COMPLETE ICE RINK BUILT IN THREE DAYS IN SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY’S CARRIER DOME
by Mike Clayton B
asketball and football were pushed off-stage in November at the massive Carrier Dome on
the campus of Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y. With an army of students helping, ice rink industry veterans con- verged on the scene to bring the AHL’s Frozen Dome Classic to reality, featuring the Syracuse Crunch and Utica Comets. Te brainchild of Syracuse Crunch owner Howard Dolgon, the event marked the first time in the arena’s 34-year history that ice hockey was staged in the building. Prior to the installation, Crunch COO
Jim Sarosy said, “When you look at this event, the two greatest challenges we have are to sell 28,183 tickets (referencing the U.S. professional hockey indoor atten- dance record) and we have three days to get this up (before the team practices).”
Te building staff and the ice crew
worked around the clock. A record-set- ting 30,715 fans were in attendance. Te home team won. Mission accomplished. Ice Rink Events furnished the ice hockey
rink facilities, with the same rink to be used for January’s Hockey Day Minnesota event in St. Paul, and for the February Hockey City Classic on Chicago’s Soldier Field. Don “Scooter” Mosher led the tech- nical installation. Veteran ice consultant, former ISI
President and Syracuse native Jim Hartnett coordinated the logistics with Crunch management and SU’s Pete Sala.
“Outside we have to dance with Mother Nature,” Hartnett said. “In here, it’s been the time constraint.” Te Ice Rink Events team installed the roll-out mat system in just hours, with
dashers up and ice making begun that same day. Te entire ice arena, from raw turf to skating, was completed in just three days by the seasoned technicians. Hartnett characterized the process as a
series of steps like a synchronized skating team, such as installing glass at the same time as painting the ice — two steps that aren’t typically executed simultaneously but had to be, due to the fast-paced deadline. Yanni Gourde’s game-winning goal and
Andrei Vasilevskiy’s 26 saves edged the Syracuse Crunch to a 2-1 victory over the Utica Comets. “It was crazy,” said Gourde. “Te crowd was so big!”
Mike Clayton is the owner and president of Ice Rink Events, supplier and operator of some of the most challenging ice rink installations worldwide.
Zamboni® remains the overwhelming choice for professional, private and municipal ice rink operators throughout the world.
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ISI EDGE SPRING 2015
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