Aren'Ice, also known under the working name Centre national du Hockey sur Glace (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: National Ice Hockey Center), is a

multi-purpose arena A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

primarily used as an

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

, located in

Cergy Cergy () is a commune in the French department of Val-d'Oise, to the northwest of Paris. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise, created in the 1960s, of which it is the central and most populated commun ...

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.< ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is both the

French Ice Hockey Federation The French Ice Hockey Federation () is the governing body of ice hockey in France, as recognized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It was founded in 2006 after separation with the Fédération française des sports de glace (Eng ...

's national training center, and the home ice for professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team

Jokers de Cergy-Pontoise The Jokers de Cergy-Pontoise ( English: Cergy-Pontoise Jesters), formally known as Hockey club de Cergy-Pontoise, are a French ice hockey club based in Cergy, Val-d'Oise and representing the Cergy-Pontoise agglomeration. As of the 2021–22 season ...

History

Following the separation of French ice hockey from the French Ice Sports Federation in 2006,

Luc Tardif Luc Tardif (born 29 March 1953) is a Canadian-born French ice hockey executive, and former professional ice hockey player. A native of Trois-Rivières, he played junior ice hockey in Quebec, then was an all-star player for the Université du ...

, president of the new ice hockey federation, announced his plans for a federal training center based in the

Paris Region Paris () is the capital and largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the fourth-most populous city in the European Union and the 30th most densely popul ...

. Various sites came under consideration throughout the selection process:

Cergy-Pontoise Cergy-Pontoise () is a new town and an agglomeration community in France, in the Val-d'Oise and Yvelines departments, northwest of Paris on the river Oise. It owes its name to two of the communes that it covers, Cergy and Pontoise. Its population ...

La Courneuve La Courneuve () is a commune in Seine-Saint-Denis, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History Inhabited since pre-Roman times, the area is thought to have been a small village up through the Middle Ages. With its proximity to Par ...

( Parc de Marville),

Deuil-la-Barre Deuil-la-Barre () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the Department of Val-d'Oise and the arrondissement of Sarcelles. It is from the centre of Paris. Despite this proximity to the metropolis, Deuil has retained m ...

Drancy Drancy () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in northern France. It is located 10.8 km (6.7 mi) from the center of Paris. History Toponymy The name Drancy comes from Medieval Lati ...

, Évry, Pays de Limours (

Fontenay-lès-Briis Fontenay-lès-Briis (, literally ''Fontenay near Briis'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. History The village of Fontenay-lès-Briis is mentioned in the charter of Clotilde, dated to 10 March 673, ...

Marne-la-Vallée Marne-la-Vallée () (English language, English: Marne Valley) is a new town located near Paris, France. Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney Studios Park, Val d'Europe, University of Marne la Vallée, Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, ESIEE Par ...

Meudon Meudon () is a French Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, on the left bank of the Seine. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of P ...

Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines () is a new town and an agglomeration community in the French department of Yvelines. It is one of the original five villes nouvelles ( new towns) of Paris and was named after the Saint Quentin Pond, which was chosen ...

and Torcy. Of these, Cergy-Pontoise, Deuil-la-Barre, Meudon and Évry already had an ice rink and ice hockey club. Marne-la-Vallée only had an outdoor recreational ice rink (which has since been closed) as part of

Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France, located about east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, an arena, and a shopping, dining and entert ...

, and no hockey club. One of the resort's top executives in the 1990s was former hockey player

Pierre-Yves Gerbeau Pierre-Yves Gerbeau (born 16 October 1965, often shortened to P.Y. Gerbeau)P ...

, but a longstanding grudge with the French hockey brass of the time had made him unreceptive to promotional partnerships. At the tender submission deadline, the final candidates were: Cergy-Pontoise, La Courneuve, Drancy, Évry and Pays de Limours, with Cergy-Pontoise emerging as the victor. The building opened to the public on 4 November 2016, with an official inauguration ceremony on 19 November 2016 in presence of Minister of Sports

Patrick Kanner Patrick Kanner (; born 29 April 1957) is a French politician serving as president of the Socialist and Republican group, Socialist group and Leader of the Opposition in the French Senate, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (France), Senate sin ...

