In Wythe County, they paved a parking lot and put up a paradise.Well, a hockey paradise anyway, atop a hill overlooking Exit 77 at Interstate 81.The Blue Ridge Bobcats are back for their second year of professional hockey in Southwest Virginia, but the arena they called home in their inaugural season has a new name and a new look.The 90,000-square foot building once known as the APEX Center now goes by Hitachi Energy Arena, after the global company with a plant in Bland County signed a five-year deal in June to purchase the naming rights to the four-year-old facility.The outside of the Hitachi Energy Arena. Photo by Robert Anderson.The large red letters on the outside of the arena visible from the interstate and the newly paved parking lot are not the only major changes.Inside, to use a hockey term, the locals have lit the lamp.Wythe County officials and team owner Barry Soskin had a goal of installing permanent seats in the big building that until last summer still had a dirt floor and no ice.Now, the facility boasts 3,650 individual black, fold-down, chair-back seats that stretch on each side of the rink from the rafters to the plexiglass. There are approximately 400 seats behind one end of the ice along with a “VIP” section with tables and chairs behind the other goal.The new seating at the hockey arena in Wythe County. Photo by Robert Anderson. The new VIP seating at the hockey arena in Wythe County. Photo by Robert Anderson. The new seating at the hockey arena in Wythe County. Photo by Robert Anderson. A warning sign on the glass. Photo by Robert Anderson.The inside of the hockey arena. Photo by Robert Anderson.Returning Bobcats player Steven Ford said when fans show up for Friday night’s Federal Prospects Hockey League season opener against the Athens Rock Lobsters, the seats still might have that “new car” smell.“It’s state of the art. It’s beautiful,” Ford said. “They put a lot of time, effort and, of course, money. The citizens of Wytheville are really going to appreciate what we have on the ice and what they have here.”Stephen Ford of the Bobcats talks about the arena makeover. Video by Robert Anderson.Ford said the changes to the arena are far from just cosmetic. To the 26-year-old Dallas native, who was acquired in February from the now-defunct FPHL Elmira River Sharks, the Bobcats’ new home represents stability.“It means security,” Ford said. “It means you’re always going to have a job here if the people keep coming back to the games. When the fans are loud, screaming their heads off, it gives you this extra juice. People think that momentum is like, a joke, but really it’s a huge thing in hockey.”Wytheville’s inaugural team never established any momentum. Other than a four-game win streak in late January and early February, the Bobcats won back-to-back games on just two other occasions in their maiden voyage, finishing 16-40 overall, 9-19 at home, and placing last among six teams in the FPHL’s Continental Division with the fewest points in the league.Second-year coach Vojtech “Zemmy” Zemlicka is charged with turning things in the right direction, and with three of the Bobcats’ top five scorers, including points leader Vladislov “The Russian Rocket” Vlasov, returning in 2024-25, the outlook appears brighter.Zemlicka, a former player with the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, had more input in building this season’s roster than he did when the team was in its infancy last year.“We have a different approach to the team, to the game, this year,” Zemlicka said. “We talk about a culture, an identity, make sure everybody understands what the identity of this team is, what the fans want to see.“It’s very exciting, all the support from the around the town, the whole community, the fans, obviously getting all new seating, having all the returners coming back. We were able to recruit some new bodies, kids coming from the juniors, college or playing for Europe teams.”Ford played in two games last season for Elmira against the Bobcats before coming to Wytheville. He promised a new approach in 2024-25.“This year, it’s a lot different from last year,” Ford said. “We’re a more of a structured hockey team. Everyone’s got a brain, and it’s really good when everyone can use their brain when we’re playing. Talent-wise we’re a lot more skilled.“We’re going to be a really tough team to play against. [Opponents] are going to hate coming here. They’re going to hate coming to the Hitachi Energy Arena. They’re not going to want to play us at all. If guys get dumped, teammates are going to stick up for you. You’re going to see lots of hitting and lots of fighting. “When people come to our barn, they’re going to hate us.”The temporary aluminum bleachers in use last season now sit in the grass outside the arena.The old seats held an average home attendance of 1,294 spectators with 1,991 in the house for the season finale in April.Twelve months ago the new team — composed of Czechs, Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Canadians and Americans — was a curiosity. Now in year two, there is familiarity.Blue Ridge Bobcats merchandise. Photo by Robert Anderson.Blue Ridge Bobcats merchandise. Photo by Robert Anderson.Pocket schedules. Photo by Robert Anderson.