Asheville Hockey League was formed in the year 2000, originally the Asheville Inline Hockey League. The name of the league was changed in 2006. The league started in the parking lot of Salvation Station and eventually moved our league games to Tarwheels Skateway in Swannanoa, a roller skating rink.
In 2001, the rink at carrier park was built for our community and has been there since.
The rink was in carrier park for over 20 years. In October of 2024, Hurricane Helene changed the landscape of Asheville Hockey. The rivers in Asheville crested at over 30 feet, a height never seen before. The rink at carrier park sat right next to the French Broad River and at first there was hope that our rink would survive the storm.
Following the day and a half of rain from Hurricane Helene, the rink at carrier park did not survive. Water flooded the entire velodrome making it a giant swimming pool that had water levels above the fencing of the rink. Water became so high that the storage room was engulfed in water and the gas station down the road could not be seen.
What is left of the rink at Carrier Park is a skeleton. A skeleton of a place where families brought their children to practice during the week and to play games on Saturday. The rink is left unrecognizable as bleachers are washed away and the side boards are collapsed. The area is condemned, unusable with no time table for repair.
Now Asheville Hockey is without a rink and a local place to play hockey. The league will continue to look for a warehouse or a way to set up a rink for the future. At the moment, the league is temporarily playing in Greenville, South Carolina. The goal is to have a rink in Asheville by Spring of 2025.
