Nice ice arena and mostly I love the high bar stool style seating vs having to sit on bleachers!…read moreTemperature inside was comfortable as I was not doing the usual shivering. Signs directing to rink 1 and 2 were clearly marked along with location to locker rooms.

Question - Who's got 2 thumbs and is finally the first to review something? THIS GUY!!! Let's get…read moreit on! What? I'm reviewing an ice arena? What you say? It's ice Scott, it's ice. What's to review about ice? Well sit back and lets me edjumacate yous. A - ice arenas are not all the same. not even close. B - the ice at each individual arena can be drastically different. DRASTICALLY! Thirdly - staff, staff, staff. Ok, on to the review; I take my son here for open skate either every Wednesday or every other Wednesday to keep up his skating skills for hockey - side note, 5-6 yr olds playing hockey is absolutely adorable - side note over. In general it is an exceptional arena for this. Not too cold, always clean, friendly staff - HUGE shout out to Tara who is a fantastic employee and really makes it fun!! However.....the ice is always a little soft for my taste. More edjumacations? Yes. Ice can be soft. GASP!! Soft ice = great for figure skaters but terrible for hockey and not so good for standard skating Also, it's getting a little thin. Even more edjumacations? Yes. Ice can be too thin. It causes cracks and ruts. Cracks and ruts = folks on their butts! Thats the bad. Overall not too big of an issue. Now the good; 1 - The aformentioned staff (what up Tara?), all of which are always friendly, courteous, and just plain nice. These are mostly late teens to early 20's kids people!! And they're nice! 2 - Clean, clean, clean. Love an ice arena that's clean. See one that isn't and you'll know what I mean. (I'm a poet and didn't even know it) 3 - Centrally located 4 - Relatively inexpensive (*ahem* date night, date night). $4 to skate. $2 more to rent if you don't own skates (and they are good rental skates) 4 stars because of all the good. Work on that ice and it'll be 5 PS; a word to the wise - this is skating, on ice, ice is hard, it will hurt if you fall. Wear padding if you are a beginner, no one will care and no one will make fun of you. Trust me. It hurts to fall.

A whole new lingo Hack, house, button, hurry hard…read moreMilan in five years Got a call from my cousin out of the blue last October. He had secured a spot for a team at the legendary Saint Paul Curling Club and invited me in. I had never Curled a day in my life but decided to give it a go. So happy I did. First practice I fell down again and again and again. First match I was hyperventilating from sweeping for another newbie. Practice makes better. Everyone at the club has been super cool about playing with our group of novices. Getting excited for next season this October. We have a handful of wins under our belt and even competed in a Bonspiel (Curling Tournament). The tradition in curling is that the winning team buys the losing team a round of beer. Kind of torn now between winning and free beer.

I have to admit, I know very little about the sport of curling; but I have watched it a few times…read moreat the Olympics and have been kinda curious about it. The club itself is located on a busy part of Selby Avenue in St. Paul. I've noticed the club with its red neon lights; a number of times while in the neighborhood. After eating next door on a Friday night, I decided I should try to coral my friends and take a peek inside. What we found was a tournament going on. We were greeted by a woman who was a great spokesperson for the club and the sport. She was friendly and shared with us all about the sport and the history of this special club. There's a bar upstairs too that offers a small bar food menu and overhead views of the curling lanes. I recommend to anyone to stop in and see for yourself. I plan on coming back to watch a little more over a beer...or two.

Newer ice arenas don't often impress, you know, function over fashion. This is a really, really…read morenice new ice arena. One remarkable plus at the C.R.I.C. is the second sheet of ice, refrigerated ice OUTSIDE next to the main building. This outside ice allows for a unique playing experience. The main arena is huge, with some neat photos of the local hockey heros who went on to play in college or pros. The stands, are all on one side. This is a big arena with a large amount of seating. This would be a rocking place when full and loud for a rivalry game. There is a large heated lobby with concessions and a small yet useful skate shop. Wood beams inside make this place feel special. From this common area there is a glass view of one end of the ice. The building has rooms for meetings and birthday parties and other events. There is ample parking. Outside ice sheet next to arena is a major draw and pretty cool! Well done C.R. hockey people!

