Hockey is one of the most widespread sports. Thousands of hockey stadiums gather many connoisseurs of this game during iconic sports tournaments. Many cities around the world boast their giant hockey arenas.
The largest hockey arena
Surprisingly, the largest hockey arena is located not in Canada or the United States, but in Japan. In 2000, an amazing sports complex called Saitama Super was opened in the city of Saitama, which can accommodate 22,500 fans. The national ice hockey team of Japan plays on this ice arena. Despite the fact that Japanese hockey players do not go out on the ice of the Saitam stadium so often, the arena operates almost all year round. For example, the Saitama Super can host various city cultural events and concerts by artists.
The largest hockey arena in America
The most capacious hockey arena in America is considered the stadium of the NHL club Montreal Canadiens. The stadium in Montreal is called the Bell Center. The arena was opened relatively recently - only in 1996. However, the ice of the stadium has already seen many outstanding hockey battles. The Bell Center regularly hosts NHL matches. The capacity of this arena is very slightly inferior to the Japanese one (21,273 spectators can accommodate the home stadium of Montreal).
The largest ice hockey stadium in Europe
The largest indoor arena in Europe is considered the Lanxess Arena, located in the German city of Cologne. The arena was opened in 1998. It currently holds 18,500 spectators. It is hockey matches that are not very often held at the stadium, so the arena is intended for other sporting events (for example, boxing matches), as well as music concerts.
Directly the largest ice hockey arena in Europe is the O2 Arena in Prague, where the Slavia ice hockey club plays its home matches. The stadium was built specially for the 2004 World Hockey Championship in the Czech Republic. The arena has a capacity of 17360 spectators.
