Ice Castle

I've been to Ice Castle several times recently to watch hockey practices and games. It's a great location, central to the South Hills, and it offers more than just one rink. There's a gymnastics facility, a hockey equipment store on site, and two rinks for double the fun! The snack bar offers everything from pizza to pretzels, not gourmet, and it's cash-only. Same goes for the side bar (which offers a view of the main hockey rink). There are also party rooms for birthday events and the like! Check it out!

Where to begin...? For starters, this is NOT a family friendly place on a Friday night. There were hoards of unsupervised kids with foul mouths and an utter lack of basic manners. A security guard was present, and he did make attempts to control some of the most unruly behavior, but there wasn't a lot he could do about most of it, and no one made any attempts to control the language (despite no tolerance signs everywhere). Skate staff made zero effort to ensure order, completely ignoring the handful of hockey skaters whipping around the beginners like they were on some sort of speedway. At one point, we sought out the security guard after my 9 year old nephew accidentally got in the way of a teenager (a complete stranger) and was rewarded with a barrage of foul language and then continued harassment over the next half hour. The security guard talked to my kid kindly and they came up with a solution. That solution was delayed because of a more serious issue that we stumbled on while walking back to the ice, but he did eventually talk to the offending kid. That whole issue aside, the place wasn't great otherwise either. We paid and got our skates - $30 for the two of us. The skates were dull and beat up. Then we went to the ice, which even 10 minutes in looked like it hadn't seen a Zamboni in a while. The condition worsened throughout the night and it was never cleaned during the session either. Due to the nature of the crowd, I didn't feel like I could just go inside and leave my kid to skate, so when I wanted a break, I was forced to remove my skates to enter the bleachers so I could see him. It was colder in the bleachers than on the ice and I was really annoyed that there was no better place to rest. Staff in general were rude. Snack bar was cash only. The video game area was ok, but full of kids shouting obscenities, so we couldn't stay in there very long. Skate return at the end was moving at a snail's pace for 20 minutes or so until one guard came in and whipped the lazy staff members into shape and got it moving. In the end, I was really disappointed in the whole experience. If you don't want your kid to hear the F word every 5 seconds, definitely don't go on a Friday night.

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Awesome place with one amazing rink and the place is huge and they have a big tv in the lobby and they also have a nice restaurant and snack bar and they have a nice fitness center and hockey stone wish the air conditioning of the rink could be better but it was still awesome.

While I'll try skating just about anywhere at least once, I'm a (solo) figure skater, so skating on :hockey ice" isn't ideal for figure skating, because the ice is very different.Hockey players like "fast ice", that is ice usually around 16 F. Fast ice is smoother, not as "chippy" or rough.Figure skaters require "slow ice", which is warmer (around 22 degrees F), softer (for jumps, etc.), and a bit "rougher" surface.

One of the better rinks/hockey leagues in Pittsburgh.Two rinks so plenty of ice time.There is a bar that overlooks play, lots of fun.The leagues are well managed and competitive.

Disclaimer: this review is from the perspective of a parent of a youth amateur hockey player.Ice Castle is a nice arena, possibly the nicest in the South Hills. There are two sheets of ice with ample spectator seating with a clear, unobstructed view of the ice. The rinks are very well lit, and very well maintained. The bleachers are wood which is not as cold as aluminum, and not noisy like aluminum. (This is important because young kids love to run on the bleachers that are aluminum because of the noise they can make.) There is also viewing from outside the rink on a balcony with tables and chairs accessible from the lobby. The lobby is also large, and includes a large projection TV and smaller LCD TV's that usually play the important professional sports games going on. They have a newly renovated pro shop which is always important to have at a hockey rink. They have a fantastic snack bar with a short order grill where breakfast is served all day. And fresh coffee! The parking out front is ample, and there is more on the side of the building. These amenities make Ice Castle and ideal rink for weekend tournaments.So why doesn't this rink warrant a 5 star rating? Well, another offering in the lobby is a bar. Tournament parents too often pass time in the bar drinking beer, watching sports and socializing with other tournament parents between games. When they later watch their kid's next game, they have a tendency to start heckling the kids on the opposing team, which often brings on a response from those kids' parents and it just goes down from there. Nevertheless this is a very good rink for ice hockey, and a fantastic venue for hockey tournaments.

Public Skate Review - I'm not sure if this place was having a bad night, but something was telling me this was all normal. Obviously this business cannot control who comes into the facility, but they sure can control what goes on in that building. The way these kids were skating was absolutely a danger to everyone around them. And do you know what the skate guards did? Found their group of friends attending the public skate to stand there and do nothing. Honestly embarrassing.

It was a great experience that we were there for during the weekends and Friday. It was fun! The arcade was cool and the machines were fun to play. The staff were nice and supportive, kind. And we would love to be back there soon!

Ice Castle is like a hangout spot for kids at my school. We go almost like EVERY Friday. It's not a place for family on Friday's because most of these kids are NOT under parental supervision. But Ive been here every Friday. It's a great place to hang with friends and have a good time. The more you go, the better you'll get rather if you get taught by someone or teach yourself!