Would you like to see Pro Hockey come back to the Atlantic City, NJ Area

Atlantic City was once home to a professional hockey team, the Boardwalk Bullies, who played their home games at Boardwalk Hall from 2001 to 2005.

Could hockey make a return to South Jersey?

A local group has been in contact with The Federal Professional Hockey League, a professional hockey league that began play in 2010-11 with six teams, with franchises located in Midwestern and Northeastern states.

The FPHL currently has 10 teams and will be expanding to 12 teams for the 2023 season. The league plays a 60-game season between October and April, with teams located in Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, and North Carolina, and is looking to expand into the northeast area.

"We've been in contact with Don Kirnan, the Commissioner of the FPHL (Federal Prospects Hockey League) for some time now., said Alan Rhoads, President of the South Jersey Ice and Athletic Center (SJIAC).

"The league would certainly love to expand to our area, but perhaps more importantly, there are at least two ownership groups that are now interested in doing so. Our organization, the SJIAC, is working hard to create a home for them."

So where would this home potentially be?

With the Flyers Skate Zone on Albany Avenue in Atlantic City's future in serious doubt,  the SJIAC vision is to design, build, operate, and maintain the future South Jersey Ice and Athletic Center to lure a team to the area outside of the city.

"From our outreach thus far, officials from Egg Harbor Township and Galloway have been incredibly supportive of our mission and vision, and for that, we, and hundreds, maybe thousands of local families, are sincerely grateful," said Rhoads

To help make this happen, the SJIAC will be announcing its first official fundraising campaign shortly and is continuing to add key members to its board, recently adding Hugh Turner, the former CFO of Borgata.

The group is working toward establishing contact with each of the prospective Bader Field developers.

For more information, we encourage everyone to check out our website at www.SJIAC.org and like and follow the South Jersey Ice & Athletic Center on Facebook.