On July 24, we began the process of changing the database that powers the RinkAtlas website and API. This was the result of a decision by Google Cloud to sunset the database that RinkAtlas had been using since September 2016.
There are several significant differences between the database we’ve moved to and our previous database. As a result some of our query techniques had to be temporarily disabled.
Current Search Options
Here are the ways that the RinkAtlas database can be searched at the moment:
- By Arena Name, currently limited to one word
If you enter one word contained in an arena’s name, you’ll be shown the listings for any matching arenas.
In other words, searching for “madison” will return Madison Ice Arena and Madison Square Garden.
Searching for “new” will return arenas like Aitken University Centre / University of New Brunswick, New England Sports Center, and New York Islanders Iceworks.
Pick the best single word that you can in the arena name. We’re working on multi-word searches, and hope to bring back that capability soon.
- By City and State or Province
You can search for all of the arenas in one city by searching for the city and state abbreviation or the city and province abbreviation. The comma between city and state / province abbreviation is optional.
In other words, searching for “Troy, NY” will return Frear Park Ice Rink, Houston Field House / RPI / Rensselaer, Knickerbacker Arena, Robert M. Conway Arena / Hudson Valley Community College / HVCC.
Some of the largest and most interesting sets of arenas can be found by searching:
New York, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Boston, MA
Minneapolis, MN
Montreal, QC
Montréal, QC
Toronto, ON
Winnipeg, MN
Regina, SK
Saskatoon, SK
- By League
If you enter “NHL”, “AHL”, “ECAC”, “Hockey East”, “Atlantic Hockey”, “Big 10”, “NCHC”, “WCHA”, “CHA”, or “DVHL” without quotes, you’ll see arenas used by those leagues. You can also search for “cawlidge hawkey” to see a list of all NCAA Division I arenas (hat tip to John Buccigross).
- By Zip Code or Postal Code
If you enter a U.S. Zip Code or Canadian Postal Code, you’ll see all of the arenas with addresses in that area. Since both Zip Codes and Postal Codes are for relatively small areas, it’s somewhat difficult to find ones that contain multiple arenas. But that’s not the point. The point of Zip Code and Postal Code searches is to find an arena which you are having difficulty finding using search by name.
The best example we’ve found of search by Zip Code returning multiple arenas is “12180”, the Zip Code for Troy, New York. If you enter “12180” without quotes, you’ll see Frear Park Ice Rink, Houston Field House / RPI / Rensselaer, Knickerbacker Arena, Robert M. Conway Arena / Hudson Valley Community College / HVCC.
Summary
The search options on RinkAtlas are now restored, with the exception of geo location searches. We are committed to recreating all of our search capabilities as soon as possible.
This article will be updated as we restore other search functions.
Thanks for your continued support and interest in RinkAtlas.