The New England Sports Center is a two-story, eight-rink ice-skating facility located in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Covering 22.3 acres (90,000 m2) of suburban land, the 220,000-square-foot (20,000 m2) building has over 65 locker rooms, a hockey pro shop, ice skate sharpening, ice skate rentals, function rooms, a full-service restaurant, and a snack bar.
- Venue
- New England Sports Center
- Town
- Massachusetts, US
The New England Sports Center is a two-story, eight-rink ice-skating facility located in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Covering 22.3 acres (90,000 m2) of suburban land, the 220,000-square-foot (20,000 m2) building has over 65 locker rooms, a hockey pro shop, ice skate sharpening, ice skate rentals, function rooms, a full-service restaurant, and a snack bar. In addition to the eight full-size rinks, the facility has two miniature ice surfaces, Rinks 9 and 10. Host to the Haydenettes, home to the Skating Club of Boston Metrowest, the Minuteman Flames, Central Mass. Outlaws, and the Junior Bruins hockey teams, the New England Sports Center is noteworthy for having more ice-skating surfaces than any other arena in the New England area. Construction of the original four rinks (Rinks 1-4) of the New England Sports Center on previously undeveloped land was completed in November 1994. An additional fifth rink (Rink 5) was completed in September 2004. Plans for the addition of a sixth full-size ice-skating surface and a partial-surface practice rink were approved by the City of Marlborough in April 2010. and the full-size Rink 6 opened for operation on December 4, 2010. The miniature Rink 7, which has since been re-designated as Rink 9, opened in January 2011, and is used primarily for goaltender training and player training. The Marlborough City Council approved plans to expand the center yet again in June 2016. This expansion added two more full-sized rinks, as well as an additional miniature rink. The new rinks were built partially on newly acquired land to the west of the preexisting facility. Rink 7 opened on September 23, 2017, and Rink 8 opened on October 1, 2017. The additional miniature rink, designated Rink 10, opened in early December 2017. On January 4, 2021, the Providence Bruins announced that they would be playing their entire 2021 American Hockey League season at NESC. The Bruins made the move due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and that their arena, the Dunki