Bolshoy Ice Dome The Bolshoy Ice Dome ( ) is an indoor sports arena located in Sochi , Russia . Opened in 2012 , it has a capacity of 12 , 000 and formed part of the Coastal Cluster of venues for the 2014 Winter Olympics . It hosted the ice hockey competition of the 2014 Olympics , serving as the main venue for the men ' s tournament and hosting the medal matches for the women ' s tournament . It also hosted both the IIHF World U18 Championships and Channel One Cup in 2013 . The arena was designed to resemble a frozen water droplet . Its signature feature is its roof , which contains LED lights on its outer shell that illuminate the arena at night . The Ice Dome will be converted into an entertainment centre and concert venue after the Olympics . Arena will host HC Sochi , a newly founded team of KHL . Name and location . The arena was named " Bolshoy " , meaning " major " or " great " in Russian . This highlights the integral role of ice hockey at the Olympics , which has been dubbed " the most popular sport " of the Games by the organizers themselves . Furthermore , the name was chosen due to its universal familiarity in other countries , in addition to its allusion to the Bolshoi Theatre , Bolshoi Ballet , and other great Russian accomplishments . The Ice Dome was situated in the Coastal Cluster zone of venues for the 2014 Winter Olympics . It served as the main arena for the men and women ' s ice hockey tournament throughout the Games . It is the only venue in the Olympic Park located on top of a hill , and is less than away from Shayba Arena , which was the secondary ice hockey venue that hosted mainly preliminary round matches . Structure and facilities . The construction of the Bolshoy Ice Dome started in 2009 and finished in 2012 . It was designed by architect firm Mostovik and completed at a cost of approximately US $ 180 million , although ITAR - TASS estimates the cost to be as high as $ 300 million . A total of 20 architects and 70 engineers – headed by Andrey Ustinov – were responsible for the construction of the arena . The exterior structure of the Ice Dome was designed to resemble a frozen ice droplet . It has also drawn comparisons to a Fabergé egg , due to the light - emitting diodes ( LEDs ) resembling the " jewel - encrusted surface " of the famous Russian art piece . Ustinov confirmed that the building was designed to be " a combination of both . " The roof of the dome is mostly silver in colour and is covered with aluminium panels . It is decorated with 38 , 000 LED lights which illuminate the outside of the arena at night . The roof also doubles as a scoreboard that displays the live score of the game being played inside and an animation of a hockey puck whenever a goal is scored . However , it famously did not display the final score after the United States defeated the hosts Russia 3 – 2 in an overtime shootout during the 2014 Winter Olympics . In the arena ' s interior , the 12 , 000 seats are arranged in bowl - like configuration . The concourse features of glazed glass , which enables spectators to have a view of the Caucasus Mountains . The hockey rink ' s dimensions are × , in line with the International Ice Hockey Federation ( IIHF ) specifications . This contrasts with the dimensions of the previous Olympics , which utilized National Hockey League ( NHL ) sized rinks that are narrower in width . It contains 12 dressing rooms for players , an entry tunnel that can be accessed by large vehicles , and a practice ice rink . Moreover , the Ice Dome uses heat transfer fluids on the ice and in the air conditioning system . This helps to preserve the quality of the ice , as well as moderate the temperature within the arena so that spectators are kept warm while maintaining the coolness of the ice . These technologies – along with the arena ' s insulation – were developed by the Dow Chemical Company , one of the official sponsors of the Olympic Games . Events . In order to test the arenas built for the Olympics , the Bolshoy Ice Dome served as one of the venues for the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships . It subsequently held the Channel One Cup from 19 – 22 December 2013 in final preparation before the start of the Games . As the main venue for the 2014 Olympic ice hockey competition , the Ice Dome hosted most of the preliminary round games and almost all the playoff round matches for the men ' s tournament , while hosting solely the medal matches of the women ' s tournament . On February 20 , it held the gold medal match for the women ' s tournament , which saw Canada overcome a 0 – 2 deficit against the United States to tie the game with less than a minute of regulation time remaining , before scoring in overtime to secure their fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal . The arena hosted the gold medal game of the men ' s tournament three days later on 23 February – the final gold medal of the 2014 Games up for contention – in which Canada defeated Sweden by a score of 3 – 0 . In doing so , the Canadian team won an Olympic gold medal outside of North America for the first time in 62 years , became the first team since the Soviet Union in 1984 to finish the tournament with a perfect record , and the first team to successfully defend their gold medal since the Soviets in 1992 . Future . After the conclusion of the Olympics , the arena will continue to host a variety of sports , in addition to becoming an entertainment centre and concert venue . The arena will host HC Sochi , a KHL expansion team .