“It’s a nice thing that everywhere we go, everyone in this town pretty much knows who the Blue Ridge Bobcats are,” Zemlicka said. “We’ve got to make sure that with the support we’re getting from the town and from the people, we’ve got to pay them back by getting some wins and bring some excitement to them.”Andrew Uturo is just happy to get paid to play hockey. The 21-year-old left winger from Grand Rapids, Michigan, skated in the Junior ranks in Canada and Pennsylvania before hooking up with the FPHL champion Binghamton (N.Y.) Black Bears in 2023-24.With four new FPHL teams this year — Athens, Monroe (Louisiana), Danville (Illinois) and Newburgh (New York) — the league held an expansion draft that also included the Bobcats, who selected Uturo.Like most of the Bobcats, he will receive a few hundred dollars to play two games per week, live in a building converted into a hockey dormitory and take bus trips as far as 1,100 miles and 14 hours to Biloxi, Mississippi, or Baton Rouge, Louisiana.And love every minute of it.The average age of the 31 players listed on the Bobcats’ roster is 25 years. Many, like 21-year-old Sotirios Karageorgos of Montreal who scored two goals in a preseason game last week, are looking to advance up the ladder perhaps to the Southern Professional Hockey League or even the East Coast Hockey League.“You’re not going to move on to the NHL, but you can always move up to the SPHL or East Coast,” Uturo said. “If you get there, you can go overseas, and that’s where you can make some real money. It’s not really about the money right now. You’re doing it for the love of the game and to keep your career going.”But how are you going to go when the wheels don’t roll?One of the 2023-24 “highlights” was a late-season trip to Columbus, Georgia, when the bus carrying the team broke down and forced an extended stay in the Peach State.“It did cost us a few days, but it honestly was one of the best things ever,” Ford said. “We all got to hang out as a team at the hotel, go experience a new city. It’s great to stay home, but traveling on the road is one of the greatest things in hockey. You get to build endless friendships and make good memories.“I’m very fortunate, very blessed from God and my family to be able to call this my job. I’m only 26. I look 36 when I take the helmet off, but I’m a young guy still. I’m really going to keep going until my body says ‘No,’ or I start a family or something like that. It’s my dream job.”Zemlicka gets paid to win hockey games while demanding maximum effort and accountability from his players. While Bobcats debuted last October with a “respectable” 5-3 loss to the visiting Mississippi Sea Wolves, steam was still coming from the head coach’s ears when he emerged from the locker room.“The guys have to understand at the end of the day it’s our job,” Zemlicka said. “We’ve got to make sure we do our job. We try to play as well as we can, but if the work ethic is not there, if the intensity is not there, then that’s when I get a little heated.”The Bobcats again have a 56-game schedule with 28 home games. They play 12 games against nearby rival and 2023-24 league runner-up Winston-Salem. Even though Blue Ridge lost 12 of 13 games, the one victory over the Thunderbirds was a memorable 2-1 triumph at home in late March.“I think the whole town was going crazy for that one,” Ford said. “I know we had too much fun that night when we beat them. Beating your rival … we cannot stand those guys. We hate them. They’re only an hour away. Every time we play them, we hate them and they hate us.“One of the first games I played against Carolina, there were more Carolina fans than Blue Ridge fans. That made us very upset.”On a nightly basis in hockey rinks across the world, those emotions boil over into fisticuffs. Uturo is happy to let others duke it out.“Last year I dropped the gloves once, and I won my fight so I’m proud to say that,” he said. “There’s some tough guys out there, and you don’t want to mess with them. We’re professional athletes, semi-pro athletes. Just to get the energy … we’ll put on a show every night.”With spectators right on top of the teams’ benches this year in the newly renovated Hitachi Energy Arena, the energy in the building could get up close and personal.“It’s going to be a very loud and enthusiastic arena,” Ford said. “Everybody is going to be pretty crazy.”Blue Ridge Bobcats scheduleOctober18 — vs. Athens (Ga.)19 — vs. Athens25 — vs. Winston-Salem (N.C.)26 — vs. Winston-SalemNovember1 — at Winston-Salem2 — at Winston-Salem8 — vs. Biloxi (Miss.)9 — vs. Biloxi15 — at Port Huron (Mich.)16 — at Port Huron22 — at Danville (Ill.)23 — at Danville29 — vs. Newburgh (N.Y.)30 — vs. NewburghDecember6 — at Athens7 — at Athens13 — at Baton Rouge (La.)14 — at Baton Rouge15 — at Baton Rouge20 — at Winston-Salem21 — vs. Winston-Salem27 — at Columbus (Ga.)28 — at Columbus31 — at Winston-SalemJanuary3 — at Baton Rouge4 — at Baton Rouge10 — vs. Danbury (Conn.)11 — vs. Danbury17 — at Winston-Salem18 — vs. Winston-Salem24 — at Monroe (La.)25 — at Monroe31 — vs. Winston-SalemFebruary1 — at Winston-Salem7 — vs. Fraser (Mich.)8 — vs. Fraser14 — at Columbus15 — at Columbus21 — vs. Athens22 — vs. Athens28 — vs. NewburghMarch1 — vs. Newburgh7 — vs. Binghamton (N.Y.)8 — vs. Binghamton9 — vs. Binghamton14 — at Newburgh15 — at Newburgh21 — vs. Baton Rouge22 — vs. Baton Rouge23 — vs. Winston-Salem28 — vs. Winston-Salem29 — at Winston-SalemApril4 — at Newburgh5 — at Newburgh11 — vs. Danville12 — vs. DanvilleThe post Wythe County’s hockey arena has a new look appeared first on Cardinal News.First published by Cardinal News.