Every rink has corners where the puck takes funny bounces and rafters that swallow sound. Ironvale Arena has both — and after sixteen seasons, our players know exactly how to use them.
The building opened in 2010 as a single-sheet community rink with bleachers for four hundred. The founders poured everything into the ice plant rather than the seats, on the theory that great ice would produce great hockey, and great hockey would eventually fill bigger stands. They were right twice over: the arena now seats six thousand, and visiting teams still complain — privately, admiringly — about how fast our surface plays.
The South Stand Wall
The 2014 expansion added the steep south stand that now defines the building. Its low roof traps noise and drops it straight onto the ice, which is why our penalty kill feeds off home games and why the "Never Back Down" chant starts there forty minutes before face-off.
"You feel the south stand in your skates before you hear it. No visiting power play survives the third period in this building."
— Marcus Hale, Captain
What's Next
This summer the club resurfaced the Olympic sheet, installed new corner glass, and opened the academy wing where junior teams now dress ten steps from the first-team room. The next chapter is a standing-room expansion for the north end — two thousand more voices, ready for the comeback years.
Doors open ninety minutes before every home game, and Saturday arena tours walk the full route: locker room, penalty box, and the best seat in the house — the top row of the south stand.
Keep Reading
Behind the Scenes
Inside the Locker Room: A Day in the Life of Our Players
Read MoreHeritage