Technical glitch causes delay of game

By Dale Woodard on October 29, 2021.

Some technical glitches at last Saturday’s Western Hockey League game between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Prince Albert Raiders at the Enmax Centre caused a delay of game for some fans looking to get into the venue.
The Enmax Centre experienced technical difficulties prior to doors opening at 6 p.m. and did not have consistent wireless internet in the venue. 
As a result, the ticket scanners were not working, causing a lineup at the entry doors. 
As well, the Canadian Western Bank Lounge was backed up because orders were not able to be processed and Top Shelf was not able to accept credit or debit transactions. 
“Last Saturday night we encountered a number of problems in the building,” said Terry Huisman, general manager of business operations for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. “It’s the first time anything like that has ever happened. We had a total malfunction of technical difficulties with our Wifi and as a result it affected many ways in the way this building operates. It created long wait times and poor service and the ability to operate the way we’re used to.”
Huisman said they had reached out to their provider and have been assured everything is up and running. 
“However, that obviously didn’t help the night of the game when we had the issues we had.”
Huisman added the Hurricanes have heard some fans feel the difficulties and challenges experienced this year might have to do with checking for vaccinations.
“We just want to assure them that’s not the case,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the technical difficulties, we feel we would have been able to move the people into the building very quickly. It improves every game. We’re taking a number of precautions to ensure people’s safety coming into the building.”
Kim Gallucci, general manager of the Enmax Centre, said the Wifi problems disrupted the venue’s entire system, including scanning at the door, media and food service. 
“Just because everything runs on connectivity throughout our facility because we have to move things around in different locations,” he said. “We were able to get people in, but not without causing lineups and delaying people both getting into the lounge and getting into the building. For that, we sincerely apologize to all those patrons who were impacted on behalf of the Enmax Centre.”
Gallucci said the Enmax Centre is working to mitigate technical malfunctions in the future. 
“We have some backup plans already in place. We did have some, but not to the degree we required because I don’t believe we’ve had a full scale Wifi wipeout before.”
Gallucci added the Enmax Centre is setting up contingency plans, both in the lounge and front of the building.
“So if we do lose our Wifi we can quickly flip our systems over in some cases to cellular service and in other cases we’ll just move to more of a manual format that moves people through quicker. There should be far less disruptions in the future for something of that nature.”
Another option will soon be the QR codes, said Gallucci.
“You can still use your normal ID or your normal card you printed originally from the government, and now if you want to go the QR option you can do that as well. We’ll try to keep those lines moving as quickly as we can, but we’re employing more manpower to ensure it’s done quickly and efficiently.”
As the Hurricanes get ready to host the Saskatoon Blades tonight and the Winnipeg Ice Saturday, Gallucci said the Enmax Centre will be adding self-scanning ticket kiosks, giving ticket buyers less contact with the staff. 
“They can just scan their own ticket and through the course of the next few months we’ll add more items that make it a very safe building.
“We’ve also added our new filtration system, which is approved by Alberta Health Services. We have a better way of operating for ventilation. It improves our air quality considerably. We’re becoming more and more of a safe building for people and they should feel comfortable any time.”

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