Jolly Roger Sold to Devos

Following months of rumor and speculation, the WMHSH Blog has confirmed the sale of and immediate future plans for the venerable Jolly Roger ice rink. The deal closed yesterday. The buyer is one of Rich Devos' companies, reportedly MVP Sportsplex. The seller, of course is another venerable figure, Tom Reges, who built the rink in 1972. (There's a great history of the rink on the old Jolly website).

The story that I've heard from several people who were close to the deal: Last fall, Devos walked into Christian High's newly renovated football stadium, which he funded, pointed to Jolly's roof at the east end of the field, and said: "What's that." On being told it was an ice rink, the Amway founder said: "We should buy it."

Buy it he did, reportedly for a seven-figure sum. The name will remain Jolly Roger for the immediate future (that was, I'm told, one of the deal points), but the purchase leaves Jolly's long-term future in question. There will be few changes made in the final few months of this hockey season, but the new owners have indicated they will make improvements to the rink this summer, in anticipation of at least 1-2 more seasons. "There will be hockey at Jolly in 2008-09," says one local coach, whose team practices and plays there. "Beyond that, they're being pretty tight-lipped."

That doesn't necessarily mean that there won't be hockey at Jolly for many years to come. The new owners have already had an army of architects and contractors at the rink over the past few months, and no doubt they're assembling plans as we blog. It's worth noting, as one local coach told me, half-kiddingly, "Hey, [Devos] built a new gym when he had a grandkid who played basketball, and he built a new football stadium when he had a grandkid who played football...he's got at least one grandson who's a pretty good hockey player so maybe Jolly will be rebuilt."

Whether it's renovated, or torn down and then built from the ground up, some of Jolly's "charm" will no doubt be lost. Most anyone who has played youth, high school or men's league hockey in West Michigan over the years has played at Jolly. It wasn't too long ago they still had chicken wire on the boards instead of glass, and the showers (with just four shower heads) make for a "cozy" atmosphere after games.

My son, Quinn, grew up playing at Jolly for EGRAHA. My favorite all-time memory of the place comes from back when Quinn was about Squirt age. It's an early Saturday morning, and we're the first ones at the rink because I'm the team manager. Quinn goes back to the locker room to start getting dressed, and I walk in a few minutes later. The place just reeks of old-guy hockey equipment and stale beer. "This place stinks," I say. My son doesn't miss a beat: "That's the sweet smell of hockey, dad."

While the smell may not be sweet, the memories of playing at Jolly are for thousands of players. Christian High still plays its non-league games there, and they take on Hudsonville at Jolly this Saturday night. The Eagles also host three other non-league games there this season. Go check out a classic old barn before they clean it up too much.