How Many Rinks Have You Skated At?

[DarkStar50 679]

Looking at the pics from the Summer MSH skate got me thinking about how many rinks I have played hockey at. We did this exercise once before in the pro shop. One of the guys was sure he had played at over 100 rinks. On my list I can remember 27 rinks. That really isn't too many. If I break it down by state/province:

1. NJ 9 rinks

2. NY 8 rinks including Smith Rink, the first rink at West Point, and Tate Rink, the current rink at West Point. Smith Rink was 220' long!

3. Quebec 5 rinks including The Forum and The Bell Centre in Montreal, didn't you know I played in the NHL? JK, CCM had events there during CSGA so I'm counting my time on ice at those two rinks!

4. Ontario 4 rinks including Kingston Memorial Center and Quinte Arena in Belleville. I got into some open hockey at those rinks and it was a lot of fun.

5. Massachusetts 1 rink playing some open hockey with my older brother a long time ago.

How many rinks have you played at?

[Law Goalie 147]

You'll be glad to know the M-Centre is supposed to get a major overhaul in the next couple of years. Then again, Queen's never finished their new rink, so who knows what's going on in Kingston these days...

The old Quinte was a beauty as well. Did they still have those crazy benches with three or four stairs down from the actual bench to the door when you played there? I remember my coach (in the last game I ever played as a skater) howling at me to jump the boards: I just leaned over, turned around and said, "it's taller than I am." The bench-tops were seriously five feet off the ice - it was like the Fenway Park of Eastern Ontario arenas.

I honestly have no idea how many I've played. Between the plethora of rinks in Kingston, traveling in the old Ontario EAAA (aka ETA) and moving to the OMDHA when it folded, a pile of tournaments in Ontario, Quebec, and the northern US - and nine concussions - followed by a well-travelled beer-league life in Toronto, I have no idea. If I had to guess, I'd put it somewhere in the seventy-to-eighty range.

Obviously, the Kingston rinks hold great significance for me, but the one with the greatest imaginative resonance is the Dollard-des-Ormeaux quad-pad (which I believe was downsized to a triple) in Quebec. The Vas-Y was my first big tourney when I was a wee Novice nipper, at the end of the season when I went into the net for good. There were teams from Boston, Detroit, New York, Buffalo, even a couple from overseas. The place felt like it could contain the entire city of Kingston: had its own movie theatre, restaurants, and a collection and past and present NHLers wandering through crowds of stupefied kids and parents trying desperately to keep them from going into diabetic comas from all the cotton candy.

Great idea for a thread.

[Jarick 5]

Probably in the 30+ range, but I can't remember them all.

[RicerCaker 0]

I only started playing ice hockey this year, so I've only played in 6 Rinks, all in the Greater Toronto Area.

Canlan Ice Sports Etobicoke

Canlan Ice Sports Oakville

Iceland Mississauga

Hershey Centre

The Rinx

MasterCard Centre

Soon to add the Powerade Centre =)

[lampliter87 8]

I'll edit this when I'm not dead tired and actually want to think to count them, but I would guess somewhere around 50, not including different sheets in the same complex.

[SouthpawTRK 1]

Number of rinks that I've played hockey on: 4

Number of rinks for stick/puck: 6

Number of rinks that I've just skated on: 7

[twolinepass 0]

Roller:

Skateworld - San Jose,CA - (really crappy rink, no glass, think 70's roller rink)

Golden State skate palace (dont remember exact name)- San Jose, CA - (see above)

Inline Rink - Cupertino, CA - (Outdoor rink, played a few seasons of league but they would let us stay after and we would skate till the rink was full of dew and we could not skate without falling)

Old Rollin Ice - San Jose, CA - (Two rinks at the Santa Clara Country Fairgrounds, cool place but always hot)

Sportsplex USA - San Diego, CA - (Was part of a huge sports complex and they charged you $2.50 to enter before they got rid of hockey)

4S Ranch Roller Hockey - San Diego, CA - ( Moved here after old rink closed, this place was horrible)

New Rollin Ice - San Jose, CA - (3 rinks of awesomeness)

Ice:

Ice Center/Sharks Ice @ San Jose 0 San Jose, CA - (We have 4 sheets but I have only played on 3 of them)

I played ice for 2 years as a kid and just started again this season so thats it for ice :(

[DolomaticDangles 13]

Around 31. Im sure Ill remember many more as the night goes on...

[flyers10 57]

Not too many for me, about 11 or 12. 7 in AZ, 4 or 5 in PA.

[hockeymom 2]

Skated on? Probably only 6.

Driven to? Gosh, I've spent the last 12 years in rinks... I'll bet it is easily approaching 100, if not more. Have to think about that.

Yanno, if the kiddo Hadn't changed teams, that Mastercard Centre would've been her home ice. Drats.

