Yost Ice Arena

Ann Arbor, United States

4.5

Open now

13 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 734-764-4600
Website:
www.mgoblue.com
Address:
1016 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.4 miBlue Bus Stop
0.4 miBlue Bus Stop & Route 36
0.4 miBlue bus Stop and Routes 6, 36
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Bike Parking
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes

Today

Today 6:00 am – 3:00 am
Open now
Local time (Ann Arbor) 1:20 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Business hours

Monday 6:00 am – 3:00 am
Tuesday 6:00 am – 3:00 am
Wednesday 6:00 am – 3:00 am
Thursday 6:00 am – 3:00 am
Friday 6:00 am – 3:00 am
Saturday 6:00 am – 3:00 am
Sunday 6:00 am – 3:00 am

Description

Specialties

Yost Ice Arena offers public skating time as well as skating and hockey programs for children and adults. Yost can also be rented out for private events such as team hockey practices, games, birthday parties, and large skating parties. A concession stand featuring Tim Horton’s products is open during most public and private rentals. Skate sharpening and pro shop items are available at all times.

History

Established in 1923.

Home to the University of Michigan ice hockey team, Yost Ice Arena is recognized as one of the premier hockey venues in the nation and one of the toughest places for visiting teams to play. The building, which opened in 1923 as the nation’s first field house and transitioned to an ice arena in 1973, is named in honor of Fielding H. Yost, Michigan’s legendary football coach and athletics director.

After receiving a new scoreboard prior to the 2011-​12 season, Yost Ice Arena recently underwent a $ 16 million renovation that included the following changes for the 2012 – 13 campaign:

New bench seating on the east, west and south sides of the arena

Replacing the historic Yost windows to allow natural light into the facility

Improvements in the audio capabilities within Yost through cutting edge technology

Upgraded concession stands and concourses

Additional premium seating opportunities, including new Champions Boxes

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13 reviews of Yost Ice Arena

