History
The current Swonder Ice Arena opened in October 2002 and replaced the older Swonder Ice Rink. Current seating capacity for spectators is 1,500 - approximately 1,000 in the primary (west) rink and approximately 500 in the secondary (east) rink.
Swonder was formerly the home of a professional minor league ice hockey team, the Evansville IceMen of the Central Hockey League, which moved to the new Ford Center in 2011 while continuing to practice at Swonder. Swonder was also home to the Rollergirls of Southern Indiana from 2007 to 2012 and local high school and youth hockey teams also compete throughout the winter.
In January 2012, the Evansville Rage of the Continental Indoor Football League moved to Swonder due to large ticket requests.
Swonder is also home to the local Indiana State High School Hockey League team, the Evansville Thunder.
In 2010, Swonder formed the first theatre on ice team in Indiana. River City Ice Theatre competed at the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Theater on Ice National Competition in Strongsville, OH where they received a second place award out of 37 teams for best original theme/story. In 2012, River City Ice Theatre was adopted by the Greater Evansville Figure Skating Club and became a 501(c)3 organization.
From 2015 to 2019, the junior ice hockey team, the Evansville Jr. Thunderbolts of the North American 3 Hockey League, played home games at Swonder.
3M Arena at Mariucci is the home arena for the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey team of the University of Minnesota. The arena is located on the Minneapolis campus and seats approximately 10,000 fans. The arena opened in 1993 and is named after John Mariucci, the longtime Gopher coach who is considered the "godfather of Minnesota hockey." Under the gate is a quote from Mariucci: "Through these gates walk the greatest fans in college hockey." The ice sheet was Olympic sized from 1993 to 2023, when construction began on reducing the rink floor size. The women's ice hockey team played at Mariucci from 1997 until 2002 when they moved to Ridder Arena, which is connected to Mariucci via a tunnel.
An ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ice skating during the 1800s marked a rise in the deliberate construction of ice rinks in numerous areas of the world.
The ImOn Ice Arena is a 3,850-seat multipurpose arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, located adjacent to Veterans Memorial Stadium. The arena opened on January 8, 2000, and is owned by the city of Cedar Rapids. It is home to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League as well as several local youth hockey teams. The University of Iowa Hawkeyes club hockey team plays some of their home games at the facility. The arena contains separate sheets of ice for ice hockey games and for public and figure ice skating. ImOn Communications purchased naming rights to the arena from the city through 2024.
Peaks Ice Arena is an indoor ice hockey and figure skating arena in Provo, Utah, located 43 miles (69 km) south of Salt Lake City. Along with the Maverik Center in West Valley City, it was built as an ice hockey and figure skating practice venue for the 2002 Winter Olympics. It currently serves as the home of the Utah Valley University men’s ice hockey team, Peaks Youth Hockey Association, several high school teams, the Peaks Figure Skating Club, and a Learn-to-Skate USA program for beginning skaters of all ages.
The Ice Sports Forum is the official practice facility of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Stanley Cup in 2004, 2020, 2021. The facility contains two NHL regulation rinks and a state-of-the-art laser tag arena. It is located in Brandon, Florida. The ISF opened in the fall of 1997.
The Skating Club of Boston is a not-for-profit figure skating club based in Norwood, Massachusetts. Founded in 1912, it is one of the oldest skating clubs in the United States, and a founding member of U.S. Figure Skating, the governing body for the sport in the United States. The Club's mission is to advance participation, education and excellence in skating for people of all ages, abilities and means. The Club has over 800 active members and offers a variety of programs for the public, reaching another 2,000 children and adults. The club built its own rink in Brighton, Massachusetts in 1938 and remained there until moving to the Norwood facility in 2020. In addition, in a public private partnership with the City of Boston's Parks & Recreation Department, the Club manages the programming and facilities for The Frog Pond located at Boston Common on a year-round basis.
The Soldotna Regional Sports Complex is a 2,000-seat multipurpose arena located in Soldotna, Alaska. The arena opened in 1983. In the winter months, the facility is home to several central Kenai Peninsula high school hockey teams, fighting competitions and the soldotna figure skating team while in the summer the facility hosts numerous local home builders, sports recreation and trading, car, and snowmachine shows, among other events.
Planet Ice Arena Milton Keynes is a 2,800-capacity multi-purpose ice rink/hockey rink located in Milton Keynes, England, as part of the Leisure Plaza complex.
The Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion is an ice arena in Syracuse, New York. Named for donors Marilyn and Bill Tennity, the facility opened in October 2000 for the use of Syracuse University students. The facility is the home of Syracuse University's ACHA Division I men's hockey team competing in the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League, and new NCAA Division I women's program playing in the College Hockey America conference. The Ice Pavilion is also used for intramural hockey and broomball leagues, as well as Syracuse University physical education classes. The new women's hockey team locker room was designed by QPK Design.
The Richard J. Codey Arena at South Mountain is an ice hockey and ice skating arena in West Orange, New Jersey as part of the South Mountain Recreation Complex. The arena is named for former Governor of New Jersey Richard Codey. The Codey Arena is owned and operated by the Essex County Department of Park, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs.
Hamilton Community Center & Ice Arena, formerly named Hamilton Ice Arena, is a year-round indoor arena and recreational sport facility in Columbus, Indiana. It features one NHL size sheet of ice for hockey, figure skating, speed skating, broomball, and open skating and one studio size sheet of ice, totalling 17,000 square feet (1,600 m2) of ice. Originally an outdoor facility, Hamilton Ice Arena was designed by Harry Weese and built in 1958.
Wentzville Ice Arena is an arena and recreational sport facility located in Wentzville, Missouri and owned and operated by the City of Wentzville Parks & Recreation Department. It served as the home for LU Lindenwood Lions Men's and Women's ice hockey teams and LU synchronized skating team until relocating to the newly built Centene Community Ice Center.
The University of Illinois Ice Arena, also known as the Big Pond, is an ice arena and recreational sports facility in Champaign, Illinois, and owned and operated by the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. The arena is the home for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's and women's college ice hockey teams competing in the American Collegiate Hockey Association. The men's ice hockey team competes at the ACHA Division I level as a member of the Central States Collegiate Hockey League and the women's team competes independently. Illinois also has an ACHA Division II team that plays in the Mid American Collegiate Hockey Association. Additionally, the facility is the home of the Illinois synchronized skating Team, the Illinois Intercollegiate Figure Skating Team and several skating clubs such as the Champaign Regional Speed Skating Club, Ice Cubes Youth Synchronized Skating and the Champaign-Urbana Youth Hockey Association.
Ames/ISU Ice Arena is an ice arena and recreational sport facility located in Ames, Iowa and owned and operated by Ames Parks & Rec Department and Iowa State University. The Ames / ISU Ice Arena is home to the Iowa State University Cyclones Men’s and Women's Hockey Teams, ISU Synchronized Skating Team. The ISU Men's Hockey Team competes at the ACHA Division I level in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League, in addition an auxiliary team competes at the ACHA D II level as members of the North Central Collegiate Hockey Association. ISU Women's Hockey competes as an independent team in the ACHA Women's Division II level.
The Northtown Center at Amherst, formerly the Amherst Ice Center and the Amherst Pepsi Center, is a 1,800-seat multipurpose arena in Amherst, New York, located adjacent to the University at Buffalo. The current sponsor is Northtown Auto, a Buffalo area chain of auto dealerships. The ice arena features NHL regulation-sized ice sheets as well as an Olympic-sized ice sheet, which is also capable of hosting sledge hockey. The main ice arena has a capacity of 1,800 with the other rinks having less capacity. The facility will melt the ice of one rink in the summer to create a roller hockey rink, sports training facility, restaurant, and pro shop.
The Penn State Ice Pavilion was a 1,350-seat ice arena on the campus of The Pennsylvania State University located in University Park, Pennsylvania, United States. The ice arena included an NHL regulation sized 200' x 85' ice sheet as well as a 45' x 55' studio ice sheet.
The Super Rink at National Sports Center is a 300,000-square-foot (28,000 m2) ice rink facility that features eight sheets of ice and is the largest ice arena complex in the world. It is located on the National Sports Center campus in Blaine, Minnesota, a northern suburb of Minneapolis – Saint Paul.
Bonnie Castle Recreation Center is an ice rink facility in Alexandria Bay, New York. It features an NHL sized sheet of ice for hockey, figure skating, and open skating. Located just three miles from Bonnie Castle Year Round Resort.
The Franklin P. Nelson Recreation Center is a 2,100-seat multi purpose ice arena and recreational facility located in Springfield, Illinois. The ice arena has two NHL regulation-sized ice sheets.
The Evansville IceMen were a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL in Evansville, Indiana. The franchise was originally a member of the United Hockey League before it merged into the Central Hockey League in 2010. The franchise has won four post-season championship titles in the UHL in 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2005. The franchise played one season at Swonder Ice Arena before moving to the Ford Center beginning in the 2011–12 season.
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