Back in 2005, when I was working as a sports reporter/anchor at KIVI-TV, I remember getting a handful of phone calls from concerned fans when the Bank of America Centre changed its name to Qwest Arena.

“So,” the calls generally began. “Where is this new arena where the hockey team will be playing?”

Fast forward to August 2011, where I figure it’s time to cut this one off before anyone asks:

We’re playing in the same building as always. Same locker rooms, same concourses, same zamboni tunnel, same address. Same great experience, brand-new name for the building that houses it.

Welcome to CenturyLink Arena Boise.

Here’s a question I have been asked – why did we change the name of the building?

Simple. CenturyLink purchased Qwest Communications. Thus, Qwest doesn’t exist any more and all the contracts and commitments that Qwest had in the community have been taken on by CenturyLink. From a business standpoint, it doesn’t make sense to pay for the naming rights to a building and leave a defunct name on the building itself.

Hence, the switch from Qwest to CenturyLink.

I know getting used to a new name can be a pain in the you-know-what. After all, I was the one who screwed it up in front of about 250 people at the re-naming luncheon on Thursday. Always a good thing to do in front of the corporate bigwhigs who flew in to be at the luncheon. Oops.

Felt so dumb that I think I apologized to everyone, including the woman running the hot dog stand on Main Street.

From the fan’s standpoint, about the only thing that will change is the logo on your tickets. Instead of the Qwest logo, it’ll be the CenturyLink logo. Virtually nothing else will change.

The way I figure it is it was time for a name change anyway. When Idaho won the Kelly Cup title in 2004, they did so on the Bank of America Centre ice. The run to the 2007 Kelly Cup included a ton of fantastic memories at Qwest Arena. So, you see … if this team wants to put its name on the ECHL’s championship cup for a third time, a venue name-change was necessary.

It wasn’t Tyler Spurgeon’s injury, it wasn’t Richard Bachman’s recall to the American Hockey League. Idaho lost the 2010 Kelly Cup finals against Cincinnati because the name of the arena hadn’t been updated.

Now that we’ve rectified that mistake, we can move on to filling the roster and gearing up for the inevitable third ECHL title. More news on players coming soon as head coach Hardy Sauter gets his squad set for the upcoming season.

Opening night is October 14 in Utah. Home-opener is Saturday night, October 15, here at Qwe … uh … CenturyLink Arena Boise!