The Toscano Family Ice Forum is an

ice hockey arena An ice hockey arena (or ice hockey venue, or ice hockey stadium) is a sport venue in which an ice hockey competition is held. Alternatively it is used for other sports such as broomball, ringette and rink bandy. Multi-purpose arenas A number of i ...

on the campus of the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

. in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. The arena opened in January 2023 and has a capacity of 2,600 spectators.

History

Despite being a

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

school, the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...

operated their ice hockey program at the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

level for many years. During this time, the team's home rink was the UConn Ice Arena, an outdoor facility. The team was finally promoted to D-I in 1998 when the

Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum is a 2,000-seat hockey rink in Storrs, Connecticut. It is the home arena for the University of Connecticut women's and practice facility of men's college ice hockey teams. It opened on November 7, 1998, replacing ...

was completed. The Huskies used the Forum as their home for the next 18 years. In 2014, UConn joined

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

despite the Ice Forum not meeting the league's requirements. The Huskies used the larger

XL Center The XL Center (originally known as the Hartford Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center located in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by the City of Hartford, it is managed by the quasi-public Capital Region Development ...

in nearby

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

as a stop-gap measure while they decided on a permanent, on-campus solution. In 2021, the athletic department settled on building a new rink across from the Ice Forum which was scheduled to be completed in time for the start of the 2022–23 season. The arena hosted its first UConn women's hockey game on January 13, 2023 and its first UConn men's hockey game on January 14, 2023.

References

External links

Official Site
UConn Huskies ice hockey College ice hockey venues in the United States Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States Sports venues in Tolland County, Connecticut UConn Huskies sports venues 2023 establishments in Connecticut {{Connecticut-sports-venue-stub