Roller Hockey??

[bretthexum]

There is a really large adult hockey league in the city. I think there are 4 different divisions now. D1 is ex blazers and college players, D4 is pretty much beginners learning to play.

[the_Mont]

There is a really large adult hockey league in the city. I think there are 4 different divisions now. D1 is ex blazers and college players, D4 is pretty much beginners learning to play.

Are you talking roller or ice?

[bretthexum]

Are you talking roller or ice?

Ice...

[the_Mont]

Ice...

Do you play?

[sxl]

I worked at Billy Ballous when they opened and i was there when we all got laid off and told we were getting like 40% of what we were owed.

I had some great times there though.

[bretthexum]

Nope, but I know some guys who do. I might join a team in the spring.

[Dave Cook]

There are two ice rinks in the city that cater to ice hockey.

One is the Ice Chalet on North MacArthur and the other is Starena off North Virginia. Both quality rinks.

Make sure and get a spot near the giant wood burning heater at the Chalet. Good times....

[the_Mont]

Nope, but I know some guys who do. I might join a team in the spring.

I played Wednesday nights last spring, and Sundays over the summer. My summer team didn't play this winter, so I'm waiting for one of the intermediate Wednesday leagues to start up in the new year. I'm coaching a jr. high team now.

[bretthexum]

There are two ice rinks in the city that cater to ice hockey.

One is the Ice Chalet on North MacArthur and the other is Starena off North Virginia. Both quality rinks.

Make sure and get a spot near the giant wood burning heater at the Chalet. Good times....

The adult leagues play at Arctic Edge in Edmond and Blazers Center near Crossroads. I actually haven't heard of either of these rinks but I haven't lived here long.

[Dave Cook]

Okay, you got me.

Those were the happening rinks in the 1970's and early 80's. Good times....sorta.

Oklahoma City has definitely improved in terms of ice.

[the_Mont]

There used to be a rink called Iceland off of 39th. My high school club team played there, and it used to be the Blazers practice facility. If you've ever heard an old hockey player talk about playing in a barn, Iceland was definitely it. It's an antique wharehouse now, I think.

Blazers Ice Centre was build in the early to mid 90s. It now houses the Blazers practice facility, and it's the home rink for the OU hockey team.

Arctic Edge was built around the same time as BIC, but it's a little younger. Our first season of high school hockey was played strictly at Arctic. My mom hated coming to these games because of the fighting and cussnig. I mean, you get a few dozen testosterone-filled teenagers on an enclosed rink with their friends and girlfriends watching, not exactly my best moments...

Arctic build a second rink this past year. It's mainly used for hockey; house leagues, travel tournaments, and it's the home ice for the UCO hockey team. The new rink defnitely has the best ice. My team plays there at 6:15 tonight, actually.

[metro]

theMont, "Iceland" was not off 39th, it's off N. Rockwell and about NW 30th. You are right though it is an antique/crafter's mall. It has some pretty cool stuff in it. Anyhow, yes that was the original Blazers practice facility and THE place to play when it was new. The name Iceland doesn't sound right, I'm thinking it had a different name though.

[the_Mont]

theMont, "Iceland" was not off 39th, it's off N. Rockwell and about NW 30th. You are right though it is an antique/crafter's mall. It has some pretty cool stuff in it. Anyhow, yes that was the original Blazers practice facility and THE place to play when it was new. The name Iceland doesn't sound right, I'm thinking it had a different name though.

Trust me, it was Iceland. It's currently an art and antique gallery. I played there a ton of times. Couldn't remember the exact address, I just knew that I went down 39th to get there. Here's the Google Maps page. It was just south of 39th.

[Dave Cook]

Iceland was 33rd and North Rockwell.

[metro]

You're right on the name, Iceland is starting to sound right, the location was not NW 39th though, but where SNSPoke said, I grew up in the area too, so I also frequented the place. The RINK is pretty cool and has some neat stuff in there.

[Joe Kimball]

Iceland Sports Center (or was it the British spelling Centre?).

I read in 1991 in a hockey newsletter of the day that it was the only sheet of ice in Oklahoma (at that time). For a couple-three years Iceland was open as well as Arctic Edge and Blazers Ice Centre, giving us quite the choice. But back then---man! The crowds at Iceland were unspeakable.

It was a decent rink, albeit undersized IIRC.

As far as roller hockey goes, I'll add for academic purposes that Summerfield Soccer Pavilion (now Hat Trick Indoor Soccer Arena) once hosted roller hockey during that hockey boom that occurred when the Blazers first came. They simply pulled up the turf from one of the pitches, painted lines on the slab, and added goals.

[Dave Cook]

You are correct in that Iceland was at one time the only ice in Indian Territory. Starena closed, I believe, in the spring of 1988. Iceland opened a couple of years later. It was like the freagin La Colisee after the dump known as Iceland. Now, of course, the newer rinks blow the old Iceland Barn away.

There was also, apparently, an ice rink for a short time along Robinson not far from the Capital in the late 1950's but I've been unable to dig up any info on this.

While we are on the topic of rink history, here a few photos of some of the old OKC rinks.

Fairgrounds around 1965-66. I only show this photo as this is where the junior skaters of the time skated. Decent barn.



Ice Chalet from the mid to late 1970's. This building later became Fritzi's club. Note the chainlink.



Finally, a shot from inside Starena. That brick wall along the far board there was a hoot to get checked into. The former OKC Stars players used to joke about how there was absolutely no neutral ice in this dump.



Sorry, only images I could dig up.

[the_Mont]

Cool pics SnS! My senior year in high school, our home rink was Iceland, so I remember how it looked just before it was changed. I wish I could find pics.

[DaveSkater]

No Roller hockey in Oklahoma City.

That's why I decided to aggressive skate.
foot2big on Vimeo

It's a hoot!

[Joe Kimball]

I've seen the State Fair Arena photo before; I love it.

I can't immediately find the site, but I've seen photos of the actual rink back then with the spare rodeo dirt around it. A striking site, a hockey rink (with the chain-link fence above the dashers) in the middle of dirt and a high wall. When the Blazers came back in 1992 and played some games there because the Cavs had the Myriad that evening, this was replaced with a proper removal of the dirt, etc. and the addition of bleachers in the resulting void. I remember reading of complaints that the ice was chippy there---whether that's a result of the building or the fact that there's usually "warmer" ice for the commercial ice shows there I couldn't guess.

I can't believe there was a bare wall, much less a cinder block one, along one side of the rink at Starena! That's so...bad!

[jmlight]

I played roller hockey from '92 (just after the Blazer craze began) till '97. The team I kept goal for played five games in one day in the middle of the summer during the Sooner State Games and I ended up spending the night dehydrated in the hospital. Playing days over.

We started playing at the rec center at Summerfield in NW OKC on a little matchbox-sized rink, then we migrated to Moore and played there for years. Played a couple of weeknight seasons in Midwest City and midnight leagues in Norman before ending up at Billy Balloos. After it closed nothing compared. We played pickup once a week after Starena briefly put in a roller rink in the mid-90's. I think that building is empty now.

I miss those days.

Someone from the old days told me they still play at the old Comet rink near 36th and MacArthur. Not sure if it's organized or not, but you might check it out.

[OKIE_IN_AZ]

I played roller hockey from '92 (just after the Blazer craze began) till '97. The team I kept goal for played five games in one day in the middle of the summer during the Sooner State Games and I ended up spending the night dehydrated in the hospital. Playing days over.

We started playing at the rec center at Summerfield in NW OKC on a little matchbox-sized rink, then we migrated to Moore and played there for years. Played a couple of weeknight seasons in Midwest City and midnight leagues in Norman before ending up at Billy Balloos. After it closed nothing compared. We played pickup once a week after Starena briefly put in a roller rink in the mid-90's. I think that building is empty now.

I miss those days.

Someone from the old days told me they still play at the old Comet rink near 36th and MacArthur. Not sure if it's organized or not, but you might check it out.

Holy Cow,

Flash, how have you been. I stumbled onto this thread while killing time at work. What you left out about the 5 games in one day is that we were by far the underdogs of the tourney but ended up winning anyway.

I am living in PHX and we have 9 ice rinks & 4 roller hockey rinks. Downside is the ice hockey house leauges are twice as much as OKC( I guess ice is more expensive to make in the desert?).

Yes, I also miss the days of late night roller hockey in Norman, MWC, Summerfield, & games playing against Randy Harris, Mike Miller, Robbie Hodgins (Old School players). Hope all is well with you and the family. Say Hi to Bob for me.

Eric Johnson

[metro]

Sounds like we ought to get some street league pickup games going this summer!

[Dave Cook]

Hey Az...

You mentioned Randy Harris, his brother is in that photo above in the yellow sweaters. The Harris family has been around the rinks a long time.

[SoCalMama]

Anything new on roller hockey here in OKC or surrounding areas?