Centennial Ice Arena is a 550-seat ice arena in Billings, Montana, USA. From 2006 to 2017, the arena played host to the city's only junior league hockey club, the Billings Bulls. It also hosts youth hockey and has been the home ice for the Montana Thunderblades, a USA Hockey Select youth team that won the 14U Tier II National Championship in 2014.[1]
 | |
| Full name | Centennial Ice Arena |
|---|---|
| Location | 427 Bench Boulevard Billings, Montana 59105 |
| Owner | Billings Amateur Hockey League |
| Capacity | 550 |
| Opened | 1981 |
| Tenants | |
| Billings Bulls (NPHL/AWHL/NA3HL) (2006–2017) | |
| Website | |
| centennialicearena | |
Public demand for a year-round facility to host youth and junior hockey in Billings prompted the arena's construction. Opened in 1981, Centennial Ice Arena replaced the outdoor King Avenue Ice Rink - the city's only fully maintained ice rink at the time.[2] There are plans to abandon the arena in the near future, as it has a recent history of serious maintenance issues[3][4] as well as an aging refrigeration system. The Billings Bulls ownership had been pursuing the possibility of two new rinks being built in Centennial Park (an unrelated public park in the city) as cost of repairs for the facility would be in excess of $750,000.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Montana Thunderblades fall to Team South Dakota in USA Hockey title game | Hockey". Helenair.com. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
- ^ "King Avenue ice rink". Billingsgazette.com. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
- ^ "Ammonia leak at Centennial Ice Arena prompts evacuation | Billings News". Billingsgazette.com. 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
- ^ "Sunday's Billings Bulls hockey game postponed | Hockey". Billingsgazette.com. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
- ^ "Ice-rink lease complicates future of coveted West End park | Billings News". Billingsgazette.com. 2013-03-16. Retrieved 2017-03-27.