Isku Areena
Isku Areena is an ice rink located at the Lahden urheilukeskus (Lahti Sports Center in English) in Lahti, Finland. It is primarily used for ice hockey, and is the home arena of Lahti Pelicans who play in the ice hockey Jääkiekon SM-liiga (SM league), and the Lahti Ringette team who play in the SM Ringette, ringette league (formerly Ringeten SM-sarja) which is Finland's elite semi-professional ringette league. It opened in 1973 and holds 5,530 people. It was renovated in 2007 and 2010.
 | |
| Former names | Lahti jäähalli (1973–2005) |
|---|---|
| Location | Lahti, Finland |
| Coordinates | 60°58′54″N 25°38′20″E |
| Capacity | 5,371 stands; 3,621 seats, 1,750 standing |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1973 |
| Renovated | 2007, 2010, 2022 |
| Tenants | |
| Lahti Pelicans, Lahti Ringette | |
Isku Areena has a total of 5,371 stands, of which 3,621 are seats and 1,750 are standing. In addition, the hall has 16 stalls and a 200-seat lunch restaurant with a view of the rink.
The seats in Isku Areena are padded, with the exception of the D stands at the old end. The Fanikatsomo of the Lahi Turkoos, i.e. the Pelicans supporter group, is located between the D2 stand and the A1 stand.
History
Until 2005, the hall was called "Lahti jäähalli". The name was changed by a ten-year cooperation agreement between Pelicans, Lahten Jäähalli Oy and Isku (yritys), "Isku-Yhtymä Oy". The hall is the fourth hall of the hockey SM league with a sponsor name.
After the renovation in the summer of 2007, the hall could hold 4,910 people instead of the previous 5,098. In the summer of 2009, a media cube was added to the hall.
In the spring of 2010, a new hall renovation was carried out, with which Isku Areena got about 500-600 new spectator seats and six enclosures. In addition, changes were also made to the ice rink externally, and among other things, the players' changing rooms were renovated and a new lobby was built in the hall.
In the spring of 2022, the D2 grandstand turned into a standing grandstand that can hold more than 1,000 people, where Pelicans supporters will also be positioned. The former Fanikatsomo was transformed into seats offering excellent visibility, and the away fans' stand will move to the corner of the A5 upper stand.
Frozen Game numbers
Three shirts have been raised on the roof (Pelinumeron jäädyttäminen) of Isku Areena:[1]
- 11 Hannu Koskinen
- 13 Erkki Laine
- 17 Kari Eloranta
Events
Isku Areena was one of the venues in the 2001 IIHF World U18 Championships.
In the fall of 2017, Erkki Laine's look-alike statue was erected next to the hall and unveiled. This was Finland's first named statue dedicated to a hockey player.[2]
References
- "Jäädytetyt numerot" [Frozen Numbers] (in Finnish). 23 April 2021.
- "Suomen ensimmäinen jääkiekkoilijan näköispatsas paljastettiin Lahdessa: "Mallia otettiin NHL:stä"" [Finland's first statue of a hockey player was unveiled in Lahti: "The model was taken from the NHL"]. Yle. 28 November 2017.
External links
Media related to Isku Areena at Wikimedia Commons