Team president locked out, day after speaking out on arena’s closure

A longtime team official in Manitoba’s hockey community says he’s being punished by the City of Winnipeg for speaking out about the poor condition of one of its rinks.

Barry Bonni, president of the River East Royal Knights, has occupied an office at Terry Sawchuk Memorial Arena for more than four decades.

On Friday, he was locked out.

“They’re on the war path,” Bonni said.

Earlier this week, the city announced it was shuttering the arena for the season due to structural issues found by inspectors, derailing the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League club’s home games.

Hours after saying city staff “dragged their feet” on getting the arena inspected and repaired, and showcasing the empty rink to media, Bonni said the locks to the building had been changed.

The former coach, who called himself a prompt-paying and loyal tenant of the barn, said the move was “nonsense,” and he’s now in the midst of moving half a century of hockey history out of the space.

“I’ve been (part of) a loyal and main user group in that building for 45 years and I’ve never given them a reason for them to lock me out,” he said. “In fact, through the years, whenever they did change the locks, they always gave me a key.”

He said he’d received calls about why the arena was closed and he wanted to ensure people had insight into the issue.

Inside the rink, there was no active construction, no barriers or signage in place and no signs of work underway.

“I’ve been (part of) a loyal and main user group in that building for 45 years and I’ve never given them a reason for them to lock me out,” he said. “In fact, through the years, whenever they did change the locks, they always gave me a key.”

Bonni said when the arena was closed in the past, including last fall, he didn’t lose access to his office.

And while he had to clean out his office sooner rather than later — Bonni owned the team for decades and recently sold it to a former player — he said he didn’t expect to be forced out.

An interview request with a representative from the city was not accommodated Friday, but in an emailed statement, a spokesperson said changing the locks is something “we must do for safety.”

“We are working with our consultant to determine which parts of the arena remain safe to access and what sort of corrective action must be done for repair,” the statement said. “Any user groups that require access to remove equipment should make arrangements directly with their city contact.”

The city said in another statement the move was not intended to be punitive.

“We do apologize for the inconvenience Mr. Bonni is experiencing. That said, while work is underway to determine the scale of repairs required we are limiting access out of an abundance of caution.”

The executive director of Hockey Winnipeg called the news disappointing.

“It’s people like Barry Bonni and volunteers and contributors who have built the programs, the organizations and the associations that we have today,” said Ian McArton. “Without people like him and people like them in that generation, our hockey program wouldn’t exist like it does now.”

The city said earlier this week inspectors found structural issues with the wooden beams that stretch across the Terry Sawchuk arena and over the rink. The rink at the West Kildonan Memorial Community Centre also requires repairs and was closed for the season, leaving hundreds of players in the Seven Oaks Minor Hockey Association in a lurch.

“It’s unfortunate if it’s a result of trying to shed light on… a significant issue with the closure of the rink,” said Christian Taylor, the association’s vice-president. “It’s concerning that something like that would happen.”

Taylor said it’s important people are able to talk openly about the issues facing area rinks without punishment.

“People ultimately want to see these city facilities open, accessible and usable and if they’re not in a place where they can be opened, the community should know and be aware of why these closures are occurring,” he said.

The city said it was working with teams to provide alternate ice.

“We are also working directly with the Royal Knights to relocate their storage and office contents,” a statement said.

The new owner of the Royal Knights, Manny Minuk, said Bonni deserves a better ending to his hockey career.

“This was supposed to be a special season for Barry Bonni. As a Manitoba Hockey Hall of Famer who has dedicated so much of his life to the game, this team, and this arena, this is his final year in hockey, and I wanted nothing more than to make it a memorable one for him. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond our control have taken away much of what we had hoped for. It’s incredibly disappointing, and quite frankly, I don’t think it’s fair.”

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca