It was the beginning of the end in Moncton Friday night as the Wildcats kicked off their final season of hockey in the historic Moncton Coliseum.
“That's one of the best home opener ceremonies I’ve ever been a part of,” said Wildcats head coach, Darren Rumble.
More than 5,000 fans packed into the rink for the team's last home opener before the league moves to Moncton’s new downtown arena next fall.
The Wildcats swapped out its own tributes to league championships with a salute to past teams. They brought legendary local players back on the ice before winning against the Saint John Sea Dogs six to four.
“This is an old tired rink that's got a lot of tradition and a lot of stories, and to honour everybody that's been a part of that over the years was a real nice touch,” Rumble said.
Paulette and Rick Cormier are part of the longtime rink staff who have spent more than a decade in the coliseum. They say they'll miss the friendly crowds and electric events like the Memorial Cup.
“It's been fun, and it's kind of sad to see it go somewhere else, but we enjoyed it, we had a good time,” said Paulette.
“It was pretty nice to be part of all that, but you’ve got to move on, right? Bigger and better things, tomorrow's another day,” Rick said.
Meanwhile, Moncton’s new downtown events centre is taking shape as crews continue to work on bowl seats, luxury suites, and the plaza ice surface over the next few weeks.
The new arena’sgrand opening is one year away and more than 100 workers have been on the site daily to complete the $104 million project on time and budget.
“We're going to really enjoy this year, try to do well, send this building off in good fashion and be really excited to go into the new one,” said Rumble.
The Wildcats will have 33 more home games in the building before they officially say goodbye to the historic coliseum.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Cami Kepke.
