When the puck drops at the 麻豆传媒映画Canucks versus the St. Louis Blues game tonight, most eyes will be on the action between players.
For some of the youngest in the audience, however, the real action starts when the Zamboni circles the rink between periods.
Wade McLennan, 44, building operator at Rogers Arena, describes himself as a rock star to the five-year-olds and younger set because he drives the arena鈥檚 ice resurfacer.
Zamboni is actually a brand name and the ice cleaners at Rogers are Olympias. But even McLennan slips when speaking about his machine.
鈥淭hey just see the guy on the Zamboni and they wave at you from the stands,鈥� he said.
聽鈥淜ids will be looking through the barricades as I drop the snow 鈥� it is pretty funny.鈥�
Ice resurfacers work by shaving off the top layer of ice with a large hydraulically lowered blade 鈥� the blades are changed on the two Olympias every two or three games.
A giant horizontal auger, or drill bit, collects the shaved 鈥渟now鈥� which is stored in the front of the machine until the bucket is full.
Hot water is sprayed from the Olympia onto the ice where it fills in any cracks and bonds to the other layer of ice to form a smooth surface.
On Canucks game days the arena鈥檚 two Olympias total seven or eight cycles around the ice, including pregame practices.
To make the ice as hard and fast as possible for a game, it is cooled to an internal temperature of about -8 Celsius and shaved to approximately 20mm thick. The thicker the ice, the slower it is to skate on.
Hockey ice needs to be cold and thin.
Tessa Dec, 8, has watched Canuck games since she moved to 麻豆传媒映画from Germany four years ago. She told the Courier driving the 鈥渋ce machine鈥� would be a really cool job.
鈥淏ecause then you get to ride on the big truck and you can see the ice nice and shiny,鈥� she said.
McLennan is one of five full-time building operators who run the arena 鈥� everything from preparing for a rock concert to making sure the lights and heating are operating to plunging a toilet while the Canucks are playing.
But it is his on-ice duties that garner him the most attention, even from the children of Canucks players.
鈥淲here [players] park, they walk by it so they all have stuck their kids up on it,鈥� he said.
Some of the Canucks鈥� offspring are more interested in watching McLennan than their famous fathers, he said.
None of the players has ever ridden the Olympia. Unauthorized drivers are not allowed.
Though it doesn鈥檛 have a speedometer, McLennan guesses the Olympia travels about 10 to 15 kilometres an hour.
But he鈥檚 never pushed it flat out.
Preparing the ice for NHL level play is serious business. Referees grade the ice several times a game, but McLennan said he is more concerned with what the players think.
鈥淚f Henrik and Daniel are happy with the ice then I am pretty well happy with it too,鈥� he said.
The best time of his career so far was during his rookie year when he got to resurface the ice during game seven of the Stanley Cup.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun place to work,鈥� he said.
Interview requests sent to Canuck players and coach John Tortorella were declined.
