Las Vegas Ice Center

Although zambonis have since smoothed their surfaces, the rinks at Las Vegas Ice Center were once scored by the skates of a legend. Wayne Gretzky himself skimmed around the ice during his ninth annual Fantasy Camp in 2011, where he gave his students tips on how to send pucks flying without attaching them to remote-controlled helicopters. The center’s talented instructors continue to follow in Gretzky’s path, nurturing young hockey players during training sessions or honing the double axels and camel spins of young figure skaters. Those not interested in gripping a stick or perfecting their backflip can hit the ice at their leisure and hold a loved one’s hand during open-rink sessions. So that skaters don’t run out of energy or gear, a snack bar waits to warm up stomachs with a cup of cocoa, and a pro shop stocks more than 1,000 hockey sticks, gloves by Bauer, Easton, and Warrior, and figure-skating gear from Riedell, Jackson, and ChloeNoel.