Prepping the rink for Bucks hockey

By Paul de la Peña-Franceschi

The Laredo Bucks have hit the ice for their second season. The Bucks led the Central Hockey League in goals scored in their inaugural season and boasted of the best home game record in the League with 26 wins, four losses, and two ties. Before the games begin, however, the Laredo Entertainment Center spends hours of preparation laying down the ice.
Approximately 30 hours and 14,300 gallons of water are needed to prepare the rink for ice hockey. The lines visible from the top seats are painted on a lower level of ice. The painting itself takes about six hours. This series of lines are required for ice hockey competition.
The goal lines are thin red ones which run between the goal posts and extend in both directions to the sideboards. A pair of one-foot wide blue lines extend across the ice at a distance of 60 feet from each goal. These are the lines that break the ice into attacking, neutral, and defending zones. The center line or red line divides the ice rink in half. This line comes into play when icing is called; it is also where the puck is dropped for face-offs at the beginning of each period and after a goal is scored. The center circle measures 30 feet in diameter. The four remaining circles are also face-off circles used when action is stopped closest to that violation.
To clean the icy surface before practices and home games, a special icing machine called a Zamboni is needed. Named after its creator Frank J. Zamboni, the icing machine is a highly specialized piece of equipment that collects, cleans, and renews the ice between periods. In its travel across the ice it scrapes the loose shavings off the surface and then lays down a layer of hot water. The water must be hot in order to melt the upper ice surfaces and weld a smooth sheet of new ice on the surface. The entire process only takes a few minutes.
For more information about the Zamboni ice machine contact The Robot Factory via email at info@robotfactory.com. To find out about the Laredo Bucks 2003-2004 season log onto www.laredobucks.com.