Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/501801
STARRINKS.COM MAY.JUNE.2015 / 31 "You want to build a thin layer to build a dense sheet of ice," Moffatt said. "You could go out there and flood a 0.5" of ice all at once but then air gets in it. Building it this way, it's like a phonebook. All those thin pages that you can't easily separate, that's how you want your sheet of ice and that's how you're going to get good qual- ity ice when doing a transition like this." Crews worked around the clock, spraying the refrigerated floor with small flash floods. After the first layer of ice was set, they worked on painting the sheet white and placing the correct markings and logos. Once the ice was in, it needed to be kept intact. Arena Event Decking covered the frozen sheet to prepare it for other events until the Frozen Faceoff in March. March 17, the ice was unveiled once again. This year ice levels remained right around the 1.5" mark during the cover, exactly where staff wanted to see them. "We were able to get a much better handle on the ice compared to last year," said STAR Director of Membership Cory Portner, citing event scheduling as the main culprit. "Time was a huge factor and it always is when converting. This year we had enough time to build a good amount of ice before it was covered and we were able to get on the ice much earlier than last year, too. "It made all the difference in our ice levels this year." Event Schedule Every arena manager knows you are at the mercy of scheduling. Last year's switch was made more difficult with Disney on Ice hosting an event at Target Center mere days before the NCHC rolled into town. Removing all the white paint the Disney event used caused ice conditions to be less than ideal. "We had to scrape down and then build the ice back up right before the event and you want to avoid that at anytime," said Moffatt. "It created green ice, which is brittle and breaks apart. Anytime you put in ice anywhere, it doesn't matter the venue, the first few skates are not going to be good. We know that for a fact. But the important thing is to not have those first few skates be a game. That's what we ended up with last year." This year, Disney on Ice was scheduled to run after the NCHC tournament con- cluded in March. That didn't mean Target Center was without events however. Between the ice placement date of Feb. 16 and the tournament March 19, Target Center hosted seven Timberwolves games, two state high school basketball tourna- ments, a comedy show, a WWE event, and an Enrique Iglesias concert. Even with all that action the crew agreed that the earlier they got the ice in, the better. "It's nice that this year we get to go right into hockey mode," said Tom Reller, senior director of operations at Target Center. "Putting it in earlier has its advan- tages, that's for sure." , Continued on page 32 "BUILDING IT THIS WAY, IT'S LIKE A PHONEBOOK. ALL THOSE THIN PAGES THAT YOU CAN'T EASILY SEPARATE, THAT'S HOW YOU WANT YOUR SHEET OF ICE. " —DON MOFFATT