I am absolutely loving the Downtown Community Arena located in Rogers Place…read more My little guy is currently participating in the NHL Learn to Play Lil' Oilers Program here. The locker rooms are nice with a spacious washroom in each and showers (5 locker rooms in total). There are washrooms on the main floor here as well as upstairs. That's another great thing - the bleachers here hold 1000 peeps and are accessible to all because there is an elevator in addition to the stairs. There's even designated wheelchair space with safety bars/handrails at the top level of the bleachers. There are free community skates here every week so check out their website to find out the current schedule: https://www.edmonton.ca/activities_parks_recreation/downtown-community-arena.aspx At the top of the arena is a few places to grab a bite to eat - a couple to go places attached to the Casino (pizza and burgers and fries) but also a Starbucks (always makes me happy). We usually park on the street and try to snag some free parking but there is a paid lot available on the North side of Rogers place. Alternatively, there is also the LRT that runs here as well. Two Thumbs Way Up!

What a fantastic addition to the downtown core for it's residents, workers and students. It is the…read moreofficial rink that MacEwan University is using for it's hockey team. It offers public skating programs free of charge to a variety of groups. Some being for fitness, skating for parents and kids, older adult skate as well as the Downtown Community League skate. Free skates and helmet rental are available. They also offer adult shinny for those who are 18 years and older but you must be pre-registered. All schedules for public skating and adult shinny are on their website. The facility is awesome. It has a change room that you can put your skates on and leave your belongings in if you feel comfortable as there are no lockers. There is a water dispenser for your bottled water. Everything is very clean and spacious. If you do not feel comfortable leaving your belongings in the change room, you can bring them out and leave them on the front bench before entering the skating rink. The bleachers for fans seats about a thousand and there is an elevator for those who can not take the stairs. It is connected to Rogers Place so it is not difficult to find. There is access to the community arena through Rogers but sometimes the doors are locked. It is best to enter from outside on the North East entrance. I will be sure to utilize this facility in the upcoming months.

Beautiful location overlooking the Edmonton river valley. This community hall is on the smallish…read moreside but is well used. There is a renovated children's playground, adult outdoor workout facility, walking trails, outdoor ice rink and tennis courts.

I play a fair amount of beer league games at this rink and it's decent. I really like that it has…read morelarge dressing rooms. Other rinks in the city of this vintage often have tiny little dressing rooms which isn't good for a bunch of large beer drinking old men. The rink is always fairly cold, so not sure if I'd want to be a spectator there. Luckily, we don't get many spectators at our games. The ice is hit or miss. We've been on it a few times where they must have had figure skaters out because there are massive gouges in the surface.

I've been refereeing hockey for more than 30 years and I have had the privilege to officiate many…read morelevels of hockey. Several years ago, I decided I want to lessen the amount of travel and politics involved in the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and I joined the Alberta Men's Hockey League as a referee. This was a great decision, the league is run very professionally, there are varying skill levels, divided into 13 divisions, there is discipline, all statistics are tracked and published all games are in the Edmonton area. If you are a team- this is where you want to play, if you are a referee and want to work with a great group of people- this is where you want to officiate.