Canton Ice House - Northeast Generals
- Paul Baker
- Sep 20
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 3
Photos by Paul Baker, Stadium Journey.
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 2.71
Canton Ice House
65 North Street
Canton, MA 02021
Year Opened: 2016
Capacity: 500 (red rink)/200 (blue rink)
It’s an Ice House
The Northeast Generals are a Tier II junior hockey team that began play in the North American Hockey League in 2016. The Generals have qualified for the Robertson Cup playoffs in five of their first nine NAHL seasons, losing in the first round each time. After playing at the New England Sports Village in the Providence suburb of Attleboro for their first eight seasons, the Generals relocated 24 miles north on Interstate 95 to the Canton Ice House in the Boston suburbs for the 2024-25 season.
The Canton Ice House, opened in 2016, features two full-sized rinks, a pro shop, café, two golf simulators and a fully equipped gym. It serves as home to several local high schools, youth programs, club programs and figure skating clubs. It also serves as the home to the Curry College hockey team. The facility boasts that it hosts over 35 games and 100 practices every week, with over 750,000 visitors passing through its doors annually.
Food & Beverage 4
The facility’s snack bar, The Ice House Café, is located between the red and blue rinks on the mezzanine level. Several tables fill the large space, and both rinks are visible from these tables. Also, there are a bunch of video games, an air hockey table, and a rod hockey table located here. As is the case with many community rinks, this snack bar features a pretty impressive menu.
Breakfast items are found on the menu, which at first glance may be surprising, but when you consider the long hours that a rink complex is open, it isn’t really such a shock. Bagels, English muffins, hash browns, and egg and cheese sandwiches are sold here. If you’re looking for lunch or dinner, you can choose from an array of burgers, wraps, club sandwiches, chicken parm sandwiches, and more.
Chicken tenders, french fries, onion rings, fried dough, mozzarella sticks, toasted raviolis, and fried Oreos highlight the offerings from the snack bar’s busy fryolator. Pizza slices and salads can also be found here. Fans just looking for a snack can order a pretzel, popcorn, assorted candy, or ice cream treats.
If you happen to visit Canton when the snack bar is closed, there are several vending machines selling drinks and snacks.
Atmosphere 2
As you would expect in a small community rink like the ones at the Canton Ice House, the game day atmosphere is pretty basic. The sound system is decent, if a little on the quiet side. There’s not a ton of noise coming from the crowd here, so you’re able to hear all the sounds of the game, no matter where you sit.
There are small scoreboards at both ends of the rink that display the score, time, and penalties. Banners throughout the rink advertise the facility’s many other tenants, in addition to the large Generals banner hanging behind the home bench.
If you enjoy attending a hockey game while being able to hear the sounds of skates cutting through the ice, coaches barking instructions at their teams, and players chirping each other (and the referees), Canton Ice House’s intimate setting is for you.
Neighborhood 3
Canton Ice House is located in an industrial park in the southern part of Canton, with nothing much in the immediate neighborhood that will attract visiting fans. Surrounding the industrial park is a residential area, so fans will have to venture a bit from the facility to find dining or lodging options. Luckily, being so close to Boston and major highways means that you will have numerous options within a 15-minute drive.
Backstreet Grill and Tavern is a local favorite in neighboring Stoughton, and visiting fans will find no shortage of options on nearby Washington Street, including Nosh ‘N Grog and L’Oven Pizzeria. Hotels line all the major arteries in the area, including a Four Points by Sheraton, a Residence Inn, a Homewood Suites by Hilton, and a Holiday Inn and Suites. Of course, the city of Boston and all its attractions are less than half an hour away.
Fans looking for sporting options in the area will find Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots and New England Revolution, just 11 miles away to the south. Fans looking to pair a Generals game with a Division One hockey game will find the Stonehill Skyhawks just 15 minutes to the south, with the numerous teams located in and around Boston, Providence, and Worcester all about a half hour’s drive away.
Fans 2
Stadium Journey attended the Generals’ 2025 season opener at Canton Ice House on a beautiful September Saturday night. Attendance on this night appeared to approach the capacity of nearly 200 fans. A glance at attendance figures from the 2024-25 season showed an average attendance of approximately 150 fans per game.
A typical Generals crowd consists mainly of friends and family, some of whom travel quite a distance to follow their loved ones. While the fans are quite knowledgeable, they are pretty reserved in their support. Since many of the Generals’ games are against local teams, it’s not unusual to see fans supporting the visiting teams.
The crowd here in Canton is comparable to the crowds that supported the team at their previous home in Attleboro.
Access 3
The town of Canton, Mass., is located about 15 miles southwest of Boston. The town itself is easy to get to via car, as Interstates 93 and 95, as well as Routes 1, 24, and 128, all pass through Canton, making it easy to reach from all points in Massachusetts. The MBTA Commuter Rail has a stop at Canton Junction, about three miles from the Ice House. The hockey facility is located in an industrial park on the southern edge of town near Stoughton. To reach the industrial park, one must drive through much of Canton or the surrounding towns.
Fans will enter the Ice House through a small lobby, which contains the pro shop, bathrooms, and several vending machines. The red rink will be on your right, the blue rink to your left. The snack bar is located on the second floor, in between the two rinks.
The Generals play in the blue rink, the smaller of the two rinks. Both rinks have a similar setup. Seats consist of molded plastic bleachers colored blue or red (thus the names) that run the length of one side of the rink. There are standing room areas at the top of the grandstand, as well as some standing room at ice level at the ends of the rinks. Fans looking for some respite from the cold rink may elect to watch the game from the hallway that runs between the rinks or from the snack bar lobby. Restrooms are located on both levels and are remarkably clean considering how busy this facility can be.
Return on Investment 4
Tickets to Generals games are sold as general admission seating (no pun intended?) for ten dollars. Seniors and youth get a five-dollar discount. Parking in the large lot at the facility is also free. Should the snack bar be open, food prices are also very reasonable. This all adds up to an affordable night of entertainment for local sports fans.
Extras 1
An extra point is awarded for the seating options that allow fans to watch the game from a warm area at Canton Ice House, as well as the nice selection of games in the snack bar area. And let's not forget to mention the vending machine that lets you dispense your own custom container of Skittles.
Final Thoughts
While the Canton Ice House would hardly qualify as a destination location for visiting hockey fans, this community facility has a lot of things going for it. The Northeast Generals bring affordable, entertaining junior hockey to a part of Massachusetts that contains no shortage of crazed fans.
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