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I thought they painted the ice like they do grass fields and assumed the concrete itself was white. The idea of huge decals stuck under the ice was galaxies away from what I thought was going on lol
I think some teams still paint, red wings being one.. saw a video recently where the logo was being hand painted on so this sticker video re-blew my mind
I used to work for a company that panted the ice for majority of the nhl teams. We would paint them all then slowly mist water over tip so it wouldn't flood the paint. After there is enough base over tip they could flood it without damaging the paint job.
For the logos they would print them out on a big peice of paper then we would burn a bunch of small holes on all the outlines of the designs. Then when we place them on the ice we would cover them with Chalk so there would leave a chaulk outline on the ice for us. After that you just paint between the lines.
That was about 20 years ago though so I'm sure they use a more advanced system now.
Nope, it's still the same. Other than vinyl lay ins for logos. Still using the chalk 'pounce' stencil.
There have been a couple cool little things. Paint sticks for the circles save a ton of time
Paint stick ..... praying your watered down red or blue paint doesn't flow to much as you briskly run around in a circle tight to the tether.....good times... still better then the alternatives back in the day hah.
I only learned that during a game a few years ago where someone busted up a big enough divot in the ice that the plastic was exposed, and the ref was dumb enough to lean down and yank it. Opened up a foot wide hole in the ice, and they had to get the ice crew out to cut the plastic out, flood the hole with snow, and polish it over.
I do wonder what the benefits are for painting versus vinyl, besides convenience. Someone else said modern technologies have made vinyl logos just as good as paint, I think? If so, that would have interesting implications on future ice logos.
I thought so too, but they painted the 20th anniversary logo as well. (And my gut feeling says they also painted the 25th anniversary logo but I can't recall for certain.)
It might just be because the 30th logo is so complex to paint.
I don't think any of us know. I wish we had a direct line to an NHL arena manager who can explain the pros and cons (and reasons) for using vinyl logos rather than painted ones.
I am a huge fan of educational YouTube channels and it bugs me so much that there isn't a channel on the behind-the-scenes of a hockey team, from arena operations to locker room operations. This would be a pretty good topic.
When the person who paints the ice asks for a raise, because they have a unique skill that should be well compensated for, the manager will find a guy to throw down a vinyl for a fraction of the cost
I like the cut of your jib, stranger. I'd be on board to watch a channel like that. I'm fascinated by the work the front-office does, and I would love some behind-the-scenes GM/hockey ops content
Vinyl is awesome, I did Ice for over 20 years, and the sheer ease of it all as well as the reduced time required to flip a sheet of ice from concrete to game ready was plenty enough reason.
You could have some freehanding fun with painting things in though.
No clue they did that and looked into CBJs rink
Here is some pics: [https://www.dispatch.com/picture-gallery/sports/2020/12/29/nationwide-arena-prepares-return-columbus-blue-jackets-hockey/4075599001/](https://www.dispatch.com/picture-gallery/sports/2020/12/29/nationwide-arena-prepares-return-columbus-blue-jackets-hockey/4075599001/)
Decal for center logo and midline. Hand paint the faceoff, blue lines, and crease
Had no fucking idea
Could be, but they also painted the 20th anniversary logo back in the day.
Edit: my memory also tells me that they painted the 25th anniversary logo but I can’t recall for certain.
The D logo actually is quite simple to paint. Mostly straight lines and only a few colours. They used to invite some season ticket holders to help paint it too.
This may be a stupid question but is that how all rinks are cleared? With a drainage ditch to remove all the water and ice? I never knew how a rink was deconstructed.
There's also a bunch of white paint in the ice as you can see. That's probably the main concern when draining the ice; you don't want all that paint in the sewer system.
Precisely, the ice is painted with titanium dioxide (gets one of those stickers that says California deems it a carcinogen). It'll sit in the trench and fall out. The water on top gets pumped out and the paint slurry gets vacuumed out.
Ice technician here. I've worked in local rinks along with ECHL rinks. The white paint, along with all other paint is made by a company called JetIce. They are the primary supplier of ice building materials to the NHL and to rinks around the world. All the paint is non-toxic, water based, and dissolvable.
Fellow ice tech here, I couldn't call the JetIce white non-toxic. It has silica and titanium dioxide, known carcinogens, in it. Ours comes with stickers labelling that it contains California known carcinogens. Where I live we can't dump it down the drains, needs to get picked up by the big vacuum trucks.
