The Ondrej Nepela Arena ( sk, Zimný Štadión Ondreja Nepelu) (also known as ''Orange Arena'' during the 2011 IIHF Championship, or as ''Slovnaft Arena'') is an indoor arena in Bratislava,

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. 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 h ...

and it was the home arena of the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

HC Slovan Bratislava Hockey Club Slovan Bratislava ( sk, Hokejový klub Slovan Bratislava) is a professional ice hockey club based in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2012, it left the Slovak Extraliga and joined the international Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In 2019, ...

History

It opened in 1940 and held 8,350 people until its full reconstruction started in 2009. The reconstructed arena opened in spring 2011 with one of the most advance game presentation, LED scoreboards and security systems ever built. It has increased capacity to 10,055 spectators. In the past Samsung arena was called ''ST Arena'' and ''T-Com Arena''. Reconstruction costs 87 million €. In the arena are also next two ice areas in the training halls. In addition to the arena, a new ''DoubleTree by Hilton'' hotel was built, which mainly serves for the accommodation of foreign athletes. The arena is named in honour of

Ondrej Nepela Ondrej Nepela (22 January 1951 – 2 February 1989) was a Slovak figure skater who represented Czechoslovakia. He was the 1972 Olympic champion, a three-time World champion (1971–73), and a five-time European champion (1969–73). Later in ...

, Slovak figure skater who competed for

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Euro ...

figure skating winner.

Notable events

An overview of some sport events: ;1958 * 1958 European Figure Skating Championships ;1959 * 1959 IIHF World Championship ;1966 * 1966 European Figure Skating Championships ;1973 *

1973 World Figure Skating Championships The 1973 World Figure Skating Championships were held from February 26 to March 3 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals were awarded in men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. ...

;1981 * 1981 FIBA European Championship ;1992 * 1992 IIHF World Championship ;1995 * 1995 IIHF World Championship Group B ;1996 * 1996 ISBHF Ball Hockey World Championship * 1996 European Table Tennis Championships ;1999 *

1999 European Judo Championships The 1999 European Judo Championships were the 10th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Bratislava, Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a ...

;2001 * 2001 European Figure Skating Championships ;2008 * 2008 IIHF Men's InLine Hockey World Championship ;2011 *

2011 IIHF World Championship Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

* 2011 ISBHF Ball Hockey World Championship ;2016 *

2016 European Figure Skating Championships The 2016 European Figure Skating Championships were held 25–31 January 2016 in Bratislava, Slovakia. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dancing. Eligibility Skaters were eligible for th ...

* 2016 Women's Youth World Handball Championship ;2017 * 2017 IIHF Inline Hockey World Championship * 2017 Women's World Floorball Championships ;2019 * 2019 IIHF World Championship * 2019 WUKF Karate World Championship *

2019 Women's European Volleyball Championship The 2019 Women's European Volleyball Championship was the 31st edition of the Women's European Volleyball Championship, organised by Europe's governing volleyball body, the CEV from 23 August to 8 September 2019. For the first time the Women's E ...

;2021 * Ice hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Men's qualification group D ;2022 * 2022 European Men's Handball Championship An

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

pre-season game was held at the Samsung Arena between HC Slovan Bratislava and the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

on September 30, 2008. Tampa Bay won 3–2 in overtime. On October 2, 2011, the arena hosted another NHL pre-season game, this time between HC Slovan Bratislava and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

who beat the home team 4–1.

Transport

Ondrej Nepela Arena is located in the third district of Bratislava,

. The arena can be approached by

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

. Drivers can park directly under the Ondrej Nepela Arena. There are place for 365 cars. An additional 1,300 parking spaces offer the Central Shopping Center, which is approximately 400 m away from the arena. Next 994 parking spaces are under National Football Stadium, which is 300 m away.

Gallery

Image:Samsung Arena 1.jpg, The arena in August 2007, before reconstruction Image:Slovan samsung arena interier fotka.JPG, Interior during 2008 IIHF Inline hockey World Championship Image:Samsung Arena reconstruction 1.jpg, The arena during reconstruction in July 2009 Image:Ondrej Nepela Arena.jpg, The arena after reconstruction in June 2011 Image:Bratislava, 2016 European Figure Skating Championships, Ondrej Nepela Arena.JPG, Interior during 2016 European Figure Skating Championships

References

External links

* {{IIHF World Championship venues Buildings and structures in Bratislava Indoor ice hockey venues in Slovakia Sport in Bratislava HC Slovan Bratislava Sports venues completed in 1940 1940 establishments in Slovakia