The NuoValascia, or Gottardo Arena is an

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 ...

arena in

Ambrì Ambrì is a Swiss village in the municipality of Quinto, Leventina District, Canton of Ticino. Geography Ambrì is located in the Leventina Valley, upon the southwestern shore of Ticino river and below the Lepontine Alps, next to the neighbori ...

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It is located only a few feet away from the former Valascia. The inauguration took place on September 11, 2021. The arena serves as the home for

HC Ambrì-Piotta Hockey Club Ambrì-Piotta is a Switzerland, Swiss professional ice hockey club and a member of the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). The club was founded September 19, 1937, and is also known as "Bianco-Blu" (English: white and b ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL) and seats up to 6,775 spectators for hockey games.

Background

held the groundbreaking ceremony in December 2018 and construction officially began in April 2019, 60 years after the former Valascia opened. Construction for the arena had been postponed for two consecutive years as plans were to start in early 2017. The SIHF had been rushing Ambri-Piotta to begin building a new arena to let them compete in the

as the old arena no longer met security regulations and was located in a potential avalanche path.

Opening

On September 11, 2021, the arena hosted its first official game, a 6-2 Ambri-Piotta win over Fribourg-Gotteron in a sellout NuoValascia. Ambri-Piotta's

Johnny Kneubuehler Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John (given name), John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly ...

is the first player to score a goal in the arena.

Naming

As of now, no sponsorship deal for

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 ...

has been signed.

References

External links

* Indoor arenas in Switzerland Indoor ice hockey venues in Switzerland Buildings and structures in Ticino Sports venues completed in 2021 2021 establishments in Switzerland {{Switzerland-sports-venue-stub

Background

Opening

Naming

See also

References

External links