Gigantium

The Gigantium complex holds the ice in Aalborg at a particular angle. It opened in 1999, shortly after the architects won the competition to design the main hall, though the ice arena itself arrived later, in 2007, with the swimming hall following in 2012. The ground is the home of the Aalborg Pirates, who have won the Danish championship three times.

The ice surface carries the name of the Aalborg Port , painted in the centre circle beneath the main scoreboard. The boards are tight to the action. Above the ice, the scoreboard reads 0-0 at the start of the first period, a standard opening sight. The stands rise steeply from the glass, packed with spectators in the photographs. The capacity for hockey is 5,000, a figure that the crowd seems to fill without difficulty.

The venue has a history that extends beyond the local league. It hosted the bronze medal match at the 2018 IIHF World Championship, a high-profile event that brought visitors from abroad into the city. More recently, the arena has been known as the Sparekassen Danmark Arena, a change that followed a merger in 2021. Before that, it carried the Jutlander Bank name for nearly a decade. The complex also suffered a fire in 2017 that damaged the roof of the main hall, but the ice section remained open for play.

The atmosphere in the arena is shaped by the proximity of the fans to the ice. The banners mention the Pirates as champions, and the local players look to add to that record.