A newly
opened arena in Connecticut aims to become the No. 1 spot for hockey and
athlete development in the state.
Companies EN
Hockey and Matterhorn Fit are bringing on-site skill development, performance
coaching and advanced rehabilitation to Wings Arena in Stamford, Conn., which
opened July 21.
Leading Wings
Arena is CEO Francois Magnant, who grew up in Montreal and played four years of
NCAA hockey at Yale University.
“Our vision
is to bring together top-tier resources under one roof and create an
environment where athletes – and anyone committed to health and fitness – feel
inspired to reach their full potential,” Magnant said in a news release.
The two-story
arena can fit more than 300 spectators in the rink and has off-ice training and
video rooms, skate services and a cafe. It’s also the latest facility to host
programs by EN Hockey, a hockey school that runs summer clinics in seven states.
NHL players who trained with founder Erik Nates, who played Div. 1 hockey,
include Kevin Shattenkirk, Brett Pesce, William Nylander, Trevor Zegras,
Charlie McAvoy and more.
“Wings
Arena is a launchpad,” Nates said in a statement. “It’s where players will come
to level up every aspect of their game, from skating and stickhandling to decision-making
and recovery. We’re proud to bring this vision to life in Stamford.”
Matterhorn
Fit is set to open at Wings Arena in the fall to provide neurologically based
rehabilitation and performance services to athletes by private appointment. Its
CEO, Ryan Vesce, played 19 NHL games for the San Jose Sharks, 262 AHL games,
226 KHL games and in Sweden, Switzerland and Finland.
Instead of
treating the pain, Matterhorn Fit says it scans the body to find the pain and the
compensation before implementing movements that address the root cause.
“That’s
what makes our method so different, and so effective,” Vesce said in the press
release. “We’re combining cutting-edge neuroscience with elite-level training
to help people heal faster, move better, and perform at their peak – on or off
the ice.”
In 2024-25, USA Hockey had 12,338 players register
in Connecticut, compared to 11,954 in 2023-24, 12,887 in 2022-23 and 12,729 in
2021-22. The all-time leading NHL scorer born in Connecticut is Craig Janney,
who had 751 points in 760 games between 1988 and 1999, while Max Pacioretty
(681 points), Chris Drury (615), Cam Atkinson (489) and Nick Bonino (358) round
out the top five.
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