. Coincidentally, Cergy's old municipal ice rink, which dated back to 1974, was decommissioned. Through its various activities and entertainment offerings, Aren'Ice generated more than 200,000 admissions in its first year of operations.

Building

Aren'Ice was primarily designed by Chabanne et Partenaires, an architectural firm responsible for several other ice rinks including those in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

and

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

, as well the

French Cycling Federation The Fédération Française de Cyclisme (''FFC'') or French Cycling Federation is the national governing body of cycle racing in France. The FFC is a member of the UCI and the UEC. In February 2009, David Lappartient was elected for a four-ye ...

's National Cycling Center in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Construction cost €44,000,000 with the terrain provided by the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

of Cergy-Pontoise. The main hall, named Eclipse, features an olympic-size ice pad surrounded by stands seating 3,000 in ice hockey configuration. Seats are heated by vents that maintain a 19°C temperature. The second hall, named Equinox, is a training and recreational venue featuring a second olympic-size pad and a small stand seating 320. The building also hosts in excess of 300 m² of office space. This includes the headquarters of the French Ice Hockey Federation, which moved there from

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called in French. It is one of Paris's entrances and is located from Notre Dame Cathedral, whic ...

upon completion of the facility. Although it was billed as "the largest ice rink" in France at its opening, this seems to be in reference to the fact that it consists of two Olympic size pads, whereas dual pad facilities built in France up to that point used a 56 × 26 metre or smaller second pad. The Palais omnisports Marseille Grand-Est is the largest ice rink in terms of spectator capacity at 5,600 in hockey configuration, which excludes ice capable entertainment venues such as Paris'

Accor Arena Accor Arena (originally known as the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy), also known as Bercy Arena, is an indoor sports arena and List of concert halls, concert hall in the neighbourhood of Bercy, on the Boulevard de Bercy, in the 12th arrondisse ...

, home of the

French Cup The Coupe de France (), also known in English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is ...

final.

Aren'Park

Aren'Park is a 22,000 m² commercial district adjacent to Aren'Ice, which opened in September 2018. In addition to a Leclerc

hypermarket A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In ...

, it features various stores operated by chains such as

Intersport INTERSPORT International Corporation ("IIC"), commonly known as INTERSPORT, is an international sporting goods retailer with its headquarters based in Bern, Switzerland. IIC is the purchasing and brand management company of the INTERSPORT grou ...

GiFi GiFi (phonetic abbreviation of its founder's name, Ginestet Philippe) is a French discount store chain with nearly 500 stores, mostly in France. History It was founded in 1981 by Philippe Ginestet, who is the owner and chairman. His son Ale ...

and

La Vie Claire La Vie Claire was a professional road bicycle racing team named after its chief sponsor La Vie Claire, a chain of health food stores. History The La Vie Claire team was created in 1984 by Bernard Tapie and directed by Paul Köchli. The t ...

. An 84-room hotel, B&B Aren'Park Cergy, opened there in early 2019.

Student-athlete housing

In 2019, the community of Cergy-Pontoise and the French Ice Hockey Federation announced the building of a

student athlete Student athlete (or student–athlete) is a term used principally in universities in the United States and Canada to describe students enrolled at postsecondary educational institutions, principally colleges and universities, but also at sec ...

residence specifically geared towards French hockey prospects. Named Résidence Palet and located east of Aren'Ice, it consists of 28 units for 38 young athletes, 5 adults and 2 security staff members. Most residents will study at Lycée Jules Verne.

References

External links

Official website

Résidence Palet at ARPEJ
{{Ligue Magnus Sports venues in Val-d'Oise Indoor arenas in France Ice hockey venues in France Sports venues completed in 2016 2016 establishments in France