Four-pad ice facility in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
The Bell Sensplex is a four-pad ice facility, located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is the primary practice facility of the Ottawa Senators NHL team. In a partnership with the city of Ottawa, it is also used for minor hockey and hosts the annual Bell Capital Cup ice hockey tournament. The Sensplex is located at 1565 Maple Grove Road in the former city of Kanata.[1] It was also the home arena for the Ottawa Lady Senators of the Canadian Women's Hockey League.
History
The Senators, in a partnership with the city of Ottawa, built the Bell Sensplex, for community and team use at a cost of CA$25.6 million. The facility contains three NHL-sized ice rinks, one Olympic-size ice rink and an indoor fieldhouse in its 180,000 square feet (17,000 m2) building. The City of Ottawa provided $1.4 million of the cost to facilitate the construction. The Sensplex ultimately used only $800,000 of the City's funds.[2] The Sensplex opened in December 2004.[3]
Usage
It is used for Senators team practices, minor hockey and short track speed skating. The City of Ottawa buys 2,400 hours of ice time for public use annually.[2] The facility is the main arena for the annual Bell Capital Cup, open to Atom (9–11) and Pee-Wee (11–13) age group teams, held between Christmas Day and New Year's. The tournament attracts over 500 teams annually and bills itself as "the world's largest hockey tournament."[4]
