Ducks hockey club running inline hockey rink

The former Coast 2 Coast Inline Hockey Center, 5555 McFadden Ave., has joined two other Southern California rinks to become part of the Anaheim Ducks’ new the Rinks development program.

The facility, now called Huntington Beach Inline, is owned and operated by the Anaheim Ducks Hockey Club. The two other participating rinks are Corona Inline and Anaheim Ice.

“This is exciting,” said the Rinks General Manager Ken Murchison. “We really see a big potential for it, and kind of a rebirth.”

“It’s very good that the Ducks are getting involved in the community. There’s talk of adding a third rink and restaurant in the future, which will provide a lot more services here,” said youth hockey director Jeff Prime.

The acquisition is viewed by management as a marketing boon.

“We really pursued the Ducks, because a lot of the rinks here in Southern California were in jeopardy of going away. At the location in Huntington Beach, there was a possibility of that rink’s lease being up, and the Ducks came in and salvaged it,” Murchison said.

“Now that we have the tie-in to the Ducks, their branding will come into the facility. The biggest thing is going to be the marketing. Most of these places being mom-and-pop shops, there was no budget; it was all word-of-mouth.”

Murchison hopes the move will revive interest in hockey among kids who are already drawn to many other sports.

“At schools, kids are doing soccer and baseball and stuff, but roller hockey is very cost-effective, and I think people will be surprised that it’s actually in their backyard,” he said.

Murchison said he doesn’t know of any other professional hockey team that offers both ice and inline skating development programs.

“I think the program is going to have great dividends, because it’s never really been done anywhere at this level,” he said. “The word’s really getting out there, not only locally, but on a national and even international level.”

The acquisition of the three rinks is seen as the first step of a larger acquisition program, said Ducks Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Ryan.

“We’ve only got three today, but the Rinks program allows us to have consistency. When a participant or a family comes into one of these facilities, they can look around and say, ‘Hey, we know what we’re getting when we walk into one of these rinks.’

“The good news is that these three rinks are all at capacity, but that means we need to find more. We’re going to keep looking under every rock, and if people want us to become part of their rink, we’ll do it. If rinks need to be built, that’s what we have to do. Hopefully in the next five years, we’ll be looking at 5 to 10 more,” Ryan said.

Murchison also hopes the program helps remove the stigma among some hockey parents that roller hockey will offer no way for kids to enter the NHL in the future.

“The bottom line is, these kids who are playing roller hockey — they’re hockey players. They say their favorite player is Teemu Selanne. These kids are hockey players, and they support the Ducks. I really hope this helps bridge that gap,” he said.

“I would hope that somewhere down the road, maybe it would become a reality that you have a player who’s come out of a Ducks program,” Murchison said.

For more information on the program, and how to register for adult or youth leagues, visit the-rinks.com.

Reporter CANDICE BAKER may be reached at (714) 966-4631 or at candice.baker@latimes.com.