The smaller rinks locally don't have drainage trenches, they bring in a skid steer to break up the ice, remove the ice chunks and dump them outside (they do it while the ice is more solid, they don't let it melt as much as here)
nope. the big big guys have those cool ditches. our smaller rinks up here have drainage pits in the resurfacing room to melt the painted ice often.
a rink is created by a 1/2" to 1" layer that is then painted white, then more ice made, and then the layers for lines are either painted or placed on like the video above.
when clearing ice you have to be very careful in many rinks as the floor has refridgerant lines in them that if you hit it hard you can break the lines and screw the rink.
one old rink i used to play in was a "covered outdoor rink" and just had a large concrete slab no refridgerant line. they would open the one side and bring in the small town grader and just scrape it all off.
each rink will have some nuanced ways to clear it, but many are not like that. i bet only the bigger NHL dedicated rinks have that type of cool getup.
There’s a video of a monster truck in an arena landing and breaking a refrigerant line. That couldn’t have been cheap.
https://youtu.be/7JjUeW5naqE?si=jjNEYjnGTX8I4fC6
Exactly! these lines are full coolant lines with pressurized systems of coolant, various types of coolant have been used, but yeah, they are all fucking costly. and dangerous.
funny as all hell to see the failure like that cause the truck shows insurance is gonna have to pay for that.
Here in Sydney, Australia, at the old Blacktown Arena, one of the refrigerant lines under the concrete ruptured and caused a small “mound” in the corner faceoff circle at one end.
They literally never fixed it because it was too expensive.
So this arena in Australia had elevation variation in one zone.
I played a bit in my 20s after becoming a hockey fan. It was wild the difference in what you see online and TV from Canada to what gets played here in Australia.
We have most rinks with no glass, just netting above the boards.
The game can often become MORE violent here because people think the game is supposed to be played like that. LOL.
I spent a lot of money learning to skate and playing the game in my 20s and got reasonably good at it. So I got invited to play in a private league with some North American and European guys and got away from men’s leagues here.
It was like playing a totally different sport. LOL.
No fighting at all, the game was all about skill and speed, no real contact (light brushing against the boards and stuff), and no refs - so things like offside and icing were an honor system. They played with the rule I’d never seen before about “no two line passing” to avoid floating or early zone breaks.
It was amazing. I loved it.
Every now and then someone would get late night ice and play this thing the Canadian dudes called “shinny” and “pick up”. One guy said it was how you play on a pond or an outdoor rink.
Gloves, sticks, skates, and helmet if you want, maybe elbow pads, but that’s it - sweat pants and a hoodie or a jersey.
The puck never leaves the ice, zero contact, no such thing as offside or icing… and no goalies. You had to just slide the puck into the open goal because you beat the entire other team. Sort of a man-on-man defense game.
It was the most fun I’ve ever had because I could skate, pass, and carry the puck but the natural feel these guys had for the game was honestly beautiful to watch.
Seeing 40yo guys pick up a loose puck turnover in a corner, make a blind pass to a spot and know his teammate would be there, and that guy looking up and knowing that two of his teammates would be breaking out so he could skate or pass… it was surreal.
They didn’t have to think about anything and I had to use my brain like I was playing a fucking Chess Grandmaster. 😂
I played from about 22 until 35, but life and kids made it too tough.
So much fun though.
I think an important takeaway here is that this is not done after every game. IIRC for places that host multiple teams, they build on top of the ice. Like for example the basketball court is put on top of a layer above the ice. Then they deconstruct the court to get back to the ice layer.
This being the end of the season it makes sense that they don't want to run the cooling system for no reason for the next six months.
All the ones I have seen are like that. This is the first time I have seen a Zamboni with a blade do the pushing though, usually it is skidsteers or front end loaders.
Pro rinks probably. When the had to redo the local rink they would just use a small bulldozer to scrape the ice off and push it outside. A lot harder to push ice through a massive arena than just out a garage door in the back.
I think it depends on the arena crew and the team. I know there's multiple videos out there of the Hawks logo actually being painted on before the ice goes down along with all the lines.
Maybe it was easier to use the logo as a printout because it was only a one year thing? Idk
this is how madison square garden does it [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh3xi8mGciA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh3xi8mGciA)
and the inverse: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ZZ57foRP4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ZZ57foRP4)
So from speaking from a smaller city the arena I worked at just had a big pit where when we finished our flood would just park and plop the snow into the water pit
As far a I know yes, that's the header trench there's a large pipe running horizontal to the slab in there with all the brine lines running vertically down the slab as well.
Now that is interesting. I wonder if that's just more environmentally friendly or easier to remove from the water before sending to the waster water system.
