Braemar Arena

What to expect at Braemar Arena

Braemar Arena is an indoor, year-round ice facility with three indoor sheets, run by the City of Edina in the southwest Twin Cities metro. That sheet count puts it in rare company, since most community rinks make do with one surface, so a three-sheet building tells you something about the volume of skating it handles week to week.

What it means in practice is that Braemar serves nearly everyone who laces up. Public skating, learn-to-skate, figure skating and freestyle, youth and adult hockey, open hockey for drop-in players, and stick and puck all live under this roof. When a building runs three sheets, those programs rarely step on each other, since another sheet is usually handling the other thing at the same time.

There is a seasonal bonus too. In winter, Edina opens an outdoor surface here called the Backyard Rink, a place to skate under open sky when the temperature cooperates, separate from the indoor sheets that run regardless of season. The indoor ice never closes for the weather. The Backyard Rink is a winter-only treat on top of it. Check the official Braemar Arena site for the current schedule, since the mix of programming on any given day depends on the season and on what the leagues and clubs have booked.

Public skating at Braemar Arena: cost, sessions, and what to know

Open public skating is where most first-timers and casual skaters meet this building. These are the windows when the ice is set aside for anyone to come glide, no team, no class, no registration beyond showing up and paying admission at the desk.

Session times rotate with the calendar. During school breaks and the holidays, public skating tends to expand. During the busiest stretches of the hockey and figure seasons, those open windows can tighten as the sheets fill with booked ice. Pull up the current public skating schedule on the official site before you drive over, since a three-sheet arena reshuffles its slots more often than a single-sheet rink does.

Rental skates are typically available for skaters who do not own a pair, which matters if you are bringing a group or trying the sport for the first time. Helmets are a smart call for young or new skaters, and many families bring their own bike or hockey helmets rather than count on the rink to supply them. Check the official site for current admission, skate rental availability, and any age or supervision rules in effect. Arrive a little early so you have time to lace up before the session starts, skate with the flow of the crowd, and use the boards if you need to rest.

Freestyle and figure skating ice

Freestyle ice is the quieter cousin of public skating, built for a different kind of skater. These sessions are reserved for figure skaters working on jumps, spins, footwork, and program run-throughs, with far fewer bodies on the surface so each skater has room to move at speed and set up elements without traffic.

A three-sheet arena like Braemar is well suited to support a serious figure community. With multiple surfaces available, the building can dedicate freestyle time without starving the hockey or public schedules, which is why dedicated figure skaters gravitate toward larger facilities. The City of Edina runs the programming, and figure skating sits squarely inside the offerings.

Freestyle sessions usually run on a contract or pass basis rather than simple drop-in admission, and they often expect skaters past the beginner stage, since the pace and the elements assume a baseline of control. Coaches typically work with their students during these windows, so you will see private lessons alongside skaters running their own practice. To book freestyle time or connect with a coach, the official Braemar site lists the current session schedule, the pass options, and the contact path for lessons. For a skater moving up from group lessons into real practice, freestyle ice is the next room to walk into.

Learn to skate programs

Everyone starts somewhere, and at Braemar that somewhere is the learn-to-skate program. These classes take brand-new skaters, the ones still figuring out how to stand up without the wall, and walk them step by step toward gliding, stopping, turning, and whatever comes next, whether that is figure skating, hockey, or just skating well for the fun of it.

Group lessons are organized by level and age, so a young child taking her first steps and an adult learning later in life each land in the right place rather than getting lumped together. The City of Edina runs these programs through the arena, and a three-sheet building has the ice to support a full slate of class levels and times across the year.

The beauty of starting at a facility this size is the runway it gives you. A learn-to-skate graduate does not have to leave to keep going. The freestyle ice, the public sessions, and the hockey programs are all in the same building, so a skater can progress from a first wobbly class straight into whichever path calls to them without ever changing addresses. Registration usually opens by session or term, and popular times fill, so it pays to sign up early. Check the official Braemar Arena site for the current learn-to-skate schedule, the level breakdown, and what equipment your skater needs on day one.

Hockey, stick and puck, and open ice

Hockey is in the bones of a Minnesota arena, and Braemar carries a full load of it. Between youth and adult play, the building hosts the games and practices that fill a rink's calendar through the cold months and beyond, since the indoor ice runs year-round.

Beyond organized league play, the arena offers the drop-in formats that serious and casual players both rely on. Open hockey gives skaters a chance to get into a loose game without committing to a full season, a place to keep your legs and your shot sharp. Stick and puck is the quieter option, time set aside for individual skill work, puck handling, shooting, and skating drills, without the structure of a game.

Those drop-in sessions carry their own rules. Open hockey typically expects players to bring appropriate gear, and stick and puck often welcomes a range of ages and abilities, sometimes with parents on the ice helping younger players. A three-sheet arena can run these sessions more often than a single-sheet rink, because there is more ice to go around, though the exact times still shift with the season and the league bookings. Pull the current schedule from the official Braemar Arena site, confirm the gear requirements for each format, and check whether you need to reserve a spot, since popular open hockey slots can cap their numbers.

Getting there: parking, location, and amenities

Braemar Arena sits in Edina, in the southwest part of the Twin Cities metro, which puts it within easy reach for families across the southwest suburbs and a manageable drive from much of the metro. For the exact street address and turn-by-turn directions, check the official Braemar Arena site, since that is the reliable source and saves you guessing at a building with multiple entrances.

As a multi-sheet municipal arena, the facility is built to handle real crowds. Parking, lobby space, and the day-to-day amenities you expect at a busy rink come with the territory of a building designed to run three sheets at once. The official site is the best place to confirm current parking details and any event-day notes, especially during tournaments when the lot fills faster than usual.

A tip for any first visit: know which sheet your session is on before you walk in. Larger arenas route different programs to different surfaces, and the entrance closest to your ice is not always the main one. The schedule lists the sheet alongside the session, so a quick look saves you a lap around the building with skates in hand. Plan a little buffer on tournament weekends, when the whole rhythm of the place shifts, parking included.

A note for skating parents

Here is what a three-sheet arena actually changes for you as a parent. The single biggest frustration at a one-sheet rink is the waiting, the gap between when your kid's session ends and the next family's begins, the long drives back because the only open public time was on a school night. A building with three indoor sheets and a seasonal outdoor rink simply has more room in the week, which means more session options that fit a real family schedule.

It also means siblings on different paths can sometimes skate at the same time. One kid in a learn-to-skate class on one sheet, an older sibling at stick and puck on another, and you running a single trip instead of two. That kind of overlap is only possible at a facility with the ice to support it, and it is the quiet reason multi-sheet arenas earn loyal families.

The Backyard Rink is worth folding into your planning when winter arrives. It is a low-pressure place to let a younger child or a nervous beginner just play on the ice without the structure of a session, outdoors and unhurried, and it costs you nothing in extra driving since it shares the address with the indoor sheets. Use it as the reward, the easy skate after the lesson, the family outing on a clear cold afternoon. For schedules, registration, admission, and the exact location, the official Braemar Arena site is your single reliable source, and a quick check before each visit saves you the headache of a reshuffled slot.