Hockey Rinks: Size Matters

The sizes and shapes of professional hockey rinks have evolved over the years. Even today, while most leagues have standardized rink dimensions, there are still noticeable variations in size and layout. Let’s explore some of the most common rink designs!

Standard North American Rink - Used in all 32 NHL arenas.

The standard North American ice rink size used in the NHL is 200 feet long by 85 feet wide. This rink size became the standard for the league in 1929, ensuring consistency across all arenas. It is considered ideal for the NHL because it balances speed, physicality, and skill, creating an exciting style of play with fast transitions, high-impact checking, and ample scoring opportunities. The smaller width compared to international rinks (which are 100 feet wide) leads to tighter gameplay, more board battles, and an emphasis on quick decision-making, making it well-suited for the NHL’s fast-paced and physical style of hockey.

Standard International Rink

The standard international ice rink size is 200 feet long by 100 feet wide (61 meters by 30 meters). This larger width, compared to the NHL’s 85-foot-wide rink, provides more open ice, emphasizing skating, puck control, and tactical play over physicality. It is the standard for international competitions, including the Olympics and IIHF events, and is commonly used in European leagues. The extra space allows for a more strategic, possession-based game with fewer body checks and more focus on skillful passing and positioning. This rink size became widely adopted in the early 20th century, particularly in European countries, and remains the preferred dimension for international play today.

Note: Due to the image dimensions, the site has shrunk this image. It is actually the same length as the rink above.

Shortened Ice Rinks

Some hockey teams, including the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres, historically played on shorter ice rinks, which were less than the standard 200 feet in length. For example, the old Boston Garden had a rink measuring 191 feet by 83 feet, while the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium had a 185-foot-long rink. These smaller rinks created a tighter, more physical game, with less room for players to maneuver, leading to more board battles, quick plays, and an increased emphasis on defensive positioning.

While the NHL has since standardized its rink size to 200 by 85 feet, some lower-level leagues, older arenas, and college or minor league teams still use shorter rinks today. These rinks tend to favor gritty, physical play over open-ice speed and finesse, making them unique in how they influence the style of hockey played on them.

Corner Radius

While all NHL rinks follow the standard 200-foot by 85-foot dimensions, the corner board radius can vary slightly between arenas, affecting gameplay. The NHL standard corner radius is 28 feet, which provides a moderate curve that allows for smooth puck movement and controlled rebounds. However, some older rinks and non-NHL venues have used different corner radii, impacting how the puck caroms off the boards and how players navigate the ice.

For example:

• Madison Square Garden (New York Rangers) historically had tighter corners, making for more abrupt rebounds and favoring a physical, grinding style of play.

• Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (former home of the Sabres) had a small corner radius, contributing to unpredictable puck bounces.

• Some European and Olympic-sized rinks feature a much larger radius, up to 30 feet or more, creating more gradual, sweeping corners that facilitate fluid play and wide turns.

  
  

The 2011 NHL arena standardization efforts aimed to unify rink dimensions, including corner radii, to ensure consistency across all venues. However, slight differences still exist, making each arena subtly unique and allowing for different styles of play based on how the puck reacts off the boards. The examples below show the NHL standard radius of 28 feet, then 20 feet which I have found to be a bit more common in NCAA rinks, followed by very short corners which you might find in some older rinks like TD Place in Ottawa. I have been unable to verify the exact dimensions of their corner boards.

Which rink style do you prefer, and why? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.