NHL is coming to Wichita for the first time with St. Louis Blues headlining a game
Wichita hockey fans are in for a never-before-seen treat this fall.
For the first time in the city’s history, Wichita will play host to an NHL game when the St. Louis Blues and Arizona Coyotes face off in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 inside Intrust Bank Arena.
The event, being billed the “Frozen Face Off,” was brought to Wichita by G1 Sports & Entertainment, a local investment group co-founded by Tien Huynh, who helped make The Aftershocks playing in TBT a reality. Tickets in the 15,000-seat arena will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday and can be purchased at selectaseat.com or by phone at 855-755-7328.
“Wichitans love sports and the people here have proven over time that Wichita is a sports town,” said Brian Hargrove, president of G1 Sports & Entertainment. “You look at the success of the recent NCAA Tournament women’s basketball games, the NBA preseason games that have been here in the past, The Basketball Tournament at Wichita has record-setting crowds every year. Wichita has proven it supports events like this and we expect this to be no different.”
Hargrove has been in communication with the St. Louis Blues trying to bring an NHL exhibition game to Wichita for nearly a full year now. Because NHL teams only play a total of three home games during the preseason, it was a challenge to convince the team to give up one of their home games to play in Wichita.
Huynh also noted that it took some persuasion.
“It’s like we’re the city that’s just big enough to host, but not big enough to already be on the radar,” Huynh said. “We really have to go out there and sell ourselves. I keep telling people we’re like a sleeping giant. Eventually we’re going to wake up.”
Although the Blues ran out of home dates, the team suggested contacting the Arizona Coyotes, a team they knew was looking for an out-of-state game to try to expand their brand. So the Coyotes will actually be the home team in Wichita, while the Blues will be the visitors.
After finally breaking through and landing an NHL exhibition game, Hargrove and Huynh said it is G1 Sports & Entertainment’s goal to make sure this isn’t the last one in Wichita. For those interested in sponsorship opportunities, Hargrove encouraged them to reach out to him at brian@g1sportsentertainment.com.
“We’ve talked internally about how we would like to make this an annual or every-other-year event,” Hargrove said. “We want to bring two new teams to town and continue to grow professional hockey here in Wichita and the fan base.”
That’s music to the ears of Wichita Thunder general manager Joel Lomurno, who has been asking about bringing an NHL game to the city for years now. Especially after the Thunder were named an affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers.
“Every year, I’m like, ‘How can we get an NHL game? What are the chances of us getting an NHL game?’ Lomurno said. “They always say, ‘We’ll look into it. We’ll look into it.’
“Now we have two NHL teams willing to come to Wichita, Kansas to play a game for the first time in a really cool arena. I think they’re going to be impressed.”
A handful of Thunder season ticket-holders were present for the Monday news conference and were excited about the announcement.
Craig Brewer, who said he has been a season ticket-holder for nearly two decades, was particularly excited for the Blues coming. The Blues are one of the more popular NHL teams in Wichita, winners of the 2019 Stanley Cup and currently one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
“It should be awesome,” Brewer said. “We’ve never had NHL here before, so hopefully we’ll have some fun with a bigger atmosphere, a bigger crowd. Plus it gives us some exposure. It gives your players, your town, your arena much more of a hockey vibe, so I think it’s going to be great for everyone.”
An NHL exhibition game is quite the step up from the last significant hockey event held at Intrust Bank Arena, which is home to the Wichita Thunder minor league hockey team and hosted the 2020 ECHL All-Star Classic.
In fact, the Thunder and Wichita fans stand to benefit from the necessary upgrades and enhancements that Intrust Bank Arena must make to meet NHL standards for the game.
The most significant upgrade will be all-new glass surrounding the rink and improved dasher boards — the bottom part of the boards around the rink — featuring new technology that absorbs more contact and assists in preventing injuries and concussions. The installation will be handled by Cascadia Sport Systems this summer.
Lomurno hopes the game can bring new fans to the Thunder when their season begins in October.
“There’s probably going to be some people that have never been to a Thunder game that will come out to this game and get real excited and maybe find out about the Thunder,” Lomurno said. “It’s all about growing the game and we’ve got five months to really pump this up.”
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 11:00 AM.
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