The Vancouver Giants could soon be playing out of the Langley Events Centre.
Sources have confirmed that preliminary talks are underway between the major junior hockey club and the LEC about the Western Hockey League team playing its home games out of the LEC next season.
The Giants currently play out of the Pacific Coliseum.
Vancouver has seen its average attendance drop in recent years as the club has struggled on the ice. In 2014/15, average attendance for the Giants was 5,815 according to hockeyDB.com. That number was still good for fifth in the 22-team league, but it was down from 6,266 the season before.
The LEC seats 5,276.
The ice rink portion of the facility already houses several teams, including the National Lacrosse League’s Vancouver Stealth, the B.C. Hockey League’s Langley Rivermen, the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League’s Valley West Hawks and the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League’s Trinity Western Spartans.
The Giants played a pre-season game at the LEC last September and the team also temporarily relocated to the facility in 2010 when Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympic Games, drawing huge crowds for all six games in Langley.
It is believed that the Giants are eventually hoping to relocate to a new facility in Surrey, with SkyTrain access, but plans to build a 5,000 spectator arena in North Surrey were shelved last month.
— with files from Kevin Diakiw/Black Press