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Ann Arbor, MI
Great rink. Been here to watch a hockey game and to skate. It’s relatively cheap to skate here. Check their website’s calendar to see when they have open skate. Bring your own skates if you can so you don’t have to rent to used ones. It’s not a bad idea to invest in $ 40 – 50 skates if you come here often.
Good idea for brining friends, family, or a date!
Place rating: 5
Bedford, TX
Yost is a cathedral — if not the cathedral — of college hockey, oozing with history and old-​school charm. Other hockey arenas may offer more seats, bigger ice and/​or nicer luxury boxes, but few can match the intimate close-​in hockey watching experience of Yost.
For the full Yost experience, arrive early and make a loop around the perimeter, where you can see pictures and stories of all the Maize and Blue hockey legends who have contributed to the greatness of the program. Don’t miss the foosball-​style hockey game in the southeast (?) corner of the arena, which you can test out your table hockey skills for a buck. The concession stands sell 10″ Cottage Inn pizzas for $ 10.
For maximium entertainment, buy tickets on the southwest side of the arena, where you take in the full sound of the pep band and enjoy the hijinks of the student section.
Built in the 1920s, much of Yost isn’t very accessible to the mobility-​limited. Getting to your seat may involve a climb up a steep flight of stairs. To mitigate the limitations of the space, Michigan has reserved several seats on the glass for those with disabilities. Anyone with a ticket and impairment can trade in their tickets for chairs /​wheelchair spaces right on the glass. These seats are first-​come, first serve, so arrive early if someone in your party has a need.
Place rating: 5
Livonia, MI
The best place on campus! Whether here for a Michigan Hockey game or open skate the history of the old barn is great. The atmosphere for hockey is great too. If I could live in Yost I would!
Place rating: 4
Royal Oak, MI
Only every attended as a spectator to a UM mens hockey game; much improved, as the sound and visuals are much improved since I first stopped in during the 80’s, but still has a barn feeling. While every other place seems to be expanded to allow two more ticket payers to squeeze in, here all seems well.
Place rating: 4
Ann Arbor, MI
This is one of the oldest arenas in the country. Lots of history and Michigan pride. But even with the renovations they have not designed a way to protect your nose from the stench of the pungent players. Those seats behind them may have a good view of the ice, but there is a reason that while you were getting a hotdog, those seats were not plopped down on. Take it from me… get the dog later, the boys aroma is not pleasant!
Place rating: 5
Milwaukee, WI
An excellent restoration of an old building. Modern conveniences in an old space. Great seats and excellent views from everywhere. Do yourself a favor and see some hockey!
Place rating: 4
Palo Alto, CA
Went to their noon skate. The prices were reasonable and it wasn’t crowded at all!
I took off a star though because their rental skates were pretty bad… the painful type.
Place rating: 3
Denver, CO
Apparently the theme of 2013 for me is «put weird footwear on and get in a rink.» After I survived a bout of roller skating I was inspired to try and get my feet back on the ice after 20-​some-​odd years. Turns out U of M had a grad student night, and if it’s one thing I can’t say ‘no’ to, it’s some after hours action.
We got free skate rental (though the normal rate is only 2 bucks) and free admission. There’s also a small concession stand. Plenty of coat hooks and benches to sit on. The zamboni hits the ice about once an hour and the house tunes are top-​40 pop that passively waft into the air rather than profess a party.
For me there is nothing particularly charming or nostalgic about this space. It feels fairly run of the mill. The lighting is far from romantic. It, however, does NOT smell like hockey locker room, is overall fairly clean, and the guy at the skate rental counter was friendly.
Grad school night in and of itself cracked me up because you have a bunch of engineers and physicists putting on skates for the first time in their lives and ‘teaching’ each other how to skate using terms like ‘centripetal’ and ‘friction quotient.’ Fun times.
I enjoyed myself. The whole night was laid back and a great way to kill stress. Unfortunately, I have no idea how often the rink is open to the ‘public’ so I can give it another go.
Place rating: 5
Canton, MI
The recently renovated Yost is a thing of beauty. The landmark building is unmistakeably Yost, but the inside has been brought into the 21st century without losing the crucial atmosphere of the historic ice rink. We are season ticket holders for Michigan hockey. While part of me misses the edge not knowing if the bleachers would hold during an exciting game as we jumped up and down brings to a hockey watching experience, I have to say the new bleachers and the revamped arena get two thumbs up. As far as watching a U of M hockey game, there is no better hockey arena for atmosphere anywhere. The band, the student section, the fans, the team, the tradition — all these things come together to make up a great experience.
I was lucky enough to play a hockey game at Yost a month ago and the locker rooms and facilities are top notch also. The ice is wonderful. Easily tied for the best ice I’ve skated on with Joe Louis Arena.
Would I shower in the locker room after a playing a hockey game here? Yes.
Place rating: 5
Manhasset, NY
Along with the Big House and Crisler Center, Yost Ice Arena makes U of M one of the best, if not the best campus to watch college sports. The atmosphere here is quite amazing, unlike anything you’ve seen before. There are dozens of chants that the student section has that’ll intrigue you and make you want to learn not only because you’ll look dumb being the only one not doing them, but because they are so catchy and hilarious. The band adds another element. And with the renovations that were completed recently, you’re really close to the ice and can see everything clearly even if you’re in the last row. Get there early and get ready to have a good time even if you don’t know a thing about hockey.
Place rating: 5
Highland Park, IL
As Michigan hockey season ticket holders for 19 years I have to give Yost 5 stars.
As a venue to watch a college hockey game there is none better! The crowd and and overall energy in the arena is exhilarating. Love the pep band, cheers and of course the team. Over the years we have seen many changes to the interior of the building. This year they have a new scoreboard with real-​time video. It looks pretty cool but is very large for such a small rink. Also I think the light changes that makes on the rink during the games is distracting. Can’t imagine how the players feel about it.
Long ago when we actually lived in Ann Arbor and our son was small, we had a birthday party at Yost for him. It was fantastic. We had the whole rink for the party and they let us play whatever music we wanted over the loud speakers. At that time (maybe 13 years ago) it was very reasonably priced. Not sure about the pricing now.
Love this rink. Don’t think you could find one much better!
Place rating: 5
DeWitt, MI
This place is awesome. Of course I have a natural bias as a UM student and Wolverine hockey fan, but the 6K+ seat arena doesn’t have a bad seat in the house. You’ll enjoy it, just bring a seat cushion!
Place rating: 4
Ypsilanti, MI
I’m surprised that nobody has reviewed Yost Ice Arena before me. This may be because locals think it’s only open to University staff and students. That’s not so– the arena also has public skate times. Or, the lack of reviews may be because the open skate hours are limited, especially in the summer. Hours change seasonally, so to confirm public skate times, call ahead.
According to their website, you can rent ice time for various groups or for birthday parties. How fun would that be?
The one and only time I went there, I came pretty close to falling a bunch of times. I used to ice skate a lot as a kid, but I hadn’t been on skates for about 25 years. Still, it’s not unlike learning to ride a bicycle, and my balance got better pretty fast. It’s a great workout for your thighs– I was sore the next day, and I had only been on the ice with a friend about 40 or 45 minutes.
Admission is $ 5 for non-​student adults and $ 3 for youth and students. There’s a discount on the noon skate, which is $ 2 across the board. You can also purchase a passbook for multiple visits to save money. Skate rental is an additional $ 2, or $ 1 for the noon skate, and they have a pretty good variety of sizes to rent.