Biggby Coffee Ice Cube East Lansing

• 2810 Hannah Boulevard
• East Lansing, MI 48823
• (517) 336-4272
• Website

It’s time to start figure skating competition season again.   

I was a multi sport athlete growing up in the 80’s and 90’s.  Each sport had a season.  Yeah, I went from one to the next with the fall off (I didn’t play football), but there were still season.    

It seems like it’s always figure skating season.   

Our first competition this year was this past weekend in East Lansing.  It was the Howard E. Van Camp Invitational at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube in East Lansing.   

This is actually our third time at this event since L started skating competitively three years ago but I didn’t start blogging about our ice arena travels until after this event last year.  

The Biggby Coffee Ice Cube East Lansing is the new name for the Suburban Ice Arena/Ice Cube on Hannah Drive just to the east of Hagadorn Road and Michigan State University.  The naming rights are pretty new as pretty much all of the signage still says Suburban Ice.  It wasn’t even a month ago Black Bear Sports Group made the announcement.  In addition to East Lansing, Biggby also bought the naming rights to the Ann Arbor Ice Cube and Kensington Valley Ice House in Brighton.  

The building is pretty large. There are two NHL sized rinks and a lot of space in between them. Everyone was so excited for the season to start that they got out of bed way too early and we go on the road early meaning we were one of the first ones to arrive. We grabbed a couple of tables near the entrance and set up shop so our club would have a place to do hair and make up throughout the day.

We got the kids checked in and worked on getting them dressed. Both kids had a practice session before they were scheduled to compete so we got everybody ready then headed in to the rinks.

The majority of L’s events for the day were on Rink One.

Rink One has the bigger seating areas of the two rinks. Both are NHL sized rinks so the ice surface is the same. This is the rink that is used more for hockey but during this competition, it’s used for the IJS scoring events.

The thing I really don’t like about this rink is the seating is on the opposite side of the lobby. You have to walk all the way around to get to the bleachers. They closed off two entrances as skater/coaches only…and enforced it. I tried to pop in to watch one skater from our club who was already on the ice and they immediately kicked me out. By the time I would have made it to the “spectator entrance” it would have been too late.

The bleachers are the type you’d see in a high school gym. They’re the kind that can be folded up against the wall. They make a lot of noise when you walk up and down them. We made sure to warn my parents, who drove in from Illinois, that this rink can be really cold. They have heaters but they never turn them on.

We came prepared this year with winter coats, electric hand warmers and blankets. They did eventually turn the middle section of heaters on over the judges…assuming they complained enough about how cold it is in this rink, so people started shifting more towards the middle to get some of that heat.

Rink Two is where all of B’s events were. L had a couple there as well.

Again, it’s an NHL sized rink so the ice surface is the same size as Rink One. This one is used more for figure skating. There’s a coach L sees from time to time in East Lansing and this is always the rink being used for figure skating when she practices there. There are also banners hanging in this rink celebrating club members accomplishments in national competitions.

There’s not a lot of seating in this rink and the location of the bleachers leaves a lot to be desired. There are two sets of retractable bleachers but they are both on the blue lines of the rink. There is a lot of room in between them to stand and watch so we did that for some of it and then went to the top of the bleachers when our kids were skating so we could see from a little higher up.

In addition to the two rinks, Impact Sports Performance also has some training space in the facility and there’s a pro shop. Perani’s Hockey World has a shop right inside the main entrance.

The thing missing from this competition is a concession stand…and a Biggby Coffee..I mean, they’re the naming rights sponsor….we were all kind of hoping for a Biggby.

There actually is a concession stand in the facility but it’s blocked off as part of the volunteer’s hospitality area, so it’s not being used. On Friday, they had a truck from Bearclaw Coffee in the parking lot. That was actually really nice when L told me she was hungry. I ran out to get her a bagel to eat in between events. On Saturday, the competition told us to go next door to Sparrow Medical Group building next door where there was a public Starbucks. Other than that, it was vending machines…but at least they were really well stocked vending machines.

This is our third year having competitors at the Van Camp Invitational and it’s always an event we look forward to. It’s the first National Solo Dance competition in Michigan and it’s the event where we set the bar for the season. B had a great day winning both of his events. L had some great skates in very competitive events and now knows what she needs to work on for the next one.

We’ll be back next year. This weekend is already circled on our calendar. The arena has it’s flaws (rickety bleachers, really cold arenas, lack of snacks) but this is always a well run, fun way to start off the season.