HC Škoda Plzeň
Rink: Logspeed CZ Arena
Capacity: 7,356
Built: 1950
League: Extraliga
City: Plzeň, Czechia
Home Of: HC Škoda Plzeň
Games Attended: 1
Only Game: October 6, 2026 vs Skellefteå AIK
Unique Arena: #128
European Arena: #5
After seeing games in over 130 arenas as of this writing, seeing unique and different arena’s is what drives me. While I will never turn down the opportunity to see a game at a rink I’ve not been to before, I will always prioritize different and unique. That said, even when I am seeing something different and unique it’s impossible for me to not try and compare it to other venues I have seen before. One look at Logspeed CZ Arena in Plzeň might have you thinking, there is no other rink like this, and you might be right about that. But still I see some similarities while also loving that I haven’t seen a game at any place quite like this before.
The arena originally opened in 1950 as an open-air stadium, which was something that was quite common back in those days. A roof was not added until the late 1960’s. From the outside the building seems almost reminiscent of the now-demolished Moose Jaw Civic Centre (crushed can) but on a much larger scale. The roof of the arena is also in an inverted bow shape like Moose Jaw had, but not to the degree of the old crushed can. While the interior does have room for things like team stores and concession stands (and does have those) the exterior of the building on game night had a nice setup of food trucks and stands outside that gave it a carnival like atmosphere. The main team store is also located outside of the main building in a small circular building. The store was very well stocked with all kinds of HC Škoda Plzeň gear including a body wash with the team’s branding on it, which was a first in all of my travels.
The team branding is that of a native tribesman. Normally the debate of whether or not the imagery of native Americans should be used as the gimmick of a sports team is something that would make many uncomfortable. However, I was informed by a native of Plzen that the Native American imagery used for the team comes from the insignia of the US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division which liberated the city from Nazi rule in 1945. While I was not rushing to buy any team gear beyond my usual game puck, I can totally see why the city would want to honour their liberation heroes by using the logo.
Upon entering the building from one of the many entrances, you head up a flight of stairs to the main concourse level. The arena is setup with two massive grandstands and each side has a concourse running underneath that is fairly wide open and filled with concession stands. One side also has a small team souvenir kiosk tucked into a corner, which I never saw actually open. In addition to the two massive grandstands there is a few rows of seating behind one of the nets. The open concourse on the top of this section is the only way to get between the two side grandstands. There is also a small interior concourse about a third of the way up the stands, which separates the lower seating and above this spot the grandstands do get steeper.
All of the actual seating in Plzeň are plastic benches with numbers posted on them, so with a full house I would imagine things could get cozy with your neighbors. Like many Extraliga rinks there is standing terraces as well for the crazier supporters. Most of the upper grandstand on the bench side is standing terraces, while the penalty box side has a very narrow standing terrace section tucked into the corner for the visitors. The opposite end of the rink has no grandstand seating at all, but does have some glassed-in lounges which probably have a great view of the ice. The steepness of the two large grandstands and the very small amount of end seating really reminded me of the Centre Marcel Dionne in Drummondville, but once again at a much larger scale. Up in the corners of the end walls are frosted glass which allows natural light to flow in during the day. With our game being a 5:30pm puck drop it was cool seeing the light from the setting sun bathe into the rink. The roof also has skylights installed which again just lets more natural light flow into the building.
Much of the team’s history is also plastered in large banners that hang above the seating in one of the ends. Some of the alumni posted that would be more familiar to North American fans were Martin Straka and Jaroslav Špaček. Also mentions of the Czech Republic’s 1998 Olympic Gold Medal in Nagano, Japan which hurt my Canadian soul just a little bit… stupid shootouts.
While HC Škoda Plzeň is one of the top teams these days in the Extraliga, the game we attended was not an Extraliga game at all. Like football in Europe the various pro hockey leagues have created a Champions League for the top teams in each country to compete in running concurrent with their own league’s regular season. That’s right: Europe also has the CHL! Champions Hockey League. It was quite weird being at a game in Czechia and seeing CHL branding on all the screens during the game. HC Škoda Plzeň, being one of the top three Czech teams the season before, was therefore also a CHL team during the season we visited, and their opponents that night happened to be at the time the only other undefeated CHL team at that point in the season, Skellefteå AIK from the far northern reaches of the Swedish Elite League. Getting to watch literally the two top pro club teams in Europe at the time go at it was fantastic to watch. With this being a CHL game and not an Extraliga game, there was thankfully a lot more English PA announcements and messages on the videoboard to explain some of the different rules the CHL has, like the jailbreak rule when scoring a shorthanded goal or how even minor penalties are treated like majors so scoring a powerplay goal doesn’t actually end your powerplay.
The strange thing about the CHL however is it appears the casual hockey fans in Czechia just aren’t that interested in it. By this point in our trip, we had gained many Czech followers on social media, and many pointed out to us pregame that the crowd would likely be smaller as for some reason not as many people care about CHL games over the Extraliga games. Due to that we had a much smaller crowd that we might’ve gotten for an Extraliga game in Plzeň of just under 2,900. That said the 2,900 people who were there were just as loud as the fans we had grown accustomed to by that point in our trip. The main Plzeň supporters’ section was awesome all game with their chants, singing and drumming. The rest of the crowd really got into it as well which was helped by the fact Plzeň came back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to win the game 4-2. As great as our experience was OHLAG and I agreed that we probably didn’t see Plzeň at its best but thankfully was still great.