[jcp2 2]

Iceland in Long Island

World's Fair Ice Arena in Queens

Skyrink at Chelsea Piers - 2 sheets

Cube in Ann Arbor - 3 sheets

Yost in Ann Arbor

Vets in Ann Arbor

Buhr Park in Ann Arbor

Mike Modano in Westland

Compuware in Plymouth

St. Mary's in Orchard Lake

Pasadena Ice Skating Center

Pond at Bryant Park, Rockefeller Center, and Trump Central Park last Christmas. Do those count? We brought our own skates.

[Krev 86]

I am definitely up in the 100's somewhere. Too tired to count right now as I'm headed to bed, but playing travel hockey for the past 10 years sent me all over the place.

[Fisticuffs 0]

In 20 minutes I could count a bit over 40 (several of which are long gone) ice hockey rinks. I'm sure if tore through some of the pictures and scoresheets that my Dad has (he coached about half of my youth hockey teams) I'd be well over 100.

Between ice and inline, I'd venture I've either refereed or played in 30 rinks in the last year.

[james12lucy 0]

I'm going to say well over 150-200 rinks (modestly).

Seriously, I've been playing 25 years, have played on over 15 different winter teams across Ontario, Quebec, and Australia, countless summer hockey teams, tournaments, etc. I never really thought about it before though. I'm not even going to try and remember them all.

[Kiernan97 0]

Too many rinks to count but ive skated in rinks all over the country but its prolly up over 100

[shoeshine boy 242]

probably around 30-ish. I've played in every rink in Atlanta where I live (yes, all 5 though we're opening a new one on Saturday!), Philips Arena, Gwinnett Arena, rinks in Charlotte, Raleigh, Tampa, Jacksonville, Huntsville, D.C., Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Charleston, Brampton, which was 4 rinks in one weekend including the Powerade Center.

I think my favorite of all of them was the Gwinnett Arena which is an ECHL arena. the ice was awesome!

[NextBobbyOrr 0]

I like this thread, brings some fun memories back.(Even thought I`m not old at all). I think I`ve got at least 30...the best rink I ever skated at was one at the SM Mall of Asia in the Philippines. Didn`t play hockey or anything, but totally cool.

[tro 4]

Playing all over Western Canada and the occasional Montana/Oregon/Wash tourney for the past 25 yrs, I would say around 100+.

That story about the effects rinks can have on your health is somewhat alarming when you think about how much time you spend in a rink, I play about 100/games a year and then go to my kids games/practices 40+/per year(but then you think about hockey and the thought passes)

[Fire0nIce228 1]

I'm up over 20.

Delmont

Belmont

Cumberland

ICOP

Harmarville

Cranberry

Castle Shannon

Wilmington Ice House

Indiana

Somerset

Southpointe

Mellon Arena

Vally Sports Complex

Neville Island

West Virginia University

Greensburg

off the top of my head..and I only played ice for 5 years or so throughout highschool and part of college.

I can see how easily someone that plays their whole life, especially on competitive teams could get into the 200+ range I'm sure. 100 - 200 I would think would be average for a lifelong player.

Pretty neat to think about :) lots of rinks..

[Captain Sane 2]

If there's a rink in SE Michigan or NW Ohio that's at least 7 years old (Joe Louis included), I've probably skated in it. Add a few here and there in other locations and I'm probably up around 20-25

[mnpucker 33]

Heck I have played in over 30 within 45 minutes of my house. Do you count rinks with multiple sheets as one? One rink near me has 8 sheets and I skate on each of those regularly. Several others have 2 and 3 sheets, all of which have different characteristics and sheet size. 1 new 2 sheet rink opening in the fall 10 minutes away. Do you count outdoor rinks, then I have skated on over 60 within 45 minutes of my house.

[DarkStar50 679]

I work in a 4 rink building. That counts as one rink. For the discussion purposes............

[Neal 41]

Growing up in Manitoba, I've skated at most of the rural southern Manitoba rinks, plus several in Winnipeg (including the arena the Jets played at, which was a huge highlight of my 11 year old life at the time). At a rough count 30-35. Plus through tournaments, I've skated at a another 6-8 in North Dakota.

As an adult I've skated all over the Twin Cities. At least 45 arenas and potentially more.

[BarDownGinos 3]

Did the beer math last night, here's what I could come up with. Might be missing some here and there. 92 Total

MA- 3

PA-1

VA/DC/MD-5

GA-1

AL-2

MI-1

IL-4

TX-9

OK-1

KS-3

NE-5

WY-3

CO-9

UT-5

MN-4

IA-8

64

Luxembourg-1

France-1

Czech Republic-1

Germany-25

28

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

50+ in the NE area. would have been to over 15 more If I was playing this season