The Orlando Solar Bears Are Out Of Hibernation and Into The Wild!

After ten years without a Hockey team, Orlando is “Out of Hibernation and Into the Wild” with the re-creation of the Orlando Solar Bears.

It all officially started in November 2011 when the ECHL, a premier “AA” hockey league, approved Orlando’s expansion Membership Application for the Orlando Solar Bears to return to the ice at the Amway Center in October 2012 in time for the ECHL’s 25th season.

The Orlando Membership is owned by Orlando Pro Hockey Operations, L.P., an entity controlled by Joe Haleski, Bob Ohrablo, and Jason Siegel.

Once the expansion was approved by the ECHL, the race was on to get the team in place and ready to take the ice in 2012.

At the Amway Center in January 2012 during the Orlando Magic vs Chicago Bulls game, the new Orlando Solar Bears logo was unveiled.

The logo features the team’s mascot “Shades” and was designed by Joe Bosack, a leading sports graphic designer, and uses the traditional teal and purple color scheme.

 

“A focus group made up of youth hockey players and coaches, past Solar Bears season ticket holders and former Solar Bears employees assisted us as we developed the marks that we will unveil tonight; in both the planning stages and with the final presentation,” said Jason Siegel, President of Orlando Pro Hockey Operations, LP.

Then on May 10, 2012, Orlando Solar Bears partners Jason Siegel, Joe Haleski and Bob Ohrablo joined Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to welcome the National Hockey League’s Minnesota Wild and the AHL Houston Aeros as affiliates for the Solar Bears as they begin their Out of Hibernation season in October 2012. The announcement was made at RDV Ice Den, the official training and practice site of the Orlando Solar Bears.

 

With Minnesota Sports and Entertainment hockey executive Jim Mill on hand for the announcement, it was an exciting afternoon!

“We want to win,” exclaimed Ohrablo. “We strongly believe that affiliating with the Wild organization will provide us with a solid core of players from which we can build a competitive and exciting team for our fans.”

It was also a really nice touch that young skaters from the RDV Ice Den were on hand to present both Minnesota Wild and Houston Aeros jerseys to executives and Mayor Dyer.

If you are as excited as we are about the Solar Bears taking the ice, there are two different types of Season Tickets available.

With the Half-Season Ticket package, priced $225 – $540, you select the 18 games, Opening Night and 17 regular season games, which you would like to attend at a savings of up to 31%. You will get the following:

  • First choice of seat location that stays the same for all of the regular season games. In addition to these games, you will also get access to both regular and playoff presales for individual game tickets before the general public.
  • Also, there will be three VIP events which you will receive invitations to as a Half-Season ticket holder. The events will be in November/December 2012 “Holiday Skate with the Players”, January/February 2013 “Winter Carnival”, and in March 2013 there will be a Year-End Awards Banquet.
  • Ticket Forwarding – An easy way to email your tickets to others
  • Dedicated Account Manager
  • Online Account Access.

With the Full-Season Ticket package, priced $380 – $1,480, you will get tickets to all 36 regular season home games and the first four home playoff games at a savings up to 42%. In addition to all of the privileges that Half-Season ticket holder receive, Full-Season ticket holders will have the opportunity to “freeze” their ticket plan price for the Solar Bear’s first three seasons (2012-2015).

If you are interested in being either a Half or Full-Season ticket holder, you can find more information here.

For more information about Orlando’s Solar Bears, you can follow them on their website, on Facebook, on Twitter @OrlandoHockey, and on YouTube.

I can tell you that I am really excited about the upcoming Orlando Solar Bear’s season, and that I can’t wait to see my first game in October!!!

 

 

 

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