Less than a week after the grand opening of Edmonton’s new downtown hockey arena, perhaps the most important area – the locker room – was unveiled to Oilers’ players for the first time Wednesday. After all, it’s where the players will be mentally preparing ahead of games.
READ MORE: Rogers Place arena opens in downtown Edmonton to great fanfare
“This dressing room is put together for the Oilers to win,” Bob Nicholson, CEO and vice-chair of the Oilers Entertainment Group, said.
Of course the term “locker room” takes on a much more expansive meaning in the current world of professional hockey. Not unlike other current National Hockey League arenas, the space includes a training room, an injury rehab facility, a players’ lounge and a theatre, but the Rogers Place “locker room” – possibly the largest in the NHL – is different according to Oilers officials.
Watch below: You could get lost in the labyrinth of passageways inside the section of Rogers Place devoted to Edmonton Oilers players. The dressing room itself isn’t overly big, but there are numerous other areas as well and when you put them together, there area is by far the largest in the NHL. Kevin Karius takes us on a tour after the area was unveiled on Wednesday.
“When the design was happening – dressing room aside – he (Daryl Katz) wanted best in class and that included the dressing room so I think if we’re not best in class, we’re pretty close,” Kevin Lowe, vice-chairman of Oilers Entertainment Group, said, adding his favourite aspects of the area are the natural light it lets in and the path from the dressing room to the ice, one he said is similar to the one at Rexall Place. And he should know having played for the Oilers as a defenceman during their seasons of supremacy in the 1980s.
Have a look at our photo gallery of the Oilers’ new dressing room below:
Nicholson also said the natural light stands out to him.
“If you come into a room and you feel really comfortable, you know- having all that natural lighting that’s going to come in winter days and that, I think that’s going to be really special as time goes on,” he said.
The Oilers’ conernerstone player – Connor McDavid – and one of their key new acquisitions – Milan Lucic – will be side-by-side with a pair of middle stalls in the room.
Lowe suggested the room isn’t just aimed at nurturing the talent that’s already on the Oilers roster, but also to possibly attract it.
“A lot of the thought process in designing this room and this space that we have was meant to hopefully at some point try to bring some players back or bring some players to us for the first time,” he said.
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