Update

From today's Arizona Daily Star editorial page:

Leaving young hockey players out in the cold

Imagine eliminating youth soccer for a couple of hundred participants. Overnight. With a big tournament coming up. That's just what happened when Polar Ice closed Friday. As many as 350 regulars used the center at 7333 E. Rosewood St. - figure skaters, an in-house league, and the 100 or or so under-18 members of the Tucson Ice Dogs team.

It's not like they can switch to a different field. This is all there is in the Tucson area. Why the rink closed remains a mystery, with the operators claiming mechanical and environmental problems and the landlord saying pshaw. A court hearing is scheduled Friday.

"If nothing works out with them, they're OK; we're up a creek without a paddle," Ian Armstrong, Ice Dogs coach, said in an interview Monday. He asked his players whether they still want to play in a multi-state tournament this weekend in Phoenix. They said yes. They might get some practice time up there.

Whoever's at fault, and however this works out, these kids deserved better.