our story
Suburban Sports Group (SSG) was founded in 1974 as a summer hockey school program (originally known as West Suburban Hockey Schools). Throughout the 1980’s, it expanded to operate in three metro-Detroit locations; Dearborn, St. Clair Shores and Southgate. Over the past 50 years SSG has grown to become an industry leader in ice sport management and athlete development, delivering best in class results in facility operations, programming, communications, education and training. Current divisions/brands include Suburban Arena Management, Suburban Ice, Suburban Hockey, Suburban Hockey School, Suburban Skating School, HoneyBaked Hockey, the Athlete Lab and the Athlete Academy.
SSG launched Michigan Hockey Magazine (later changed to MiHockey.com) in 1990, which grew to become the region’s largest read and circulated hockey publication focusing its editorial on the state of Michigan’s vibrant hockey scene. The brand became well-known for its dedication to the growth and promotion of amateur hockey and especially for its highly regarded MiHockey Banquet of Champions, an annual event that brought together the amateur hockey community throughout the state to honor championship teams at every level.
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In 1997 the company formed Suburban Arena Management as it entered the ice arena development and management business, by retrofitting a former tennis facility into a two-sheet ice arena, opening the Suburban Training Center (now known as Suburban Ice – Farmington Hills), in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Since that time, the company has enjoyed incredible growth and success and has developed into one of the most respected ice arena management and consulting firms in the country, managing a portfolio of properties that include the Novi Ice Arena (since 1999), the John Lindell Ice Arena of Royal Oak (since 2011) and four company owned facilities, Suburban Ice Farmington Hills (1998), Suburban Ice Rochester (1999), Suburban Ice Macomb (2005) and Suburban Ice East Lansing (2004/sold in 2023).
Suburban is best known for its market-leading initiatives in operating hockey and figure skating programs that are tailored to meet the needs of both the local community and the highly competitive athlete. Our Suburban Skating School has been recognized as the largest Learn to Skate program in the country in 2020, 2021 & 2022. SSG-operated amateur hockey clubs annually are among the largest and most competitive in their markets and the internationally acclaimed HoneyBaked Hockey Club is well-known for its highly competitive teams and player development and advancement. Several Stanley Cup champions, Olympic champions and college athletes have established the Gold Standard known as HoneyBaked Hockey.
Most recently, SSG opened the Athlete Lab (2021), an athlete performance and sports science facility dedicated to training serious athletes striving to reach their peak performance levels. The company is currently launching the Athlete Academy, which is focused on preparing athletes to win in life and sports. The academy offers a curriculum for highly driven high-school aged athletes with an emphasis on developing a premier standard of mental and physical performance training, leadership abilities and life skills.
The company has always maintained a commitment to the game, its growth and helping people enjoy it. As part of that longtime commitment, the Suburban Hockey Foundation was launched in 2022, dedicated to providing financial support assistance to hockey families and programs in need.
