Having just reviewed the Raleigh Iceplex, I thought I'd reminisce about my times at the Cary Ice House...
I took a few "Learn to Play" classes at Cary and Garner Ice Houses as 1) I hadn't played in several years and 2) they were offering a stick and puck pass worth 9 visits. Seemed like a great deal. Garner was great, fairly quiet, lots of quality ice (see other review for more). Cary however was not as much.
During the learn to play classes the instructors had us run the same drills every week, as expected. However there was something missing, the best I could describe it was that there was no "tempo" in Cary like there was in Garner. Oh well, this seems to me to be a fairly meaningless argument so I'll press on and leave this to your imaginations.
One complaint with the Ice House occurred after a Saturday night pickup and went to a friend's bar. I sat down for a drink, pulled out my wallet and BAM, my cash was gone. I know I had entered the Cary Ice House with 4 crisp $20 bills, but somehow between then and there someone pulled my wallet out from underneath all of my stinky hockey jerseys and absconded with my cash. (The jerseys get stinkier every time I tell the story, I feel its therapeutic for me to imagine the thief digging through my B.O.) Luckily, no plastic was taken. I know you're thinking that this cannot be blamed on the establishment, and to a degree I agree with you. However, walk in and you'll see what I'm talking about. There is no security between the door and the locker rooms. The staff are constantly moving about between serving the concession stand and the front entrance, allowing anyone to move to the lockers and do whatever they please. That would be one criticism, the other being that I had attempted to contact the management in person and left a voicemail to let them know of the situation, but I never received a reply. A quick, "that sucks, our apologies, we'll look into the entrance" would have sufficed, but nothing.
When the Ice Houses in Cary and Garner recently switched management, I there was a notice posted in the hall stating that those stick-and-puck passes I had mentioned earlier were no longer valid. So that good deal for the learn-to-play classes was suddenly revoked. After complaining to the management at both places they simply stated that they felt as though they had given enough notice to cardholders in order to revoke the program. A non-conspicuous flyer posted in the hallway indicating a few weeks warning was apparently sufficient to them, good to see how the new management is ready to serve their customer.
Lastly, and most importantly, the condition of the ice. Abysmal is the first word that comes to mind. I recall a few occasions skating there, going for a puck in the corners and having to avoid the construction cones and caution tape around the area of BARE CEMENT. Yes, that is correct. I should make note that this was eventually repaired and that the last time I was there (the night my cash was stolen) the ice was completely filled in. But still, I have never been at a rink that allowed people to skate on it when there was bare cement exposed, in 20 years of skating and hockey. read more