Ice Hockey: Best Rink(s)? (Raleigh, Durham: chapel, house, neighborhoods)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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I would love opinions about the best ice hockey rink in the Raleigh / Durham / Cary / Chapel Hill area. We are most likely moving for a job at Cisco in RTP and would like to live within a 15 min commute from Cisco and an ice hockey rink for both youth & adult hockey leagues. Any suggestions? It seems like there are multiple rinks and we are not sure which are within this commuting distance, and would be desirable. Our son is in 4th grade and plays "House" and "Select," and my husband is on a "C" league and "Lower B" league. Thanks for the input!
Raleigh area actually has a lot to offer for hockey. We just relocated from SJ, CA and my son plays hockey as well. A good website to check-out is www.ryha.org Raleigh Youth Hockey Association.
This is the Raleigh Youth Hockey Association. They would be your best source for all things hockey...from House leagues all the way up to links for Jr. Hurricanes AAA travel programs. There are several rinks in the area:
Cary Icehouse (Cary)
Garner Icehouse (Garner)
RecZone (Raleigh - just inside 440 beltline)
The Factory (Wake Forest)
IcePlex (Raleigh - just outside the 440 beltline)
My son plays AAA hockey and they have played at ALL the rinks...there doesn't seem to be a SET rink for any one team. That may be different at the House level - you could check with them. As far as residential neighborhoods near hockey, your best bet might be Cary/Garner are. Closest to RTP and in close proximity to Cary and Garner Ice...not too far from RecZone and IcePlex. A little more traffic because there are more people in the Cary/Garner Area. I live out closer to Wake Forest area and have spent the past 6 months driving all the way in because we never seem to get ice at the Factory. Residential areas around the 2 Raleigh rinks don't seem very nice. I could be wrong...they just seem more industrial not residential. I have lots more info if you need it.
Good luck
I would love opinions about the best ice hockey rink in the Raleigh / Durham / Cary / Chapel Hill area. We are most likely moving for a job at Cisco in RTP and would like to live within a 15 min commute from Cisco and an ice hockey rink for both youth & adult hockey leagues. Any suggestions? It seems like there are multiple rinks and we are not sure which are within this commuting distance, and would be desirable. Our son is in 4th grade and plays "House" and "Select," and my husband is on a "C" league and "Lower B" league. Thanks for the input!
I have a son in Mite house (RYHA). We live in Cary near Davis Drive and our location is close to the Cary Icehouse (10-15 minutes for us) and even closer to RTP. Cary is not the best rink but it is commonly used. As far as the best used by RYHA, I would probably say the Factory in Wake Forest (2 rinks). Primarily because of the facilities, all of the ice is pretty similar. but I know the Hurricanes sometimes practice at the RecZone so obviously it's fine as well. My least favorite is Garner again the ice is fine but the facility is not much and is more remote from other things to do.
Given you listed priorities, I would think that Cary, Morrisville, Apex might be possibilites with North Raleigh/Wake Forest also being possible but with slightly longer work commutes. Cisco is right off Davis Drive, correct?
Our son previously played House and had games at ALL the rinks... Wake Forest, Raleigh, Cary, Garner and Hillsborough. I also agree with the above poster that the areas around the rinks do not seem to be very nice. IMO, not sure I would choose a house/neighborhood based on a rink due to games/programs being scheduled throughout the area.
The Cary Ice House isn't in a residential area, but not far from residential areas either. It's in a decent part of Cary. We spend a lot of time at the Cary Ice House with my daughter's figure skating.
It's definitely not the nicest rink in the world, it's a very old facility (used to be a roller skating rink back in the 70's when I was a kid!). I can't really speak to the quality of the hockey programs considering we are involved in figure skating but we really like it up there. Over the years, we've gotten to know a lot of the people who work there like the coaches, camp counselors and the people who run the different programs and we really like it. For us, it's a comfortable place to be where the kids have friends from their various skating activities as well as running into school friends there too.
I am a hockey guy too (have played for 25 years and coached for 10) who is looking into the area. Does Raleigh have any type of high school leagues or is it mostly amateur hockey?
Our son previously played House and had games at ALL the rinks... Wake Forest, Raleigh, Cary, Garner and Hillsborough. I also agree with the above poster that the areas around the rinks do not seem to be very nice. IMO, not sure I would choose a house/neighborhood based on a rink due to games/programs being scheduled throughout the area.
Yes, I agree. Although your practices may be based at one rink primarily, games are typically rotated so you would be travelling to Garner, Wake Forest, Cary and the Raleigh rinks at least occassionally. I think the bigger factor is being not that far away from work. That said, if you anticipate a ton of trips to rinks, you might want to think about being too far west (the western-most rink location is Cary I believe and that is on the east side of Cary. Just my two cents. Either way, it's not pleasant getting up at those hours to make a 6:30 am game on Saturday.
I am a hockey guy too (have played for 25 years and coached for 10) who is looking into the area. Does Raleigh have any type of high school leagues or is it mostly amateur hockey?
...Ice Hockey is not an approved sport in public schools in North Carolina.
Do any high schools in the Raleigh area offer hockey?
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Ice rinks
