The Development Of Indoor Ice Hockey Rinks Across North America
Hockey players are a different breed; some say they’re crazy, others will say they are just plain weird. But by growing up playing hockey in Minnesota, I can tell you; it is not like any other sport. To most people it is not even a sport, but a religion. Since the day when Hobey Baker stepped foot onto the ice for the Princeton Tigers to Sidney Crosby’s game winning goal in overtime of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, hockey has evolved.
Arguably the best addition to the sport of hockey would be the indoor rink. Hockey teams didn’t always have the resources to walk into a heated and carpeted locker room then walk a tunnel onto a sheet of ice surrounded by 10,000 screaming fans. In the past they had to work with the resources they did have and usually that consisted of finding a pond thats big enough and sitting in the snow and tying on the skates. In 1862, Victoria Ice Arena was built and was the first indoor skating rink. Located in Montreal Canada, it hosted the first ever-organized indoor ice hockey game in 1875. From there, rinks started shooting up all over the place and hockey was looked at as a whole different game.
Like the game of hockey itself, the rink has evolved from a simple brick building to huge complexes that hold 5 sheets of ice. The hockey rink is no longer just a place of sport, there are rinks all over North America that have bars, restaurants and even a few have small indoor swimming pools. When the first rinks in the 1800s came around, there were no seats. Just concrete surrounding the ice and since then rinks have evolved have stadium seating surrounding the ice. Soon after the Victoria Ice Arena opened, they added boards and glass to rinks, especially the rinks that will be primarily used for professional and college hockey teams. Currently the largest hockey rink in the NHL is the Bell Centre in Montreal that seats just fewer than 21,300. All of the rinks used in the NHL seat over 16,000 people right now.
From the very first indoor game played in 1875 to the 2010 Stanley Cup finals held at the United Center, hockey has been moving forward. Making great strides in all aspects of the game, hockey is one of the most watched sporting events come playoff time. We must thank the great names in our sport of hockey that have impacted its evolution throughout the years. From Vezina to Esposito to Willie O’ree to Wayne Gretzky, all have made a positive impact on our game in their own ways.
