I came down here on a co-worker's invite since he works at this place part-time on the weekends. Ben Boeke Ice Arena is a smaller sports facility located next to the Sullivan Arena on Gambell. The Anchorage Wolverines were playing against Fairbanks Saturday evening. Tickets are normally $25, but luckily I was able to get in for free by my co-worker's supervisor. It was a pleasant surprise and the hockey game was a lot of fun. Anchorage won 6-3. Aside from the game, the arena is very small, almost a fraction of the seating area at the Sullivan Arena, now being used as a homeless shelter during the winter. The arena was at full capacity with easily about several hundred people in attendance with more lined up against the balconies once there were no more seats. It would've been nice if both sides of the arena had seats. Otherwise, it was very cramped through the aisles and the stairways had people standing off to the side as people passed through. It reminds me of the airports when they announce that boarding has started. It wasn't that much easier when standing in line to get food from the concession stand for me and everyone else. One side had people watching from the balcony while the other side had the concession line. People were literally squeezing by in the middle just to get through. The wait in line wasn't long but it was a challenge to navigate the aisles without spilling your food and drinks. There was literally no area aside from the seats to eat your food if you are standing at the balcony with the exception of the standing counter opposite from the registers. Even then, people were lined up against the counter waiting so utilizing that wasn't an option. I decided to take one of the empty tables down by the admission area away from the crowds to eat my food. This kept me from watching the game for awhile, but since it was free I couldn't complain. Coming down to catch a game here is fun especially with the lively atmosphere and the blaring music in between faceoffs. Just be prepared to deal with very limited space when this place fills to capacity. read more

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Great place for hockey tournaments and games. Rink 1 is larger and better kept than rink 2. Both rinks have heaters for the fans - which is always appreciated. However rink 2 is unbearably hot which means the ice is softer than other rinks in town. The locker rooms are well-kept, but the part of town the rink is in means sometimes we find unwanted guests -and things- in the showers. Also because it shares the same parking lot as the Sullivan Areana - Sometimes parking is next to impossible if there is an Aces or Seawolves game! Overall one of my favorite rinks to play at because of the comfort for the fans, and Rink 1 has nice ice. read more

As a varsity member of my high school ice hockey team, I have found myself making several trips to Ben Boeke to face-off against other competitors. Every time I have visited the facility, I skated on Rink 1, which has an accompanying section of stadium seating. I'm not a huge fan of the locker rooms; they seemed very small by the time my team members and their equipment were crammed into the room. In spite of this, the shower and bathroom accompanying the locker rooms have always been clean and dry. I am also pleased to note that one of the building's staff locks the room when teams leave to warm up and start the game. Unfortunately, this is necessary because Ben Boeke is located in a not-so-great section of town. On one occasion, our locker room was left unlocked and my iPod was stolen from my purse. However, a plus is that the facility attempts to create a safe environment. An example of this is that they only allow one team to exit and enter the sheet of ice at a time to prevent fights. In addition, the arena's Zambonis seem to take excellent care of the ice; I've never noticed deep ruts from previous games. I have also experienced the arena as an audience member and a family member. For Rink 1, all sections of the seating area have a nice view of the entire ice, unless you get too close to the glass, of course. Also, hanging heating lights are aimed at the top section of the audience, which adds quite a bit of comfort in the somewhat cold facility. There are free-skates on Wednesdays and Fridays for five dollars per person, or Ben Boeke offers a special deal for families of ten dollars per entry, which is nice compared to other rinks. For my 16th birthday, my parents were looking at renting a sheet of ice for an hour. Ben Boeke offered a fair deal of 230 dollars per hour, but it was difficult to find an opportunistic time slot because many of them were allotted to one of the many hockey organizations that skate there. Because of this we ended up choosing a rink that had a slightly more expensive rental price, but was closer to my house. Overall, despite the location and driving distance, I have found that Ben Boeke is a nice place for both observing and skating. read more