Gränby Ishall

The ground in Uppsala does not look like anything other than a warehouse you would find on the edge of town.

The architect started with A-hallen in 1974. Inside the surface is artificial ice laid on a concrete floor, cold and hard enough to make a puck bounce true. The capacity sits at 2,862, though the figures change depending on who you ask and whether they want to sell more tickets.

Almtuna IS plays here, and the club has changed the name of the place more often than it has changed its shape. Gränbyhallen became Zellout Arena for five matches, then Metallåtervinning Arena, before settling back on the original name. The last change came in 2020, when Upplands Bilforum Arena took over, only for the sponsors to eventually let the name return to Gränby Ishall. It is a cycle that repeats whenever the budget allows.

A newer hall, D-hallen, now stands to the side, built for figure skating and training. It looks exactly like the old one, only fresher. The main hall still hosts the hockey, and on occasion a band like Europe, who played an On the Loose concert here in 1985, can raise the tempo when they need to. The attendance record of 2,916 was set in 2010 against Södertälje SK, and the game remains one of the few days the place is truly full. Otherwise, the wind goes straight through the parking lot and the snow piles up against the walls.