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The Cardiff Arena, also known as Cardiff Bay Ice Arena and also known by
The last game in the Cardiff Arena was played against Coventry Blaze on 27 February 2016. The first game in Ice Arena Wales was against the Belfast Giants on 12 March 2016.
In Summer 2016, the rink was dismantled. The wooden frame was moved to Leeds where it will be upgraded to form part of the new ice rink located on Elland Road, yards away from
The Cardiff Arena, also known as Cardiff Bay Ice Arena and also known by ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
fans as the Big Blue Tent, was a temporary ice rink
An ice rink (or ice skating 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 ...
in Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of w ...
, Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. It had a capacity of 2,500 for ice hockey and was home to the Cardiff Devils
The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh ice hockey team who play in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. The team play at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay.
Cardiff are the reigning EIHL play-off champions, winning their third title in a row after beating ...
after leaving the Wales National Ice Rink
The Wales National Ice Rink (WNIR) was an ice rink in Cardiff, Wales. It was the former home of the Cardiff Devils ice hockey team. The WNIR was opened in September 1986, and was inaugurated by the Duchess of York on 27 April 1987. Meat Loaf perfo ...
which was being demolished to make way for a John Lewis store.
It was also used for figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
and hosted three competitions (in February 2009, 2011 and 2012). It was replaced as the home of the Cardiff Devils when they moved into the Ice Arena Wales.
History
Construction, opening
The ice rink was a prefabricated structure constructed inFinland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. Assembly began in 2006 and after a number of delays opened on 6 December 2006 when the Devils hosted the Manchester Phoenix (who, coincidentally, were also waiting for a similar venue to be completed) in an Elite Ice Hockey League
The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to as the British Elite League or, for sponsorship reasons, the Viaplay Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey ...
fixture. The Devils won the game 7-4 while Manchester's Tony Hand became the first player to score a goal at the rink.
Closure
The last game in the Cardiff Arena was played against Coventry Blaze on 27 February 2016. The first game in Ice Arena Wales was against the Belfast Giants on 12 March 2016.
In Summer 2016, the rink was dismantled. The wooden frame was moved to Leeds where it will be upgraded to form part of the new ice rink located on Elland Road, yards away from Leeds United Football Club
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
. The upgrade will consist of new walls and an extension at the non-seated end of the rink which will include a bar and cafe over two floors. The stairs to the seating area have also been moved to the back in order to improve sightlines.
See also
* Sport in CardiffReferences
External links
* * {{Sport in Cardiff Defunct sports venues in Wales Indoor ice hockey venues in Wales Sports venues completed in 2006 Sports venues demolished in 2016 Demolished buildings and structures in Wales