So far, our 25th year serving the American rink industry has
been great, membership is trending toward another all-time high, the 21st annual
North American Rink Conference & Expo event was one of the largest ever, and
our Regional Training Programs held this summer and fall have been very well
attended. You can check out our remaining training opportunities in 2025 start-
ing on page 25.
Every issue of RINK we highlight one of our Facility Members, and in this
issue, we've featured the Wings Arena in Stamford, Connecticut. You can read
more about this
brand-new community
rink on page 18.
With the start of
hockey season, your
building and equip-
ment are going to
start taking a beating,
especially your dasher
boards. The article
on page 34 focuses on
best practices for dash-
er board and shielding
system inspections and
maintenance.
Starting on page 36
you'll find an article
reflecting on the sig-
nificant accomplishments, organizational changes and tragedies that our partner
U.S. Figure Skating faced during the 2024-25 skating season.
And finally, we've a included a piece in our Real Programs section regarding
a Try Sled Hockey for Free program that was developed and implemented suc-
cessfully by the staff at the University of Colorado Boulder Student Recreation
Center ice rink.
As always, I hope you enjoy this issue of RINK.
P.S. Don't forget to mark your calendar: 2026 NARCE registration opens in
early January!
— Jeff Theiler, Chief Operating Officer, United States Ice Rink Association
Opening ADDRESS
Welcome from Jeff Theiler
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
UNITED STATES ICE RINK ASSOCIATION
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025 // VOL. 28, NO. 5
USICERINKS.COM // INFO@USICERINKS.COM
P R E S I D E N T
David Jensen
C O N T R O L L E R
Mike Schwarz
A R T D I R E C T O R S
Mike DeArmond, Brandon Favre
A D S A L E S
Bryan Nelson
E D I T O R
Aaron Paitich
M A R K E T I N G & C O N T E N T C O O R D I N A T O R
Emily Sizen
M A R K E T I N G C O O R D I N A T O R
Brooke Pioske
RINK Magazine is the definitive business publication
for professionals in the ice rink industry and is the
leading source for information on facility management,
operations and programming.
PUBLISHING
PARTNER
1601 Utica Avenue South, Suite 110, Minneapolis, MN 55416
E - M A I L : info@nordstarmedia.com
W E B S I T E : nordstarmedia.com
Mission: "To advance the ice rink industry through
membership, world-class education, training,
resources and events."
C H I E F O P E R A T I N G O F F I C E R
Jeff Theiler, CIRM, CIM
D I R E C T O R , E D U C A T I O N
John Monteleone, CIRM, CPRP
P H :
(
719
)
538-1149 F A X : (719) 538-7838
E - M A I L : info@usicerinks.com
W E B S I T E : usicerinks.com
A P A R T N E R W I T H
E D I T O R
Aaron Paitich
C O N T R I B U T I N G W R I T E R S
Barb Bogner, John Monteleone, Jessi Pierce,
Troy Schwindt, Jeff Theiler
E D I T O R I A L B O A R D
Barbara Bogner, Rockne Brubaker, T.C. Lewis,
John Monteleone, Rory Mushlin,
Craig Petersen, Jeff Theiler
D E S I G N E R S
Mike DeArmond, Brandon Favre
14 / SEPTEMBER.OCTOBER.2025 USICERINKS.COM
Full Fall Slate
Regional Training Programs, new community rink,
maintenance and more in this issue of RINK Magazine
2026
2026
SAVE THE DATE! NARCE is
returning to Milwaukee
May 12-15, 2026!
M E D I A