You have a beautiful facility but those of us with mobility issues there is no elevator to get to…read morethe higher seats. In this day and age I was surprised at that.

Wow, what a facility. This ice arena is beautiful and super modern. There are two sheets of ice…read moreand plenty of other amenities. I love that the seating areas are elevated above the ice, there are really no bad seats for watching a youth hockey game. The locker rooms were clean and spacious, there is plenty of parking as well as nearby hotels and other tourist places if you are visiting for a tournament. This rink has a skate sharpener, small pro shop and a really nice concession stand. Mystic Casino is really close by, so if you are here for a tournament have a look around.

Great place to watch anything on ice. My nephew had his most recent ice hockey tourney here. If…read morethere is a tourney going on, the parking lot will be FULL but not full enough to not find spots. They have a nice and simple concession stand where I bought over the weekend - cokes, candy and a French cappuccino. The cokes were definitely over priced but other items weren't at $1.50 for the cappuccino and candy each. We watched both games in the north rink. Not a huge amount of seating but wasn't as cold as other rinks and they have a heater up top which made me super toasty on Friday afternoon after bundling up.

I really want to like this place, yet it is possible that my own youth athletics experience as a…read morefrequent opponent of the Ponies will bias this review. The facility is immense. Large parking lot. Huge white bubble dome covering indoor turf for soccer, lacrosse, etc. Two separate sheets of ice with stands for viewing in each. Common indoor lobby with small concession stand. The main rink has stands on both sides of the ice. I suspect this would be fun place to watch a rivalry game in front of a full house. My favorite part of this sports complex is the very large outdoor pleasure rink for ice skating in front of the main entrance. I should have brought my skates! The ice looks great. While this large sports complex is spacious and comprehensive, it is more function than fashion. In the land of many ice arenas, many with remarkable and memorable amenities, if you are not a Pony this is just another arena.

Good ice good service nice concession. What better place to play hockey than in one of Minnesota's…read moreoldest rinks

Came here for a roller derby tournament in July. It's usually an ice rink during the winter time…read moreand they de-iced it during the summer. There are two rinks, and the other one still had ice in it. There's an upstairs area where you can watch either rink from above. This was convenient as the that area was air-conditioned and the arena was super hot (it was the middle of July). The arena itself was very big, with lots of bleachers seats on one side of the rink. Makes me wonder what level of hockey teams play hear and how many people they bring.

Knockersquad Rocks! Knockersquad was the activity we had on-site for our all-staff corporate…read moremeeting. Our team LOVED it! It was hilarious to watch and even more fun to participate in. We played for about two hours and everyone was able to jump in and out as they wanted to, allowing anyone to play. Colin and Stu are fantastic. These guys are professional, prompt, and fun to be around. This made our corporate event top notch! We highly recommend these guys.

We had a company event at the Harriet Island Pavilion with the Big River Pizza truck and Knocker…read moreSquad as our main activity. Everyone had a blast! It's tiring and hot, but totally worth it. They had two people there reffing for us and they make everything super simple. They know it's tiring, so they just have you play in 5 minute stints and then have you switch up the teams. We took a 30 minute break after the first hour and they stuck it out with us. At their suggestion, we played another game called Sharks and Minnows and everyone loved it. Some people joined in that hadn't played soccer the first time. Even those who decided not to participate were cheering and hollering from the sidelines. It is hilarious to watch your coworkers get bounced around and knocked over in a giant bubble!

This arena is basic. Single sheet of ice. Stands on one side and player bench area on the other…read moreside. Thing to note is that this arena is almost always cold. Really. There is a heated room at the north end with a decent view of the ice where you can stand in relative warmth, eats or drink from vending machines, and see team photos from the local youth leagues. In a state of awesome arenas, this is a perfectly functional arena in a convenient (for those in the north burbs at least) convenient easy to find location on Hwy 96. Added local bonus: great library across the street; indoor pool and water park at nearby Shoreview Community Center; a handful of restaurants within 1-2 mile drive. Bring gloves, a hat, and a seat cushion.