Page 6 - BusinessWest October 26, 2020
P. 6

  Nate Costa, president of the Thunderbirds
A Season on Ice
Amid Endless Questions and Challenges, Thunderbirds Plan for the Future
TBy George O’Brien
he wall opposite Nate Costa’s desk is covered in a wrap depicting action from the American Hockey League (AHL) All-Star Classic, played at the
MassMutual Center in January 2019 — probably the high point of the five-year re-emergence, and renaissance, of profes- sional hockey in Springfield.
Costa pointed toward that wall several times as he tried to explain just how the Springfield Thunderbirds, which he serves as president, might place spectators so they
are at least six feet apart — if, and it’s mighty big if, the governor, the city, and whoever else might need to sign off on such a plan gives the proverbial green light. And he also pointed while talking about the many sub- tleties and challenges that go into such an exercise.
“It’s almost like a puzzle,” he explained. “We have 6,700 seats, and our season-ticket holders are typically jammed into the best seats. All our center-ice seats are completely taken ... so what do you do in a six-foot dis- tancing model? — everyone can’t get the seat they would normally want to have, and that’s just one of the challenges.”
As he talked with BusinessWest on Oct.
15, five days after the 2020-21 season was supposed to start, Costa acknowledged that trying to put together this puzzle is just one of the myriad questions and challenges he and a now considerably smaller staff are working to address.
Indeed, Costa admitted he has no real idea if or when he might be able to put such a plan into action. In reality, he has no idea when or under what circumstances hockey might again be played on Main Street. He was told in July by the National Hockey League, parent to the AHL, that games might be able to commence by early December, but he’s very doubtful about that date.
He believes January or even February is
 6 OCTOBER 26, 2020
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