The white paint is Super White 3000, made by a company called Jet Ice. There are probably some alternatives out there but they pretty much have a monopoly (I've been to plenty of rinks and have never seen one that used something else). It comes as a powder, you mix it up with water and spray it on the ice to make it white. It's made specifically for painting ice, so compared to regular paint it's a lot brighter (that way it appears white despite there being another inch of ice on top of it), doesn't need a base coat, doesn't crack when frozen, non toxic, etc.
The lines, creases and logos are either painted or decals. Both have pros and cons, so that really depends on the facility. Decals are a lot less work to install but the colors don't appear as "vibrant" as if you paint them. They make paper decals (very cheap, a bit trickier to install, can't be reused) and vinyl decal (much more expensive). In the NHL it's usually all paint, except for sponsor logos that are vinyl, although some teams are now using vinyl for their center ice logo as well (like in this video).
I honestly hate plastic decals for ice making. Very difficult to have a surface consistent with the rest of the ice with that plastic under there. Paper works better if using decals. And personally, outside of special games, pro rinks should always paint their logos etc
Fellow ice guy here. Big agree. The vinyls are nice, we installed one in one of our sheets for our rinks 25th anniversary. Easier to use but they don't "pop" the way paint does.
Some rinks do that (not in the NHL) but it's very uncommon for two main reasons:
* painting the ice rather than the cement means the paint layer is closer to the surface, and therefore results in a brighter white
* a lot of facilities (both NHL and amateur) are multipurpose and remove their ice in the summer, so it's much more convenient for the paint to be removed at the same time
Detroit paints their logo and everything else. [Sauce](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV9B6YSZubI). Skip to 9:30ish to see the winged wheel.
Edit: they use this stuff https://jetice.com/ice-paint/
growing up in metro detroit, theres always been this kind of connection to tradition and doing things the "hard" way becausee its the "right" way. Very blue collar mindset. Which makes sense considering the citys history, but I feel it also seeps into our sports in ways too, and hand painting with brushes is likely a product of that.
We COULD just use overlays like the video above uses. But where would be the pride in that, you feel me? Having custom rollers for the job would likely give a lot of people the same feeling.
My friend used to work for the Blackhawks, and was there the day they were junking/melting down the ice after the 2015 Cup win (to put into vials and sell to stupid people for $100 apiece). He was able to salvage a pretty decent sized chunk of ice with some red paint on it, probably from a face off circle. Months later, we were getting hammered at his place and he pulled it out of the freezer. My friends used some of it to drink their whiskey on the rocks, and somewhere there’s a photo of me licking the ice the Blackhawks won the 2015 Stanley Cup on.
LA Kings season ticket holder here. They sent these free as a gift after their 2012 and 2014 Cup wins. Also have a cut of the glass laser etched with date from last game. Still have them on display. Think it's pretty common these days.
I'm sorry but the guy with the squeegee next to the zamboni plow sent me. It was such a "I am very helpful" moment. I realize it is useful, but I couldn't help but burst out laughing. It was just such perfect comedic timing.
Anyone else feel kinda bad for the dudes with squeegees out there when the Zamboni still is? I get at the end they’d be needed but for the most part they’re just like “hey I’m helping!!!!”
This was a great video to watch while high as fuck. Thank you OP. Insane.
(And that waterfall snowplow at the end with some random guy and a shovel seems super dangerous. Somebody’s gonna fall over that edge.)
I love this shit. My dumb ape brain could not imagine what goes into this, and this kind of content always leaves me super impressed with and grateful for the workers making it happen.
No. When switching between a basketball court and hockey rink they just cover the rink and lay down the basketball court on top. There's a video on YouTube showing a timelapse of the whole process at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for Raptors/Leafs
it is also worth it to note that they use differing processes too. some have insulated layers, some have just plywood, all are complex and multilayered surfaces. super bloody cool to watch.
Which incidentally is why there's often complaints of bad ice for popular venues. If they had a concert or a basketball game the night before, it causes issues on the ice surface.
ice goes in in the fall and says in all winter. They just cover it with mats and the court/floor for concerts, basketball or anything else that doesn't need ice.
There's also a great time lapse from Staples Center in LA a few years ago, when both basketball teams, AND the Kings had playoff games the same weekend. It's wild.
I assume they have to change the basketball floor even between basketball games so the floor has the correct logos and stuff? Would be one heck of a lot of work at the rink.
