IceLand Ice Arena

I just sat through the mist boring and long ice show ever. These people are seriously out, if touch

The ice rink here is in pretty bad shape. We haven’t been here in a while since we do most of our skating at nearby Oakton. However, we came here for an open skate session on a Sunday afternoon and it was disappointing from the beginning. The surface of the ice was rough even though we were among the first to get on the ice for open skating.
Second, there were a lot of kids and adults falling down during the short time we were there. Looked like amateur night or something. And to add insult to that, my son was told he could not skate with short-​track speed skates on the ice. Looking around, he may have been the most skilled skater amidst the falling-​down hockey boys and their mommies. He was not even going fast or making dangerous maneuvers that would make skating conditions unsafe for others. If anything, the other skaters were more of a hazard to themselves by being on the ice. Oakton allows speed skating as long as the skaters do not go at excessive speeds or weave around slower people dangerously. So we just packed up and went home. Iceland is kind of amateurish when it comes to quality of the ice surface and could show more flexibility in its policy about what kind of skates are permitted.

Go there for the Hockey! When i first walked in i was greeted by the pure musk and funk of classic pure old school hockey rink. It litterally looks like an old school 80’s hockey rink and i loved it. Old wooden rafters, stands for a small dedicated crowd and the overal look of this place inside is nostaglic and old school. The ice it self is the best ive ever been on. Its a rat hockey players dream! Never a crowd during the day at noon if u can make it out. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PLACE!

My husband’s birthday was coming up, and when he sat down to decide what he wanted to do, one thing came to mind: broomball.
We haven’t played it since we went to college at the University of Illinois in Champaign, so I was a bit skeptical as to how this could be done.
After inheriting some research from a friend who tried planning such an event a couple years back, we got to work seeing what would work best for our group. We live in the city, and many of the ice rinks were charging in the $ 500s for an hour of ice time. A little too rich for our blood.
We turned our attention to IceLand, and found they had a pretty reasonable rate (I think it was $ 290 for an hour of ice (8−9pm) on a Saturday), and they provided us with the goals, broomball sticks, and balls. All we needed to provide ourselves were the helmets — everyone was required to have one if they were on the ice. I think the price is dependent on the day of the week and time you take. I can’t remember how much it was, but I the later slots (11pm to midnight) was a different price that what we paid. I actually was surprised we could get ice time on a weekend evening only a few weeks out from the date we wanted to have the event due to standing booked rink times.
We arrived, changed, and were ready to get on the ice. The group before us exited a little late (not by a lot, it was 8:05), but I thought it was so nice that the facility guy who worked there noted the time and made sure we got our extra 5 minutes on the ice.
Everything from calling the rink, setting up time, paying, and completing the contract for the rental was easy. We had a blast, no one got too hurt, and I’m sure we gave the hockey guys who had the rink after us a good chuckle. I highly recommend IceLand, should anyone in the city or burbs be looking to rent some rink time.

This review is for the ice. I’m just going to comment though – walking past the pool in winter is a little ridiculous – there is this massive polar bear water slide, and the slide goes between the polar bear’s legs. This has led my teammates and I to refer to it as the «birthing polar bear rink»
I’ve played two games here vs. Northwestern, and have nice things to say – though their proshop needs longer hours, since most of their hockey games are between 6 PM-​10 PM. But the ice is good – no random grooves to lose the puck in like at some rinks. The staff was well organized, and kept good track of who was where. They were even attentive in how they assigned the locker rooms – there was a boys’ high school game immediately before ours, and they were smart to put their locker rooms on the other side of the rink from the college girls. ..

This review is for the swim portion. Very decent swimming pool facility — they have the adult pool and separate kiddie pool. The latter has two short slides, and a fountainous section near one end.
This is Niles’ only pool this summer as their other one — Niles Oasis Pool on Milwaukee Ave. — is under construction now. It’s $ 4 for residents /​$ 6 for non-​residents. Can get crowded particularly on hot weekends, but we still found vacant chaise lounges before noon.
Locker rooms, showers and pool are well-​maintained and clean (although cicadas kept dive bombing in the kiddie pool; about 7 washed up near the shallow end). Watchful life guards keep a close eye to make sure horseplay (mostly around the slides) doesn’t get out of hand.
There are vending machines and a small store selling snacks. Altogether good way to spend a hot summer day.