New Technology Keeps Ice Smooth At U.S. Pond Hockey Championships
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Crews at the U.S. Pond Hockey Championship are using cutting-edge technology to keep the ice smooth and safe.
More than 500 hockey games on 25 rinks all on one lake can chew up the ice pretty good.
Sweepers and doses of fresh water from garden hoses were used in past tournaments to smooth out rough spots as best as possible, but that still didn't prevent cracks in the ice.
This weekend, for the first time, the ice is groomed by a dry-scraped Zamboni
"Most of us are used to seeing the Zamboni laying hot water down," tournament spokesman Jim Dahline said. "This one doesn't put any water down. It has a small auger on the back that scrapes and levels off the ice surface. It takes a small layer off the top, evening everything out."
This machine doesn't look any different than other ice-resurfacers. It's just as heavy, too.
The ice on Lake Nokomis can handle it, though. It's more than a foot thick where the rinks were drawn up.
It's always been strong enough when the ice is that thick, allowing crews to use equipment heavier than a Zamboni when setting up for the tournament.
So far, the scraping has worked wonders on providing an even skating surface on top of the frozen lake.
"It is beautiful," Dahline said. "Each morning we go out the ice looks incredible. It's super smooth."
Hundreds of teams will play on the frozen surface of Lake Nokomis by the time the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships end on Sunday.
"With the action on it, you're going to get a little more snow and chip on it," Dahline said. "We'll watch it throughout the day. If we need to we'll move some games around. So far, we're pretty optimistic about it."