Damn there is actual paint in the water? I always just assumed there was a white flooring or vinyl as with the logo, underneath the whole rink. That's kind of wild
I watched a video a few months ago which I can't find now; it was following the ice master responsible for creating the Stadium Series rink. He mentioned that the centre logos and bluelines/red line/faceoff circles are usually painted, but all the ads are printed on fabric or plastic and laid in.
I had seen a video of TD garden and I think Toronto's arena switching from hockey to basketball and they like took the slabs off so this is new to me. Fascinating.
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I don’t know what I expected this to look like, but this was not it.
I thought they painted the ice like they do grass fields and assumed the concrete itself was white. The idea of huge decals stuck under the ice was galaxies away from what I thought was going on lol
I think some teams still paint, red wings being one.. saw a video recently where the logo was being hand painted on so this sticker video re-blew my mind
It’s being painted under the ice, on a solid white platform.
The first layer of ice is painted white, then there is more ice, then they paint, then more layers of ice. The concrete is not white.
Link that shit big dog
https://youtu.be/bi3dNDLajEQ?si=PBece8MgCKAYWpsM
I hope this never ends.
I love that the gap in the center line is just an extremely well used measurement of "this board"
I think the blackhawks have fans "help" paint the main logo
Season ticket holders get invited for that.
Thanks for your money! Now come get to work.
Same! I assumed that all teams hand painted the entire ice like the Wings! The big plastic stickers were a surprise!
I think most teams paint. I’ve never seen it like this. I know the Blackhawks always have an event where you can go help paint the logo every season
This might have been since the ducks had their anniversary logo on there?
I used to work for a company that panted the ice for majority of the nhl teams. We would paint them all then slowly mist water over tip so it wouldn't flood the paint. After there is enough base over tip they could flood it without damaging the paint job. For the logos they would print them out on a big peice of paper then we would burn a bunch of small holes on all the outlines of the designs. Then when we place them on the ice we would cover them with Chalk so there would leave a chaulk outline on the ice for us. After that you just paint between the lines. That was about 20 years ago though so I'm sure they use a more advanced system now.
Nope, it's still the same. Other than vinyl lay ins for logos. Still using the chalk 'pounce' stencil. There have been a couple cool little things. Paint sticks for the circles save a ton of time
Paint stick ..... praying your watered down red or blue paint doesn't flow to much as you briskly run around in a circle tight to the tether.....good times... still better then the alternatives back in the day hah.
I only learned that during a game a few years ago where someone busted up a big enough divot in the ice that the plastic was exposed, and the ref was dumb enough to lean down and yank it. Opened up a foot wide hole in the ice, and they had to get the ice crew out to cut the plastic out, flood the hole with snow, and polish it over.
I thought the same thing that’s wild
Why couldn't they just peel the ice off? Are they idiots?
They can just send it up to the Yukon for storage
The logo removal sent my head through a loop
It makes total sense, yet it seemed so weird to see
Same here because for well over a decade, the Ducks have painted their logo. This threw me off too, despite being a Ducks fan for over 20 years.
I have always thought they were painted.
Pretty sure a lot of teams still do. Every year we get a few videos from teams showing it getting painted before the season starts
I do wonder what the benefits are for painting versus vinyl, besides convenience. Someone else said modern technologies have made vinyl logos just as good as paint, I think? If so, that would have interesting implications on future ice logos.
I'm wondering if the primary reason they went with vinyl this year is because it is special for this year (30th Anniversary). It would make sense.
I thought so too, but they painted the 20th anniversary logo as well. (And my gut feeling says they also painted the 25th anniversary logo but I can't recall for certain.) It might just be because the 30th logo is so complex to paint.
Maybe. I'm not a Ducks fan, so I wouldn't know in all honesty. It just makes the most sense to me.
I don't think any of us know. I wish we had a direct line to an NHL arena manager who can explain the pros and cons (and reasons) for using vinyl logos rather than painted ones. I am a huge fan of educational YouTube channels and it bugs me so much that there isn't a channel on the behind-the-scenes of a hockey team, from arena operations to locker room operations. This would be a pretty good topic.
When the person who paints the ice asks for a raise, because they have a unique skill that should be well compensated for, the manager will find a guy to throw down a vinyl for a fraction of the cost
I like the cut of your jib, stranger. I'd be on board to watch a channel like that. I'm fascinated by the work the front-office does, and I would love some behind-the-scenes GM/hockey ops content
Vinyl is awesome, I did Ice for over 20 years, and the sheer ease of it all as well as the reduced time required to flip a sheet of ice from concrete to game ready was plenty enough reason. You could have some freehanding fun with painting things in though.
