Mile High Sticking
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Colorado Avalanche: Reaction to the Arena’s New Name

By Nadia Archuleta|
DENVER, CO - APRIL 17: Fans head for the arena as the Minnesota Wild face the Colorado Avalanche in Game One of the First Round of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center on April 17, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Wild 5-4 in overtime to take a 1-0 game advantage in the series. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 17: Fans head for the arena as the Minnesota Wild face the Colorado Avalanche in Game One of the First Round of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center on April 17, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Wild 5-4 in overtime to take a 1-0 game advantage in the series. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Colorado Avalanche owners KSE entered into a partnership and renamed the home arena. The new name can grow on you if given time.

The Colorado Avalanche — and Kroenke Sports Entertainment — have announced that they are re-naming the arena where the team plays its home games. Since it was built in 1999, the name has been the Pepsi Center, nicknamed The Can.

Now, 21 years later, the arena is being renamed Ball Arena. The renaming comes as KSE and Ball Corporation enter into a partnership.

My reaction to the renaming is the same as it is whenever the team announces something new that I didn’t see coming: Thanks, I hate it.

I’m a nostalgic sort, someone who still calls the Broncos’ home “Mile High.” I’m sure I will persist in calling the Avs’ home The Can long after everyone else gives up.

That said, I can hardly argue with the rationale behind the name change and the partnership in general. It’s a good one.

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Ball Corporation provides metal packaging for beverages, foods, and household products. Last season, they provided recyclable metal cups for the Pepsi Center. According to the corporation, their goal is to get more “infinite recyclable” metal containers into consumer hands as an initiative toward sustainability.

In their press release, Ball announced that their goal is to “advance sustainability in venues by implementing real-world solutions to the packaging waste crisis.” When you went to games at the venue formerly known as Pepsi Center last season, you would consume the beverage in your metal cup and return it to a receptacle for recycling. According to Ball, said cups can be recycled and back in use in just 60 days.

Like I said, it’s hard to argue with an initiative like that. We all know there is far too much plastic waste in our world. When you’re looking at big venues like the arena in Denver, the amount of packaging that goes into the beverages alone is staggering. The use of those recyclable metal cups can already make a big difference.

Here’s our captain, Gabriel Landeskog, and his alternate, Erik Johnson, making the announcement:

As I was watching that video, something occurred to me. Those  cups are aluminum, same as soda cans — which Ball Corporation also produces. It’s perfectly reasonable for us nostalgic fans to still call the Colorado Avalanche’s home arena The Can.

Plus, Ball Corporation is a Colorado-based company. As a native Coloradan, I love to support local.

So, my new response to the renaming of the Avs’ home arena is now, “Thanks, I love it.” And I can’t wait to get back to watching hockey in The Can.

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