills, weight room, shooting pads and a 24′ x 30’s goalie pad specifically used for goalie training.
Weatherby said the idea for the facility came up after he was introduced to Williams through a mutual friend approximately five years ago.
Everyone locally and in the hockey world knows Williams and his accomplishments.
He’s an athlete who has always been extremely well respected for his training regime.
“Andrew and I were actually in the process of buying the property and putting a warehouse up.”
“Another mutual friend, mentioned a training facility and spoke to Justin and it.”
“Justin and I got talking and we spoke with Andrew and all thought it was a fantastic idea for this area.”
“The contacts Justin has with NHL trainers, he knows exactly what is needed for a facility and obviously knows what needs to be done.”
The target market is for anyone from beginners to NHL players.
“It’s really for kids in the surrounding area from Belleville, Peterborough to Whitby to fill that void for a training centre,” said Watson.
The facility is basically set for three-on-three.
“The shorter rink is set up for training younger kids because you can train them on a ice with the blue lines. So their development should go quicker,” said Weatherby.
The trio also hope to have a hockey academy running out of the facility.
All three men state specifically the facility is not to compete with local rinks.
“We relayed this to the town, we don’t want to take any business away from their arenas,” said Watson.
“The target is to provide specialized training for anything from Tykes to off-season American hockey league or NHL,” said Weatherby.
“The majority will be AAA players and AA and will definitely have skating academies.”
In fact, the design of the facility is already getting the attention of NHL teams who are looking at upgrading their training facilities.
“Ours will be done and up and then we can bring in NHL teams who are looking at upgrading their facilities and they can see our design and tweak it to their needs,” said Weatherby.
The entrance will be off County Road 28 south of Dale Road. There will be the training facility and a warehouse which will be separate buildings. The warehouse will be built for storage and light manufacturing bringing jobs to the area.
The training facility will be built first, then the warehouse.
For elite hockey training and developing skills, there is a lack of facilities in the area.
“If you’re a guy like Justin who obviously trains hard and understand what it takes to win, you want to be at the peak of your game,” said Weatherby.
This is will be the only one of its kind in the area.
“The key to this is we have a large area between Whitby and Belleville without any facility. So we have a huge amount of AAA, AA and A hockey that have to quite a ways from the Cobourg and Port Hope areas,” said Watson.
“Or they have to go to another location to get a rink, and another to get a track where we will have everything housed in one facility.”
Weatherby said he knows of four youths that go into Toronto everyday to train.
“We’re striving to implement as many green things as we can including hopefully an electric Zamboni,” said Watson.
But it all depends on the delivery date of the ice cleaner.
There will also be a viewing area and a minor amount of seating.
The trio are setting the goal of the facility as a centralized facility of OHL skills competition for the top draft picks.
“But it’s not just 100% hockey,” said Weatherby.
Setup of the facility will also be available for dance and yoga.
The intent is for the ice to be in the facility for 11 months out of the year.
A bird sanctuary and an area for honey bees will be incorporated in a three acre area.
The targeted opening for the facility would be June 2022.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
