UW Badgers shrinking their ice

MADISON, Wis. – Built with an ice sheet 200-feet long by 97-feet wide when originally constructed during what was a wave of Olympic-sized ice sheets in college hockey, the Kohl Center ice will undergo construction and be reduced to NHL dimensions of 200-by-85 feet.

“One of the reasons these young men come to the University of Wisconsin is to prepare for the NHL,” head men’s hockey coach Mike Hastings said. “They can have the best of everything including a world-class education and incredible support from the athletic department. This change will help prepare them more for that opportunity.”

“From a fan’s perspective, games on an NHL-sized sheet of ice are action-packed. Things happen fast and it’s physical so it’s an entertaining brand of hockey to come and watch.”

The project cost is estimated at $2.5 million. Wisconsin Athletics and the UW-Madison campus are working to finalize the timeline, but it will take place in one of the next two summers.

“Putting our student-athletes in position to be successful not only now, but beyond their time at Wisconsin, is one of our primary objectives,” Director of Athletics Chris McIntosh said. “Adjusting the size of the Kohl Center ice sheet helps us accomplish that, while also transitioning the action on the ice to an even more exciting style of play. It’s a ‘win-win’ for our program and for Badger hockey fans.”

After various other schools have made their ice sheets smaller in recent years, the Kohl Center remains one of just five NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey home arenas with rink sizes larger than 200-by-92 feet including Alaska’s Carlson Center (200×100), St. Cloud State’s Herb Brooks National Hockey Center (200×100), UMass’ Mullins Center (200×95) and Northern Michigan’s Berry Events Center (200×94).  

With the change in the width of the rink, new seating opportunities will also present themselves. Details on those changes are still being designed.