Gatineau Olympiques get new rink, but long delay in finding solution lamentable

Soon the Gatineau Olympiques will play in an arena that's a scale model of a NHL building and could be mistaken for one of the other buildings in the league. And many will profess how much they disliked the old barn that wasn't deemed worthy of saving.

Make no mistake, the Robert Guertin Arena has outlived its useful life. There is little arguing that point. It's cramped, there have been issues with the ice during early-season and playoff games and it was probably becoming a deal-breaker for many consumers with a casual interest in junior hockey. Monday's announcement that the province of Quebec is ponying up $26.5 million Cdn for a new 4,000-seat 'Centre du Gatineau' that will open in 2015 is great news for the Olympiques and QMJHL. (That's the same amount that the city of Gatineau, Que., has also committed.) Olympiques owner Alain Sear was able to make a case for a new building without publicly threatening to move the franchise.

Sear also told Jean-François Plante that this might re-establish the 'Piques as a bigger-market franchise. Gatineau won the Memorial Cup in 1997 and added championships in 2003, '04 and '08, but recent years have been much leaner aside from an improbable run to the 2011 QMJHL final.

As Sear put it:

With that being said, it's hard not to miss the scent of new building syndrome on the part of the politicians, somewhat less so on behalf of the Olympiques. It's seen to be more impressive to point to a shiny new building built with taxpapers' money as evidence of economic progress than point out a building that was renovated at much less cost to the taxpayers.

None of this is meant to take away from the Olympiques organization's big news. Goodness knows they've been patient while for the political gears at the city and provincial level to grind ever so slowly. Sear was an honest broker, for the most part.

It just bears pointing out there was a plan three years ago that would have cost about half as much and would have essentially created a new arena within the existing building. Now building a new arena is; meantime, a lot of heritage falls by the wayside.

The Robert Guertin Arena, AKA The Bob, had charm, most of it created by Olympiques loyalists. The old building's acoustics amplified the crowd noise; the fans often seemed to react to play almost before they happened. Walking into an old arena like that also conveyed a sense of history. Call it misplaced nostalgia, but something's lost when an old rink once graced by greats such Luc Robitaille and Pat Burns closes. That could have been preserved, although it would have needed to happen much, much sooner than 2012.

In Kitchener, long-time Rangers fans get to see a NHL first-round pick such as Ryan Murphy skate on the same ice as Al MacInnis. That has value to loyal supporters if maybe not the players themselves (ask an OHL player to name his favourite road arena and nearly each one will answer London's John Labatt Centre, which opened in 2002).

Thanks to the ongoing renovation of the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, one day Rangers fans will see another NHL first-rounder skate on the same ice as Ryan Murphy. It will be a similar story for the Ottawa 67's once they return to downtown Ottawa after the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park. The arena will look different but it will still be on Bank St. where Denis Potvin and Bobby Smith played.

Those were special cases, though. The Rangers' unique financial structure as a subscribed-owned team meant they didn't need provincial money, instead the reno is being financed through loans. For the 67's, the rink renovation is tied to a greater redevelopment plan involving bringing the CFL back to Ottawa. Monday's news points out that in major junior hockey, it's always going to be out with the old when it comes to an arena solution. That's called progress but something gets lost. Maybe that only applies if you have an old soul.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.