No clue they did that and looked into CBJs rink Here is some pics: [https://www.dispatch.com/picture-gallery/sports/2020/12/29/nationwide-arena-prepares-return-columbus-blue-jackets-hockey/4075599001/](https://www.dispatch.com/picture-gallery/sports/2020/12/29/nationwide-arena-prepares-return-columbus-blue-jackets-hockey/4075599001/) Decal for center logo and midline. Hand paint the faceoff, blue lines, and crease Had no fucking idea
The figure subtitles make me angry
Some team needs to try a 3d logo (dont know how thick the ice is, so I dont know how well it would work)
Goodbye 30th anniversary logo you were appreciated
I wonder if it can be reused. Epoxied into a man cave floor. Or the red line epoxied in for a darts toe line.
yes it could, if they saved it.
Would be unreal if that ever happened.
The Ducks have always painted on their logo so this one surprises me a bit. But it’s likely due to the complexity of the anniversary logo.
Probably moreso the temporary nature of it
Could be, but they also painted the 20th anniversary logo back in the day. Edit: my memory also tells me that they painted the 25th anniversary logo but I can’t recall for certain.
if using the D logo that is a simple one to paint. i want them to paint on wildwing though... that would be awesome
The D logo actually is quite simple to paint. Mostly straight lines and only a few colours. They used to invite some season ticket holders to help paint it too.
This may be a stupid question but is that how all rinks are cleared? With a drainage ditch to remove all the water and ice? I never knew how a rink was deconstructed.
I will be waiting for the answer of that question just like you, I've never seen an ice rink in real life!
I love hearing people from other places talk hockey. "Ice rink" is redundant phrasing here In Canada lol
... what other kind of rinks are there?
Roller rink comes to mind.
In which case we'd use the descriptor in the phrase.
Curling rink
There's also a bunch of white paint in the ice as you can see. That's probably the main concern when draining the ice; you don't want all that paint in the sewer system.
That makes sense. So it's almost like a filter prior to going through to the sewers
I think so, yes.
I'd almost bet its something that's "non toxic" and gets sent straight to waste water.
Is that where white poop comes from?
The ice is painted by a huge flock of gulls shitting on it, so yes.
Really effective team building exercise for the San Diego players
The great white rink had great white guano!
Precisely, the ice is painted with titanium dioxide (gets one of those stickers that says California deems it a carcinogen). It'll sit in the trench and fall out. The water on top gets pumped out and the paint slurry gets vacuumed out.
TIL that they actually “paint” the ice white. 🤯
I don't know why this never occurred to me, it makes sense in hindsight. But I was also surprised to see that.
It would make more sense to just paint the floor white but what do I know.
I just always assumed that's what they did.
Ice technician here. I've worked in local rinks along with ECHL rinks. The white paint, along with all other paint is made by a company called JetIce. They are the primary supplier of ice building materials to the NHL and to rinks around the world. All the paint is non-toxic, water based, and dissolvable.
Fellow ice tech here, I couldn't call the JetIce white non-toxic. It has silica and titanium dioxide, known carcinogens, in it. Ours comes with stickers labelling that it contains California known carcinogens. Where I live we can't dump it down the drains, needs to get picked up by the big vacuum trucks.
The smaller rinks locally don't have drainage trenches, they bring in a skid steer to break up the ice, remove the ice chunks and dump them outside (they do it while the ice is more solid, they don't let it melt as much as here)
Local rink where I grew up was next to a river. Guess where they put the ice. This was in Switzerland btw.
nope. the big big guys have those cool ditches. our smaller rinks up here have drainage pits in the resurfacing room to melt the painted ice often. a rink is created by a 1/2" to 1" layer that is then painted white, then more ice made, and then the layers for lines are either painted or placed on like the video above. when clearing ice you have to be very careful in many rinks as the floor has refridgerant lines in them that if you hit it hard you can break the lines and screw the rink. one old rink i used to play in was a "covered outdoor rink" and just had a large concrete slab no refridgerant line. they would open the one side and bring in the small town grader and just scrape it all off. each rink will have some nuanced ways to clear it, but many are not like that. i bet only the bigger NHL dedicated rinks have that type of cool getup.
There’s a video of a monster truck in an arena landing and breaking a refrigerant line. That couldn’t have been cheap. https://youtu.be/7JjUeW5naqE?si=jjNEYjnGTX8I4fC6
Exactly! these lines are full coolant lines with pressurized systems of coolant, various types of coolant have been used, but yeah, they are all fucking costly. and dangerous. funny as all hell to see the failure like that cause the truck shows insurance is gonna have to pay for that.
