CALGARY – There were no Zambonis in sight – just one guy with a single hose and another few with shovels.
It doesn’t get more old school than that.
Early Sunday morning, long before fireworks of the 2011 Heritage Classic began, the National Hockey League’s ice guru Dan Craig made the decision not to flood the ice at McMahon Stadium with heavy ice-resurfacing machines.
Although the temperature at puck drop was only -8.7 C, the days leading up to the game had been colder. The lower the mercury, the bigger risk of the ice becoming brittle. So, sending out a big ice resurfacing machine would potentially crack and damage the ice, making it unplayable.
Regardless, there were still missed passes and bouncing pucks.
Montreal Canadiens left winger Max Pacioretty caught an edge early on. So did a linesman. There was constant attention being paid to a few troublesome spots at every TV timeout, particularly in the north corner of the rink and by the Canadiens bench. The start of the game was even delayed due to some last minute repairs to the ice.
"It wasn’t great," admitted Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla after a 4-0 win over the Canadiens. "But under the conditions, it wasn’t bad either.
"You could see them working real hard on it around the boards. But it’s still better than some NHL rinks we play in.
"Guys weren’t complaining too much about it at all."
Both teams got a chance to test out the outdoor playing surface on Saturday.
But by the end of the alumni game later that evening, there was some cause for concern.
Flames defenceman Cory Sarich noted that puck handling was a challenge but wasn’t worried about the safety of the ice.
"I only saw a couple ruts out there that they patched on the go," said the Flames defenceman. "You weren’t really worried about board play or catching an edge or injuring yourself so thought they did a really good job.
"Pucks weren’t moving like they normally do but I felt safe skating on it. I thought they did a great job tonight."
Iginla felt the ice had improved from the day before.
"It was a lot better than it was (Saturday) during our skate," he said. "Early, we were talking that the puck was bouncy and were saying we should cash in on a few of those, keep it simple. But as it went on, I thought we adjusted and it wasn’t a big topic."
Gary Bettman didn’t think so either.
"Ice is not a problem," the NHL commissioner said.
It might have needed work, he said, but it wasn’t dangerous at any point.
"When the teams sign on to do this, they know they’re playing outdoors," Bettman said. "By the way, I hear a lot of complaints about ice in places where there is a roof. . . .
"It’s ice. It’s not a diamond that’s been polished and we were monitoring it very closely today. There’s issues with playing outside. But everybody knows that when you sign on."
Calgary Herald
Comments