Austin Icebats to Stay in Austin
At a press conference held today, the Austin Icebats stated that they will be staying in Austin as they continue to look for a more permanent home. As you may recall, the team and the city of Cedar Park had an on-again, off-again relationship for a while. Now, they've apparently reached some form of agreement, and the Ice Bats have temporarily returned home while they look for a bigger place.
In a joint announcement today with Chaparral Ice, the Ice Bats announced that Chaparral will be hosting the Austin Ice Bats Hockey Club for their 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons as they transition to a new arena. In addition to adding a second sheet of ice and new amenities, the location will be upgrading their seating to around 2000 seats, as well as adding a VIP area. According to team president Jeff Buch they're still looking for a permanent home and haven't ruled out any city. Austinist can't quite imagine a Georgetown or Buda Icebats team, but we shall have to wait and see.
In current season news, the team has made a spectacular recovery in the second half of the season and posted a 13-4-1 record so far this calendar year. The Icebats play the league-leading Colorado Eagles this Friday night at 7:30pm.