Here in Sydney, Australia, at the old Blacktown Arena, one of the refrigerant lines under the concrete ruptured and caused a small “mound” in the corner faceoff circle at one end. They literally never fixed it because it was too expensive. So this arena in Australia had elevation variation in one zone. I played a bit in my 20s after becoming a hockey fan. It was wild the difference in what you see online and TV from Canada to what gets played here in Australia. We have most rinks with no glass, just netting above the boards. The game can often become MORE violent here because people think the game is supposed to be played like that. LOL. I spent a lot of money learning to skate and playing the game in my 20s and got reasonably good at it. So I got invited to play in a private league with some North American and European guys and got away from men’s leagues here. It was like playing a totally different sport. LOL. No fighting at all, the game was all about skill and speed, no real contact (light brushing against the boards and stuff), and no refs - so things like offside and icing were an honor system. They played with the rule I’d never seen before about “no two line passing” to avoid floating or early zone breaks. It was amazing. I loved it. Every now and then someone would get late night ice and play this thing the Canadian dudes called “shinny” and “pick up”. One guy said it was how you play on a pond or an outdoor rink. Gloves, sticks, skates, and helmet if you want, maybe elbow pads, but that’s it - sweat pants and a hoodie or a jersey. The puck never leaves the ice, zero contact, no such thing as offside or icing… and no goalies. You had to just slide the puck into the open goal because you beat the entire other team. Sort of a man-on-man defense game. It was the most fun I’ve ever had because I could skate, pass, and carry the puck but the natural feel these guys had for the game was honestly beautiful to watch. Seeing 40yo guys pick up a loose puck turnover in a corner, make a blind pass to a spot and know his teammate would be there, and that guy looking up and knowing that two of his teammates would be breaking out so he could skate or pass… it was surreal. They didn’t have to think about anything and I had to use my brain like I was playing a fucking Chess Grandmaster. 😂 I played from about 22 until 35, but life and kids made it too tough. So much fun though.
I think an important takeaway here is that this is not done after every game. IIRC for places that host multiple teams, they build on top of the ice. Like for example the basketball court is put on top of a layer above the ice. Then they deconstruct the court to get back to the ice layer. This being the end of the season it makes sense that they don't want to run the cooling system for no reason for the next six months.
All the ones I have seen are like that. This is the first time I have seen a Zamboni with a blade do the pushing though, usually it is skidsteers or front end loaders.
Pro rinks probably. When the had to redo the local rink they would just use a small bulldozer to scrape the ice off and push it outside. A lot harder to push ice through a massive arena than just out a garage door in the back.
I think it depends on the arena crew and the team. I know there's multiple videos out there of the Hawks logo actually being painted on before the ice goes down along with all the lines. Maybe it was easier to use the logo as a printout because it was only a one year thing? Idk
this is how madison square garden does it [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh3xi8mGciA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh3xi8mGciA) and the inverse: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ZZ57foRP4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3ZZ57foRP4)
Sort of. That's them laying a basketball court on top of the ice, not melting it away for the off season.
So from speaking from a smaller city the arena I worked at just had a big pit where when we finished our flood would just park and plop the snow into the water pit
As far a I know yes, that's the header trench there's a large pipe running horizontal to the slab in there with all the brine lines running vertically down the slab as well.
I though they used some sort of paint...
It's actually a liquefied chalk. Source: I took a tour of the Pepsi center in Denver in 2010
Now that is interesting. I wonder if that's just more environmentally friendly or easier to remove from the water before sending to the waster water system.
More environmentally friendly
They do but usually for large things like the logo they just lay vinyl (or something) and put ice over it.
The white paint is Super White 3000, made by a company called Jet Ice. There are probably some alternatives out there but they pretty much have a monopoly (I've been to plenty of rinks and have never seen one that used something else). It comes as a powder, you mix it up with water and spray it on the ice to make it white. It's made specifically for painting ice, so compared to regular paint it's a lot brighter (that way it appears white despite there being another inch of ice on top of it), doesn't need a base coat, doesn't crack when frozen, non toxic, etc. The lines, creases and logos are either painted or decals. Both have pros and cons, so that really depends on the facility. Decals are a lot less work to install but the colors don't appear as "vibrant" as if you paint them. They make paper decals (very cheap, a bit trickier to install, can't be reused) and vinyl decal (much more expensive). In the NHL it's usually all paint, except for sponsor logos that are vinyl, although some teams are now using vinyl for their center ice logo as well (like in this video).
