The Icehouse (also currently known as O'Brien Icehouse due to

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

) is an Australian

ice sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold area ...

and entertainment centre, located in the Docklands precinct of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

.National Ice Sports Centre
– Department of Planning and Community Development,

Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...

. Retrieved 2010-04-01 It is open to the public 7 days a week and offers an extensive range of educational ice-skating classes for customers, as well as pathways to ice sports.

Facilities

During construction of the Icehouse, it was known as the National Ice Sports Centre. Home of the

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) is an Olympic & federal government-funded elite sports training institution of Australia for the purpose of training athletes and coaches in sports involved in the Winter Olympics. The Australian ...

, it contains two Olympic-sized

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 ...

s and a specialist winter sports

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

. Rink 1, which features stadium seating and fully glassed boards suitable for ice hockey, is known as the Henke Rink, named in honour of Australian ice sports champion

Geoffrey Henke Geoffrey "Geoff" John Henke, AO is a former Australian ice hockey player and Australian Olympic Committee official. He was the chef de mission of the Australian Winter Olympic delegations from 1976 until 1994, and is credited with ending the neg ...

AO. Rink 2, used mostly for public skating, is named the Bradbury Rink, after the Bradbury family – the most well-known member,

Steven Bradbury Steven John Bradbury OAM (born 14 October 1973) is an Australian former short track speed skater and four-time Olympian. He won the 1,000 m event at the 2002 Winter Olympics after all of his opponents were involved in a last-corner pile-u ...

, was a short-track speedskater who won the 1,000m gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and his father John along with brother Warren were both also heavily involved in ice sports. The rink is home to both Victorian-based

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 ...

teams competing in the

Australian Ice Hockey League The Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) is Australia's top-level ice hockey league. Established in 2000, the AIHL is sanctioned by Ice Hockey Australia (a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation). The league is run by its own board of ...

, the

Melbourne Ice The Melbourne Ice is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Melbourne, Victoria, based at the Icehouse in the Docklands precinct of central Melbourne. Founded in 2000, the Ice have been a member of the Australian Ice Hockey Leag ...

and

Melbourne Mustangs The Melbourne Mustangs (formally ''Mustangs IHC'') is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Melbourne, Victoria. Formed in 2010, the Mustangs have been a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) since 2011. The Mustangs a ...

. The Icehouse has a capacity of 1,500 people and its facilities include a pro shop, The St Moritz Bar, and the Igloo Café. 3 April 2019, the O’Brien Group announced the completion of upgrades to their Melbourne stadium including 1,361 solar panels, two 80,000-litre water tanks, and an environmentally-friendly heating system. The new facilities would generate 400Kw of power, providing a 25% savings on the stadium’s power bill. To mark the completion of the new upgrades the stadium was renamed O’Brien Icehouse, invoking and recognising the stadium’s original name.

Events

Since opening in February 2010, the Icehouse has played host to many events. As well as hosting all home games of

and

in the AIHL (Australian Ice Hockey League), it also held the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

AIHL

Goodall Cup The Goodall Cup is a perpetual trophy that is, currently, annually awarded to the playoff champions of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). The trophy is named after Australian born player John Edwin Goodall who originally donated the cup. ...

finals weekends. Both Melbourne AIHL teams have won the Goodall Cup at the Icehouse. In April 2011 the Icehouse hosted the

2011 IIHF World Championship Division II The 2011 IIHF World Championship Division II were international Ice Hockey tournaments run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Group A was contested from 4–10 April 2011 in Melbourne, Australia and Group B was contested from 10 to 16 ...

. Team Australia won the championship playing against Belgium, Mexico, New Zealand, and Serbia. Other events that have been held here include the 2010 Australian Figure Skating Championships, National Speed Skating Championships, Victorian Figure Skating Championships and an annual Christmas Show. In February 2012 the Henke Rink was transformed from a hockey rink to a world-class short track rink that hosted the

2012 World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships The 2012 World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships took place between 24 and 26 February in Melbourne, Australia at the Medibank Icehouse. This is the first time which the Championship was held during the summer and in the Southern Hemi ...

. This saw skaters aged 19 years and under traveling from over 30 countries to compete in the 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, 1500 meters super final, and a team effort in the 3000 meters relay. Three junior world records were broken during this event.

Location

It is located at 105 Pearl River Road, near

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...

and

The District Docklands The District Docklands (previously known as Harbour Town) is an indoor/outdoor shopping centre in the suburb of Docklands in the inner-west of Melbourne. History The District Docklands opened on 21 October 2008 as Harbour Town. Following the H ...

, both in the Docklands precinct of

, in

. The closest public transport to the Icehouse is the

Melbourne tram network Trams are a major form of Transport in Melbourne, public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the States of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. As of May 2017, the Melbourne tramway network consists of of dou ...

, operated by

Public Transport Victoria Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria, Australia, Victoria. It was the trading name of the Go Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authorit ...

. The Waterfront City tram stop, located on Docklands Drive, is the closest to the venue and is serviced by the number 35 (City Circle), 70 (Wattle Park) and 86 (Bandoora RMIT) trams.

References

External links

O'Brien Group Arena homepageMustangs homepageMelbourne Ice homepageAustralian Ice Hockey League
{{Australian Junior Ice Hockey League Sports venues in Melbourne Indoor arenas in Australia Figure skating venues in Australia Ice hockey venues in Australia Speed skating venues in Australia 2010 establishments in Australia Sports venues completed in 2010 Sport in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)

Facilities

Events

Location

See also

References

External links