Fun Read

[SirJW 207]

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/173275

[G60 0]

must be nice.

my paper's article on rinks reads like this: "only rink within 120 mile radius closing in april"

[Lester8 11]

The Angus Glen rink over in Markham is ritzy. I think the zambonis are made by Mercedes.

[All Torhs Team 0]

Wow people up there are so lucky.

Complaining about the lobbys of rinks and if the hotdogs and coffee are satisfactional.

If we could get another rink, I wouldnt mind walking through the local garbage dump to get to the hockey rink behind it!

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

I started taking some more skating lessons last week at a new rink here, only 10 minutes from my home.

Pretty cool, step out on to the ice, skake across center ice, and over the caps logo.

I take the lessons at the new caps facility in Ballston

[Thockey17 1]

I play hockey in a building for one reason, the floor/ice. I could careless what the rest of it is like as long as the surface is fine.

[hockeymom 2]

Jeez, what does it say about me that I've been in all of these arenas - and virtully all of them this year. LOL

Well I'm not all all surprised to see Canlan at VicPark on the worst list... that is a ghastly arena. It was actually banned by the OWHA at one point (before it was bought by Canlan). Understand Canlan poured a ton of money into it but you can't see any sign of it, so maybe it all went into mechanicals. The gates still don't open tho'

The rink I am surprised not to see mentioned on the worst list is Moss Park. Maybe not enough people go there, or they forgive it a multitude of sins (small ice, bad ice and poorly lit among other things) because the people who run it are so fabulous.

Or the Beach "bubble" at Ted Reeve - ridiculously COLD. Toes and fingers freeze in a game there. But it is large, well lit and great ice... so maybe being colder than it is outside is overlooked.

North Toronto is a great arena. Another one not mentioned is Forest Hills - what a gem that place is.

Interesting that more of the 4 pad arenas didn't get mentioned on either side. Anyone been out to Milton yet? That is an awesome facility!

[althoma1 574]

The Angus Glen rink over in Markham is ritzy. I think the zambonis are made by Mercedes

Yes, Angus Glen is very nice. I played pickup there several times over the summer and the rooms are nice and big, the place is clean and modern and the ice is good.

Unfortunately, I also play in a regular league at one of the arenas on the worst list (Canlan Victoria Park)...not as bad as one of my team mates though. He plays in two leagues and both facilities are on the worst lists (Canlan Vic Park and Canlan York U). Canlan Vic Park has actually improved over the last few years. The ice is still crappy most of the time and the rooms are small, but at least you can't see cement through the ice in some places anymore. I only play there because it's mutually convenient for most of the team (especially me as it's only a 10 minute drive up the DVP) and it's one of the cheaper leagues in the city, but I guess you get what you pay for.

In the summer I did play roller at Carnegie a lot so at least I do play at one of the better arenas as well...and yes, it is certainly noticably better than Vic Park, but not as upscale as Angus Glen. Neither are as conveniently located for me as Vic Park though.

[cbj05 0]

Interesting read, being from Mississauga.

I have played and watched many games in these arenas, as both my brother and I have played in the GTHL.

I have to applaud the Hershey Centre for being on the "best" list, but I think that the Iceland rinks across the street deserve credit there too. Hershey has 3 excellent rinks and of course the main bowl, and Iceland has 4 rinks, one of them being olympic-sized ice. Both arenas are very accessible, clean and the ice is really nice. Most people in Mississauga think of Hershey and Iceland as an 8-pad rink, seeing how close they are together.

When I think of classic "barn" arenas, I must say that the Port Credit Memorial Arena is one of the best. They have done excellent work to keep the arena nice while keeping it "classic". I love when you are on the ice, and you can hear the trains going by behind arena, at the far end. Dressing rooms and benches may be a bit small there, but it is still an amazing rink. I am pretty sure that the Jr. A Mississauga Chargers still play there...

If anyone is in the area this weekend, its MHL all star weekend at Port Credit, there should be some good hockey there. (my little bro's on the atom team)

Worst rink in Mississauga... Meadowvale 4 rinks, probably. Small, cold, terrible ice.

`I rate this arena a 1 out of 10. It gets a 1 for having ice.’

MARCIE GURR ON THE VAUGHAN ICEPLEX

classic. that rink is terrible.

Even those rinks that were knocked hardest are still filling the basic needs, still doing a booming business.

Such is passion that it might be fair to say that there really is no such thing as a lousy hockey rink.

Makes me think twice about "bad" rinks, i guess.

[LkptTiger 1]

Being so close to the boarder, I've played at a lot of the rinks named. It's pretty interesting to read about people commenting on concessions and things like that; when I get to a rink, the only things I really like to see are large, warm dressing rooms and hard ice.

That said, for being such a new building, the Mohawk 4 Ice Centre in Hamilton was/is absolutely awful. I played in a tournament there last season, and it was terrible. The dressing rooms were cramped, the ice on each rink was permanently wrecked after the first three or four games (I guess considering this was an exclusively Tier I Midget tournament, I shouldn't be surprised by this...) and the atmosphere wasn't exactly terrific.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

Being so close to the boarder, I've played at a lot of the rinks named. It's pretty interesting to read about people commenting on concessions and things like that; when I get to a rink, the only things I really like to see are large, warm dressing rooms and hard ice.

That said, for being such a new building, the Mohawk 4 Ice Centre in Hamilton was/is absolutely awful. I played in a tournament there last season, and it was terrible. The dressing rooms were cramped, the ice on each rink was permanently wrecked after the first three or four games (I guess considering this was an exclusively Tier I Midget tournament, I shouldn't be surprised by this...) and the atmosphere wasn't exactly terrific.

I live 2 min from that rink. They had ice troubles when it opened, but now it's awesome. They have the fast ice zambonis, which means no pucks getting stuck at the beginning of your ice time. It also has a bar and grill upstairs which is nice and a decent pro shop. All that being said the only time I like to play there is shinny. Otherwise I hate it, it feels cramped on the ice in games. Chedoke is def. the best arena in Hamilton. What tournament did you play in last year? What team?

[--notorious 0]

sportsvillage is alright because its close, but i love double rinks for one reason, me and my friends pay 7.50 and can play shinny for 4 hours + by ourselves on our own rink at that is worth it.

[warheart45 0]

I don't even care that Meadowvale 4 rinks is crap. It's what's close and I play pickup there and the price is reasonable. Ice is ice.