The wait is over — hockey is back in Belleville.
After playing their first nine games on the road, the Belleville Senators hosted the Syracuse Crunch in a historic first game at the newly renovated and expanded Yardmen Arena.
“A year ago, I came to this community, and take a look at this — take a look at this,” Roger Lajoie, Senators vice-president of communications, said of the arena’s transformation.
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More than 4,500 fans packed the Yardmen to welcome the new “Baby Sens” team, brought in from Binghamton, N.Y., as they defeated Syracuse Crunch 4-3 in a shootout.
Tickets for a two-game weekend series against the Charlotte Checkers are close to selling out, which is a good sign for the city and the franchise after more than $20 million was put into renovating the aging facility.
READ MORE: Belleville hockey fans ready to pack Yardmen arena more than two years after Bulls departure
“This was a beautiful place that needed hockey. And like many cities across Ontario — actually, all across Canada — Belleville deserved hockey,” said Senators owner Eugene Melnyk.
“We always thought that it would be a success here,” he added.
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