Elite Hockey Shooters

This page is dedicated to the rinks and hockey pictures around the world. After all, elite hockey shooters need a place to practice and a “Center Stage”.  Please send in your pictures to ron@elitehockeyshooters.com.

As I travel, I will add the rinks that I have visited or trained in personally. With the latest trips from Madison, Montreal and Detroit, the following are new additions.

The following rink is the Debraun Ice Hockey Rink

The rink below was just outside of Montreal and was where I was training. Many pros in the area frequent this rink for training.

 

The rinks themselves are pretty much standard but the weather was very hot and the ice was fantastic.

 

The gentleman that brought me out Luc Marotte’s son is an incredible goal tender and he took me to a rink where Francis was practicing at the Chateauguay Multisport rink that houses three ice rinks, one an olympic sheet.

The Olympic sheet was named after Kim St-Pierre, the towns only Olympian. She won a gold medal playing hockey for team Canada. Some great pictures on the walls commemorating her win.

 

There was a lot of history with many famous French Canadian hockey players paid tribute to in the lobby. It was an incredible setup. My photograph does not do them justice. :-)

From there Luc took me over to the Bell Centre where the Canadiens practice. Their rookie camp was in full swing.

Some more pictures, this one is of the lobby overlooking both rinks.

The rookies in training.

The Bell Centre has two in door soccer pitches opposite to the ice rinks.

From Montreal I traveled over to Windsor for three days to train and then off to Farmington Hills just outside of Detroit to train a groups of Pros, NCAA and US National team players at the Suburban Ice Center. The craziest thing about it was that there was absolutely no signage on the building at all except the address and it is where many of the Little Caesar teams practice.

The weather was very hot and the ice was fantastic.

Always love to include some other pictures of the rink as well.

And one more of the weight room which is at the end of the above lobby.

 

The following pictures were provided by Kyle Bruce.

First a little history. The Belfast Arena opened in 2000 and in sporting events can sit upwards of 11,000 people. Theo Fleury played here and Boston Bruins played the Belfast Giants in October 2010

The Braehead Arena opened in 1999 and for ice hockey games can sit 4,000 people and is host to the Braehead Clan who have played there for the past 2 seasons.

 

he Hull Arena sits only 2,000 people and is host to the Hull Stingrays.

The Fife Arena, originally Kirkcaldy Ice Arena opened in 1938 and is home to the oldest ice hockey team in the UK, the Fife Flyers. Its capacity is 3,280. You can see in the photos that the glass only covers the ends of the ice rink and only runs halfway up the offensive or defensive zones. This glass was only put in the past season so hockey was played with no glass, only a mesh netting behind the nets.

This addition was the result of a road trip with a youth team to Rockford Illinois where they played at the Riverview ICEHOUSE. What a wonderful facility built right next to the river shown in the photograph. Compliments of the City of Rockford: “Located on the banks of the beautiful Rock River in downtown Rockford, the Riverview Ice House was built in 1983 and features two skating surfaces: an 85 ft. x 200 ft. regulation size Main Rink with grandstand seating for 900 and a 60 ft. x 100 ft. instructional Studio Rink. Adjacent to the spacious lobby are a skate rental shop, concession counter and community meeting room”.

Shown below is the small training rink for the Mite and Squirt players with bleachers on the side to the left.

The main ice rink has bleachers with ample seating only on one side.

 

The following was taken on the 9 th of December at the Wisconsin Badgers / Duluth Bulldogs game in Madison. I was on a road trip teaching and thought that I would take some IPhone pics. I do apologize for the quality but what a riot.

 

The latest picture submitted by Kaleigh and is the Women`s rink at Boston University. Thanks for the pic!

The following  pictures were submitted by Jack and Tyler down in Texas playing Junior hockey the wild wild south. Love the “Rhino” country photo.

 

 

 

Submitted by John Z. of the ice hockey rink inside the birds nest shown below. Another ice rink is being built inside it this year ready for the summer of 2012.

The best looking outdoor rink on the planet…ok..in Edmonton. This was forwarded by Brad B. Thanks for the picture.

The women’s practice rink at the University of Wisconsin. What an amazing sheet of ice!

Not a rink but had to put this in. It is the University of Wisconsin Badger’s office. A lot of history! Shown in the picture is Mike Valley former UW Goal Tender and now head goaltending coach for the NHL Dallas Stars.

This is one of my favorites. RJ

The following picture was provided by Marlene C.in Minnesota. This outdoor rink was built in their backyard. Contribution is greatly appreciated!

The following pictures were taken at the Karuizawa Skate Center Ice Arena while I was assisting in a hockey school in Karuizawa Japan. The picture outdoors is of the hockey rink and public skate area with Mount Oyama in the background. I can only imagine how this must look in the winter time. RJ

 

The following rink is located in Woodbridge Illinois,  USA. I took these pictures when I was teaching. I couldn’t believe the detail in the wall murals….amazing!! RJ

This rink was submitted by a fan of outdoor rinks, this one located in New York.

 

This ice rink is very famous, Rexall Place the home of the Edmonton Oilers. I took this picture when I was at the the NHL combine testing the players with Next Testing the year that Stamkos was there. What an amazing atmosphere to see all of the retired jerseys hanging from the rafters! The lads are setting up the NHL combine.  RJ

The following pictures are of the ice rink in Hong Kong called the Red Box. The rink was built on the 4th floor of a shopping mall. Photos provided by Ken K. Madison Wisconsin. Local amateur and international teams play there. The view of the city through the side glass is amazing!

The following information was forwarded by Zac K. Wisconsin, thank you! This is where Zac plays winter tournaments. According to Wikipedia.org, the Eagle River Stadium built in 1925, which seats roughly 2,000 people, was designed by German immigrant architect and engineer Max Hanisch, Sr. and constructed by local volunteers and community residents. Constructed mainly of wood, it is the first indoor hockey arena built in the state of Wisconsin.^[1] The roof framing is a wooden lamella design, using solid-sawn timbers interconnected in a unique honeycomb pattern. The facility is affectionately referred to as “The Dome” because of its dome-like shape. It has received major renovations once, in 1963-1964, when new locker rooms, indoor plumbing, and a concession stand were added.

The arena is home to the local high school hockey team, the Northland Pines Eagles; a semi-pro hockey team, the Eagle River Falcons; and the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame.

 

The new upgrade:

While traveling and training, I try and take some arena photos when I get the chance and the University of Denver (Magness Center) is an amazing place with a real sense of NCAA history of incredible hockey and an air of Champions. I must apologize for taking the pictures with my Iphone but here they are none-the-less.

And of course the honorable mention of the small training rink in the next building.

What would the hockey world be without the rough, in the rural frozen pond where many a career got started. The following photos were compliments of the Keryluk family where it’s affectionately just called “The Pond”.

One of EHS Instructors Andrew Lord plays in Germany and he forwarded these pictures during his 2012-13 season in Garmisch.

Another rink forwarded by Andrew is the one located in Bad Tolz, home rink to their competition. Again, thanks for the addition.