Ritari-areena (literally the "Knight Arena"; also known as Patria-areena, Rinkelinmäen jäähalli or Hämeenlinnan jäähalli) is an
arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
in
Rinkelinmäki,
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...
,
Finland
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 ...
. It is primarily used for
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 ...
and is the home arena of the
Liiga
The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...
team
HPK
Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) is a professional ice hockey team in the Liiga, the top men's ice hockey league in Finland. Their home ice is the Ritari-areena in Hämeenlinna. HPK was established in 1929. The parent club of the team is HPK Edu ...
and the
Naisten Liiga
The Kansallinen Liiga ('National League') is the premier division of women's football in Finland. It was previously called the Jalkapallon naisten SM-sarja ('Women's Football Finnish Championship Series') during 1974 to 2006 and the Naisten Lii ...
team
HPK Kiekkonaiset
HPK Kiekkonaiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga (NSML), the premier women's ice hockey league in Finland. They are the representative women’s team of Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK), a multi-sport club in Hämeenlinna, Kanta-Häm ...
.
History
In 1963, an artificial skating rink was built in Rinkelinmäki. A building was built over the rink after it switched over as city property in 1979. Since then, the building has been called an arena. The arena project started around 1976 because of pressure from HPK. This led to the formation of a committee that was led by HPK chairman, bank manager Seppo Nenonen. The committee made a property plan based on its research, knowing that the project's expenses needed to be in the minimum for it to succeed – and success still wasn't certain. All extra spaces had to be cut out: no break rooms and no concession areas. The most important thing was, that the building would be enclosed. The situation was poor. Today, some say that when people complain publicly about the current arena, the forget about the previous times.
The arena was planned by the city architectural department led by city architect Heikki Aitola. The planners of the subsequent extension phases have been mostly building architect Seppo Ilmarinen from the city architectural department and his son, architect Petri Ilmarinen. Hämeenlinnan Jäähalli Oy, the company managing the arena, was founded on February 3, 1992. In the same year, a practice arena was finished and in 1996, the main arena was expanded based on the new requirements by
SM-liiga
The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...
. These requirements stated, that a league arena must hold at least 5,000 people. At the same time, ownership of the arena was switched to the management company.
In 2002, a two-track ice exercise center was finished. As a tribute to ten years of the arena company, the arena was renamed as ''Ritarihalli''. The arena was renovated again in 2008 to hold 5,360 spectators and also, merchandise and restaurant areas were refurbished. The arena was a venue for the
2009 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships
The 2009 IIHF World Women's Championships was held in Hämeenlinna, Finland, from April 4 to 12, 2009.
Goaltending leaders
(minimum 40% team's total ice time)
''TOI = Time on ice (minutes:seconds); GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against averag ...
, with matches being held both in the main and practice rinks.
External links
Pictures and Finnish history about the arenas – Hämeenlinnan Liikuntahallit Oy
Indoor arenas in Finland
Indoor ice hockey venues in Finland
Buildings and structures in Kanta-Häme
{{Europe-icehockey-venue-stub