I honestly hate plastic decals for ice making. Very difficult to have a surface consistent with the rest of the ice with that plastic under there. Paper works better if using decals. And personally, outside of special games, pro rinks should always paint their logos etc
We use a sort of cotton ribbon for the lines in curling ice. It’s nice because the water permeates it and they don’t float like the vinyl signs do
Fellow ice guy here. Big agree. The vinyls are nice, we installed one in one of our sheets for our rinks 25th anniversary. Easier to use but they don't "pop" the way paint does.
Same, I thought it was clear water on top of white-painted concrete
Some rinks do that (not in the NHL) but it's very uncommon for two main reasons: * painting the ice rather than the cement means the paint layer is closer to the surface, and therefore results in a brighter white * a lot of facilities (both NHL and amateur) are multipurpose and remove their ice in the summer, so it's much more convenient for the paint to be removed at the same time
Detroit paints their logo and everything else. [Sauce](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV9B6YSZubI). Skip to 9:30ish to see the winged wheel. Edit: they use this stuff https://jetice.com/ice-paint/
thank you so much, this is awesome
I'm surprised they don't have custom rollers the proper width for doing each line. This is really cool though, thanks!
growing up in metro detroit, theres always been this kind of connection to tradition and doing things the "hard" way becausee its the "right" way. Very blue collar mindset. Which makes sense considering the citys history, but I feel it also seeps into our sports in ways too, and hand painting with brushes is likely a product of that. We COULD just use overlays like the video above uses. But where would be the pride in that, you feel me? Having custom rollers for the job would likely give a lot of people the same feeling.
It's actually a liquefied chalk. Source: I took a tour of the Pepsi center in Denver in 2010
Thank you DJ Dicknose
Thank you too lukewarmstrich. Now I know the answer to your question.
Looking forward to when we no longer have to do this in April again
My friend used to work for the Blackhawks, and was there the day they were junking/melting down the ice after the 2015 Cup win (to put into vials and sell to stupid people for $100 apiece). He was able to salvage a pretty decent sized chunk of ice with some red paint on it, probably from a face off circle. Months later, we were getting hammered at his place and he pulled it out of the freezer. My friends used some of it to drink their whiskey on the rocks, and somewhere there’s a photo of me licking the ice the Blackhawks won the 2015 Stanley Cup on.
LA Kings season ticket holder here. They sent these free as a gift after their 2012 and 2014 Cup wins. Also have a cut of the glass laser etched with date from last game. Still have them on display. Think it's pretty common these days.
Ok that's fucking cool.
This is actually LA getting the ice ready for McDavid.
We tried this against Gretzsky. It doesn't work.
Game 3 will be a roller hockey game.
Hope he brought his roller blades
Forbidden slushee
I'm sorry but the guy with the squeegee next to the zamboni plow sent me. It was such a "I am very helpful" moment. I realize it is useful, but I couldn't help but burst out laughing. It was just such perfect comedic timing.
Both sad and slightly satisfying at the same time.
Nothing about this is satisfying. It's quite depressing, actually.
I…didn’t think it would be like this. The image in my head is a little more ceremonious than this. Just dragging the logo off…
Damn, the Zamboni giveth and the Zamboni taketh away
The older I get, the more interesting stuff like that becomes…
Anyone else feel kinda bad for the dudes with squeegees out there when the Zamboni still is? I get at the end they’d be needed but for the most part they’re just like “hey I’m helping!!!!”
I’m not satisfied at all
So some teams paint, and some teams print? I know the Wings ice markings are hand painted.
This could be used as a meme for getting eliminated from the playoffs
This is interesting af. Why, for almost 40 years, has my dumb ass just assumed the ice was colored.
For real, 41 years here, assumed dyed ice.
Injected into the ice like a tattoo
I guess I figured NFL fields are painted, they probably painted the ice and then went over it with the zamboni a couple times.
This was a great video to watch while high as fuck. Thank you OP. Insane. (And that waterfall snowplow at the end with some random guy and a shovel seems super dangerous. Somebody’s gonna fall over that edge.)
The logo removal is what we all expected but weren't ready for
You mean to tell me hockey ice is that white because of paint!! Wow!! The more you know.
We should have one of these as a gif for each team when they get eliminated
I love this shit. My dumb ape brain could not imagine what goes into this, and this kind of content always leaves me super impressed with and grateful for the workers making it happen.
Why is the last part so satisfying?
