SKA Arena ( Russian : СКА Арена ) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Saint Petersburg , Russia. Opened in 2023, it is the home arena of SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League . With a capacity of 21,500 for ice hockey games, it is the largest hockey arena in the world, surpassing the Bell Centre in Montreal.
18-753: The arena was originally planned to host games for the 2023 IIHF World Championship , but, in April 2022, the IIHF stripped Russia's hosting rights while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called for Russia and Belarus to be stripped of hosting rights to all international sporting events due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine . In 2017, proposals were made to turn the Saint Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex into
36-501: A maximum of two teams to separate groups." Each team's roster consists of at least 15 skaters ( forwards , and defencemen ) and 2 goaltenders , and at most 22 skaters and 3 goaltenders. All 16 participating nations, through the confirmation of their respective national associations, have to submit a "Long List" no later than two weeks before the tournament, and a final roster by the Passport Control meeting prior to
54-568: A new arena for the SKA St. Petersburg hockey team. During the discussions at the St. Petersburg Urban Planning Council between 2018 and 2019, two concepts of the reconstruction of the SCC were discussed: capital reconstruction with the preservation of the appearance of the building or the complete demolition of the building with the construction of a new ice arena in its place. As a result, it was decided to build
72-466: A new ice arena on the site of the SCC, which should become the largest in the world. At the same time, it is indicated that the dimensions of the new complex should be larger than that of the previous complex, otherwise it will be impossible to place an arena with a capacity of more than 20 thousand people that meets modern requirements. It is also planned to build adjacent territory with social infrastructure and residential buildings. On September 18, 2019,
90-558: A tender for the first stage of the reconstruction of the complex was announced. On October 24, 2019, documents for the liquidation of the State Unitary Enterprise Petersburgersburg were signed, a representative of Gazprom as appointed chairman of the liquidation commission, and the installation of the fence for survey work on the ground began. On October 30, 2019, the contractor organization "SKA-Arena", which conducts these works, began to dismantle
108-499: Is scheduled for September of the same year and for the beginning of the 2023-24 KHL season . On December 9, 2023, the arena opened to the general public for the first time to host the skills competition as part of the 2023 KHL All Star Game festivities. On January 28, 2024, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko visited the arena as a part of Lukashenko's diplomatic visit to Russia. On February 11, 2024, SKA St. Petersburg played their first game at
126-516: The IIHF confirmed that Finland and Latvia would host the tournament, with Finland having also hosted the 2022 IIHF World Championship in Tampere (Nokia Arena) and Helsinki ( Helsinki Ice Hall ). The seedings in the preliminary round are based on the 2022 IIHF World Ranking , as of the end of the 2022 IIHF World Championship , using the serpentine system while allowing the organizer, "to allocate
144-660: The World Championship. After being promoted to the top division, Slovenia and Hungary bid to co-host the event in Ljubljana and Budapest . The bid was withdrawn due to Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation informing the IIHF that it did not receive the governmental guarantees to host. Finland and Latvia submitted a joint bid, with Nokia Arena in Tampere and Arena Riga in Riga as potential host venues. On 27 May 2022,
162-570: The broadcasters for the tournament. Latvia men%27s national ice hockey team The Latvian men's national ice hockey team represents Latvia in international ice hockey. The team is ranked 10th in the world by IIHF as of 2023. The team is controlled by the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation. Their best ever finish at the World Championships was in 2023, when they won the bronze medal. Latvia reached
180-554: The final for the first time since 1930 after upsetting the fourth-seeded USA 4–3 in overtime. The event was originally planned to be held in Saint Petersburg , Russia, but, in February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called for Russia and Belarus to be stripped of hosting rights to all international sporting events due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine . On 26 April 2022, Russia lost their rights to host
198-506: The final. The silver was Germany's first medal since 1953. Latvia claimed its first IIHF medal after defeating the USA 4–3 in overtime and finishing third. As in the 2022 edition, the tournament saw several upsets: Kazakhstan's win over Norway, Hungary's win over France, Latvia's first victory over Czechia, Norway’s second win over Canada, as well as Kazakhstan's first victory over Slovakia. The playoffs also saw major upsets, as Latvia reached
SECTION 10
#1732780671649216-518: The new arena, defeating HC Sochi 8–1, with Sergey Tolchinsky scoring the arena's first goal 43 seconds into the game. 2023 IIHF World Championship The 2023 IIHF World Championship was co-hosted by Tampere , Finland, and Riga , Latvia. The tournament was held from 12 to 28 May 2023, organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Canada won its 28th title by beating Germany 5–2 in
234-605: The new sports complex was the Austrian architectural bureau Coop Himmelb(l)au , which proposed to base the architectural image of the arena of the Monument to the Third International , posters of El Lissitzky , the dynamics of sport and the trajectory of figure skating of Russia's first Olympic champion, Nikolai Panin . In May 2023, the press service reported that the arena is ready for "almost 90%" and its opening
252-496: The reconstruction of the outskirts of the arena, which are planned to be turned into sports grounds. In the same month, constructuion began to prepare the pile field of the arena. In April 2021, the State Construction Supervision of St. Petersburg issued a permit for the construction of a new ice arena. The winner of the closed international architectural competition to choose the concept of the facade of
270-493: The seating bowl and hinged metal structures, light and sound equipment. During demolition on January 31, 2020, the roof and a large portion of the walls collapsed during the process of dismantling, resulting in the death of one worker. In the spring of 2020, the demolition of the St. Petersburg SCC was completed, and in June, the area was cleared of construction debris. In July, SKA Arena received permission to start construction work on
288-462: The semi-finals for the first time after defeating favourite Sweden 3–1 in the quarter-finals, Germany upset Switzerland 3–1 and the reigning Olympic and World Champion Finland lost to Canada 4–1. Czechia finished in 8th place after losing to the United States (USA) 3–0 in the quarter-finals, which is that nation's worst placement to date in the history of the World Championship. Germany reached
306-510: The start of the tournament. 16 referees and linesmen were announced on 6 April 2023. The groups were announced on 29 May 2022, with the schedule being revealed on 8 September 2022. There was a re-seeding after the quarter-finals. If Finland and Latvia were to play in the quarter-finals, there would have been no cross-over for the quarter-finals. Teams finishing fifth in the preliminary round were ranked ninth and tenth, teams finishing sixth are ranked 11th and 12th, and so on. List shows
324-622: The top skaters sorted by points, then goals. GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus ; PIM = Penalties in Minutes; POS = Position Source: IIHF.com Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list. TOI = time on ice (minutes:seconds); SA = shots against; GA = goals against; GAA = goals against average ; Sv% = save percentage; SO = shutouts Source: IIHF.com The awards were announced on 28 May 2023. These are
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