Good move, eh!

J's World, by Jeremiah Bartz

Earlier this month the Palmer City Council chose a site for Palmer indoor ice rink.

It's about frieken' time.

An indoor ice rink is a luxury Palmer has long deserved.

Despite a growing interest and great success of youth and prep hockey programs in the Valley, the little town bordering the Matanuska River has been without the indoor ice.

All those looking for an alternative to skating the local lakes have had to make that 10-mile trek to Wasilla and the Brett Memorial Ice Arena. And being the only sheet of indoor ice in the Valley, finding ice time at the Brett is harder than finding a Beyonce song that doesn't suck.

But now the P-town hockey peeps will be crazy in love with the Palmer City Council as they voted 4-1 to approve a piece of property near Palmer Junior Middle School as the site of the new ice rink.

The biggest winners in the long term may be the Palmer High hockey program. For years the Moose have struggled on the ice, because they struggle to keep people in the program. The lack of local ice and the lack a youth hockey program can be reasons for Palmer's small roster.

The Moose have lost students interested in hockey to their regional rivals. Players compete in the Big Lake and Wasilla-based youth competitive teams and move on to compete with the likes of Colony, Wasilla and Houston.

Other players interested in hockey do not get a chance to learn the game, because they do not get the chance to get on the ice prior to high school. Many do not have the means to travel even 10 miles to hit a daily practice.

With the new indoor ice, the door is opened for a youth program based in Palmer. And in a few years, the Moose will see not only their numbers, but checks in the win column increase.