Solar Bears CEO resignation will not affect plans for WG

ORLANDO  Jason Siegel, president and CEO of the Orlando Solar Bears -- the ECHL affiliate of the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs -- has resigned effective May 3, with chairman and majority owner Joe Haleski assuming CEO responsibilities. Siegel will retain his minority stake in the club.

Solar Bears officials said this would not alter plans to partner with the city of Winter Garden on a project near State Road 429 on East Crown Point Road that would include two ice rinks, which Siegel has been a proponent of.

The Solar Bears announced plans early last year on a 125,000-square-foot facility in Winter Garden that would be called the Orlando Hockey Center. This multi-purpose community center would include two ice rinks on 16 acres off the Plant Street exit of State Road 429.

Solar Bear games will remain at Amway Center, but players would practice in Winter Garden -- where offices also would be relocated -- instead of RDV Sportsplex in Maitland. No timeframe for the facility is set at press time.

The Solar Bears donated the final $20,000 needed to replace the turf field at West Orange High before this school year. Otherwise, either the school might have had to finance the field or start some of its fall sports seasons without a home field. Siegel said this was just one donation among hundreds of charitable endeavors the franchise has been pursuing in Central Florida.

Contact Zak Kerr at [email protected].