The Des Moines Buccaneers hockey team will play their home games this upcoming season at the MidAmerican Energy Co. RecPlex in West Des Moines, the team announced Wednesday on its Facebook page.

According to the announcement, a mechanical issue has prevented the organization from preparing ice that can stand up to the rigors of an entire U.S. Hockey League season.

The Business Record reached out to the team for additional comment but did not receive a response.

The announcement comes less than two months after it was announced that negotiations between the Buccaneers and the owners of Merle Hay Mall to play in a new arena at the mall had fallen apart.

Shayne Ratcliff, generation manager of the RecPlex, said the Buccaneers first reached out to him about moving to the RecPlex about two years ago when talks with the mall stalled.

“Obviously, we don’t know at the time, so our answer was, if it ends at the mall we’re happy to talk with you. We’re not going to get in a competition with the mall. We already have our users, but if it doesn’t work, come on out and we’ll see what can happen,” Ratcliff said.

He said Buccaneers owner Mike Devlin kept in touch with him with updates on the negotiations with the mall. Then in March of this year, the Buccaneers contacted him and said talks with the mall were slowing down and inquired again about moving to the RecPlex.

“I said until we know, we don’t want to get played against the mall and we want to support youth hockey and skating throughout the community, so we said we’d have to know sooner rather than later because we’re finalizing our schedule for the next year,” Ratcliff said.

Devlin called him on July 3, the day after the end of talks with the mall became public, Ratcliff said.

The team will begin practicing at the RecPlex on Saturday. They will play an exhibition game at the RecPlex on Sept. 14 and will have their regular season opener on Oct. 4.

While the compensation package the Bucs will pay to the RecPlex is still being finalized, Ratcliff said the team will pay a per-game rate that will cover ice team for practices and games. The RecPlex will keep all revenue from concessions while the Buccaneers will keep all ticket sales.

Another provision of the deal was that the Buccaneers maintain ice at its arena in Urbandale for youth hockey programs, Ratcliff said.

“One thing we were adamant about was the Youth Hockey Association still uses Bucs Arena. Probably 30% of youth skate there because we don’t have enough ice in town,” Ratcliff said.

“So our answer to the Bucs was, ‘You need to keep ice in for the youth, at least in a limited capacity, for at least October through March.’”

The Bucs addressed that agreement in their announcement.

“While we embark on this exciting journey, we will make Buccaneers Arena operational to continue our long-lasting support of youth, high school and adult hockey as well as the skating community until it is no longer sustainable to do so,” the announcement read.

Ratcliff said few changes in the RecPlex schedule were needed to accommodate the Buccaneers. One Des Moines Oak Leafs game had to be moved two hours, and seven hours of youth time had to be shuffled around.

“It all worked so we did not have to displace any current RecPlex users,” Ratcliff said.

Any adjustments to seating in the RecPlex arena will be paid by the Buccaneers, he said.

Ratcliff said no renovations will be done to accommodate the team.

He also said that the RecPlex ice arena has capacity for up to 2,000 people and that the Buccaneers average around 1,500 people a game. The RecPlex also has enough parking — 1,200 stalls — to handle fans coming for a game.

Ratcliff did not dismiss the possibility that the RecPlex could become a permanent home for the Buccaneers.

“We are looking at other options to see what it would take to make the third sheet [of ice at the RecPlex] large enough to accommodate what the USHL needs,” he said.

The RecPlex currently has two sheets of ice: one large enough to meet USHL requirements, and a smaller one.

Leaders have been talking for more than a year about adding a third sheet to meet growing demand, and the RecPlex is getting ready to launch a fundraising campaign in the next six to eight weeks to raise between $10 million and $15 million to build it. The cost will depend on the size, Ratcliff said.

The total cost of the project would be between $30 million and $40 million, depending on the size, with other funding coming from local option sales tax and hotel/motel tax revenue, he said.

“Obviously, it’s a change,” Ratcliff said of bringing the Bucs to the RecPlex. “We’re excited to show off the RecPlex. It’s not Bucs Arena, which has been around for 45 years and is a staple in the community. We’re just trying to provide a place for everyone and continue to grow the sport of youth hockey and youth ice skating. I just think it’s a great opportunity for everyone.”