Danbury Titans renew lease with Danbury Ice Arena

Bruce Bennett, owner of the Titans hockey team, Friday, May 6, 2016. Bruce Bennett, owner of the Titans hockey team, Friday, May 6, 2016. Photo: Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Danbury Titans renew lease with Danbury Ice Arena 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

DANBURY — Bruce Bennett is officially hanging up his car keys for a pair of hockey skates.

Bennett, the owner of Bruce Bennett Nissan in Wilton, has announced that he has given up managing the dealership and will be concentrating his efforts on the Danbury Titans hockey team that he started last year. Bennett said this week has signed a three-year lease for the team to play at the Danbury Ice Arena.

“Our goal is to put on a good show on the ice while making sure our fans feel comfortable and that they are getting value for their money,” Bennett said.

Bennett, who also operated the Brewster Bulldogs ice hockey team based out of Brewster, N.Y., last year, said he has given up that team so he can focus all of his efforts on Danbury. His son, Todd Bennett, has taken over the Nissan dealership.

Tom Devine, chairman of CityCenter Danbury, said he was thrilled that Bennett and the Titans will stay in the city, noting that the team brings more than 50,000 visitors to the downtown area each winter, feeding customers to area bars and restaurants after the games.

“Having a hockey team located in the heart of Danbury is a great economic driver for the downtown,” Devine said. “Bruce has always run a quality operation and we’re looking forward to see what he does with the Titans.”

Bennett acknowledged that the team didn’t attract the kind of fans that the former Danbury Whalers had attracted to the area, something he hopes to change in the upcoming season that starts in November. Last season the Titans averaged about 730 visitors per game.

“The response we had from sponsors last year was tremendous, but were we slipped with putting more fans in the seats; that’s what we will be really focused on this year,” he said.

Bennett, a Danbury resident, said he picked up the team less than a month before the season began last year, giving him little time to market the team and season tickets, in particular.

“Running a hockey team is a lot more work than I realized, but I love the team and I love the community,” he said. “Everyone says they really appreciate that we’ve kept a hockey team in Danbury; now we just need them to come and see a game.”

dperrefort@newstimes.com