Staff members of the Manitoba Moose are enjoying a well-deserved offseason after a hectic 2021 campaign, highlighted by ensuring a temporary move from downtown to the Bell MTS Iceplex went as smoothly as possible.
The intense transition brought dozens of hard working individuals together for a 17-game homestand at the Iceplex just to make playing during the pandemic possible.
“The first game was a nightmare. The second one, OK, a little bit better and I got to improve. By the end of that first homestand I just wanted to play again,” said the team’s game production and content manager, Colin Peterson.
Following four games at Bell MTS Place, the Moose shifted to the Iceplex for their only string of home games this season.
They welcomed the Stockton Heat on Monday, March 8 opening up a marathon 17-game swing at their new digs.
With no fans in the stands along with no video board or live replay capability at the Iceplex, Peterson’s job description along with many of his colleagues changed quickly and drastically.
“It was a total eye-opening experience of the technical aspects of some of those things that I wouldn’t normally get,” said Peterson.
“Most of the time it’s all about razzle dazzle, how to make something look flashy or what song is next, that kind of stuff!”
The shift from downtown was new territory for everyone, meaning some unanticipated changes needed to made.
“There’s a scoreboard only at one end of the rink here, so when there’s a penalty, the goalie with his back to the clock wouldn’t be able to see that the time is running out, so we mounted a TV on the back wall and distributed a signal there. Just one of those things that you would have never thought about,” said Tue North’s director of broadcasting services Noah Baird.
“We had to change out the entire glass system that was in the area being used which took about seven days from start to finish,” explained the GM of the Bell MTS Iceplex, David Sattler.
That’s in addition to several improvements on the benches, in the dressing rooms, even up in the broadcast booth.
“There was a plan, it was written on a napkin and we evolved as that went forward,” says Sattler.
“Each day including the first series against Stockton, the first couple games each night we took something out of that of what can we do better next time or what do we need to improve on and our team excelled at doing that.”
A season to remember for staff at the Iceplex, but especially for the Manitoba Moose themselves who expect to be back on their regular ice surface downtown this fall.
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