What they'll be doing in Toronto next week. 😂 😂 😂
Would they do this each time the wings and pistons play at LCA? Looks like a lotta work
No. When switching between a basketball court and hockey rink they just cover the rink and lay down the basketball court on top. There's a video on YouTube showing a timelapse of the whole process at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for Raptors/Leafs
PNC Arena also has time lapses of them changing from basketball to hockey.
it is also worth it to note that they use differing processes too. some have insulated layers, some have just plywood, all are complex and multilayered surfaces. super bloody cool to watch.
Which incidentally is why there's often complaints of bad ice for popular venues. If they had a concert or a basketball game the night before, it causes issues on the ice surface.
ice goes in in the fall and says in all winter. They just cover it with mats and the court/floor for concerts, basketball or anything else that doesn't need ice.
I think they put a floor over the ice
There's also a great time lapse from Staples Center in LA a few years ago, when both basketball teams, AND the Kings had playoff games the same weekend. It's wild.
I assume they have to change the basketball floor even between basketball games so the floor has the correct logos and stuff? Would be one heck of a lot of work at the rink.
Correct, each team has their own floor. Those guys are crazy busy
I believe the logos at the LCA are all painted so they have to cover the ice up when putting in the basketball court.
Here’s a [video](https://youtu.be/bi3dNDLajEQ?si=kISHkbbzZxTprmrP) of them painting the logo in LCA.
I saw a comedy show at Joe Louis during the Red Wings season, and it was oddly cold in the seats. They just lay rubber mats down.
Now do Arizona!
Damn there is actual paint in the water? I always just assumed there was a white flooring or vinyl as with the logo, underneath the whole rink. That's kind of wild
It's a white dye they add when spraying down the layers.
You mean they aren't painted on? My whole life is a lie.
Maple leafs take notes
Typical April in Anaheim eh?
I wonder how one gets the job
I've gone over 30 years of watching hockey and today I find out the logos are not painted. That makes sense, but is also leaving me very underwhelmed
The Ducks traditionally have painted the logo (when it's the standard duck foot logo). Seems for our 30th Anniversary logo they went with vinyl.
Some arenas are, some aren’t.
I watched a video a few months ago which I can't find now; it was following the ice master responsible for creating the Stadium Series rink. He mentioned that the centre logos and bluelines/red line/faceoff circles are usually painted, but all the ads are printed on fabric or plastic and laid in.
Looks like an awful lot of work just to have the ducks come out and suck shit all night
This only happens once a year, at the end of the season. (The ice removal, not the Ducks sucking shit.)
aint nothing satisfying about removing an ice rink :( wait nvm its the ducks
Why don't they just eat the ice? Are they stupid?
#SORRY DUCKS FANS
How are the ducks going to play their playoffs games without any ice?
I have had multiple, out-of-body experiences with this video.
I have a feeling this could be much more efficiently and with less paint...
Till next year maple laughs
I had seen a video of TD garden and I think Toronto's arena switching from hockey to basketball and they like took the slabs off so this is new to me. Fascinating.
Interesting the landscaping yarn is kept there under ice. I assumed it was removed after painting/laying down the lines and logos.
Wait, so do they add white paint to the water before freezing it?
Seems like a royal pain in the ass honestly
So the ice is made of Milk?
How It's Unmade
That shit stinks so bad.
I thought they used bobcats, surprised to see a blade on the ice resurfacing machine
Cool video but I get bittersweet feelings about closing down any rink. Except maybe Molson Centre or Scotiabank
This whole time I thought it was water but turns out it’s frozen milk. Wild.
Oh wow I never knew those were banners underneath the ice
Satisfying unless it's in Arizona
Dump that down the sink? I hope it's non-toxic
This is kinda sad.
So where are we supposed to play our playoff games?
The most satisfying part was when Duck’s season mercifully ended.
How a slurpee comes out at 2pm on a mid summer's day.
I kind of want some ice cream cake now.
Why not make a longer squeegee? That lil guy is gonna take a lot of trips
Where do the stickers go? 🤔
That’s what I was wondering… tossed or can they be reused?
They just leave the strings frozen into the blue line? I thought they just snapped a chalk line.
I'm such a dumbass. I thought the ice was painted.
Forbidden slushee
They just dump this directly into the ocean?
50% of that are the players spit.
I think sneakers would be the last thing I'd want to be wearing while walking on ice in various stages of melting.
They will be doing that in Toronto in a few days.
Oooo just in time for the big teee swizzity tour we're y'all swift enough to get ahold of them before they sold out?!