Invicta Dynamos head coach Karl Lennon is looking forward to welcoming bigger home crowds to Planet Ice. Mos' Gillingham rink has been operating at half-capacity while fire safety measures are implemented.
A reduced sell-out crowd of 500 turned out for Sunday's 5-2 defeat by Slough Jets in NIHL Division 1 South. There's potential to double that once the arena is fully opened, which will only lift the atmosphere further.
Lennon understands the maintenance work has been completed, so Mos should get the green light any day, maybe even time for this Sunday's home game against Streatham (5.15pm). "We have a funny situation at the moment, with one side of the rink closed," said Lennon. "It was a complete sell-out on one side on Sunday, so 500-plus people, which is great, but it still doesn’t provide the same atmosphere the building used to provide when you have people all around the rink. "I think there was some work that needed to be done around the fire exits, lighting and stuff like that, which I believe has been done and they’re just waiting on the fire service to come out and sign it off. "Yes, 500 is a decent crowd, but with the performances we’ve been putting in I’d hope it would increase. "The ambition is to grow that and we’ll do that by having young, local players, that people have a connection to, and growing with our performances. "I think people realise chemistry and gelling takes time and the fans have been very supportive with me and the players. "They can see we're trying to do something not for short-term gain but for a long-term sustainable goal." Dynamos suffered back-to-back defeats last weekend, with the Slough reverse preceded by an 8-6 loss at Oxford Stars on Saturday night.