Hockey tenants
The development's two ice rinks, known collectively as The Rinks, is the home of the Canisius Golden Griffins, an NCAA Division I college hockey program in Buffalo, as well as the Buffalo Jr. Sabres[21][22] with the Griffins and Junior Sabres playing in the larger rink 1 known as KeyBank Rink at Harborcenter with separate dedicated dressing rooms. Rink 1 is also home to the Erie Community College Kats's of the NJCAA. The smaller rink 2 is known as New Wave Energy Rink under a separate naming rights deal.
The Rinks are also the home to the Academy of Hockey and the Harborcenter Cup as well as serving as the Buffalo Sabres' practice facility. The rinks were opened on October 31, 2014 with the first of back to back games between Canisius and Ohio State which resulted in a 3–3 tie, and games involving the Buffalo Jr. Sabres 16U and 18U teams.
Annually, in November, the Buffalo Sabres Thunder, a special needs hockey team, hosts a tournament known as the Coach Michael Steffan Invitational Tournament (formerly named Buffalo Fall Festival) at The Rinks.
In 2015, the NHL Scouting Combine was moved from Toronto to Harborcenter under a two-year pact. Buffalo also hosted the NHL entry draft in 2016. The NHL subsequently announced that it would continue to hold the combine in Buffalo through at least 2019.[23][24] The 2015 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships were held at Harborcenter.[25]
In January 2016, the venue hosted the inaugural National Women's Hockey League all-star game.[26] In 2016, the CHA conference tournament in women's college hockey began to be hosted at Harborcenter.[27]
From June 22 to July 3, 2017, rink 1 hosted a charity event known as 11 Day Power Play, which set a world record for the longest continuous hockey game.[28] It has since become an annual event at Harborcenter.
The 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were co-hosted by the KeyBank Rink and KeyBank Center.[29]
In September 2018, it was announced that the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, an NCAA Division I Men's ice hockey league tournament would be moving to Harborcenter from Rochester's Blue Cross Arena starting in 2019.
The NHL Rookie Tournament is also hosted at HarborCenter.
The 2025 World Para Ice Hockey Championships are slated to be held at Harborcenter in May 2025.[30]
