NORFOLK, Va. — Before thousands of screaming fans fill the Norfolk Scope to cheer on the Admirals. I got a behind-the-scenes look at the ice-making process inside and under the Scope.
The first step doesn’t start with ice or even water: it starts with paint.
After installing the boards around the perimeter of the rink, the ice crew sprays a coat of white paint on the concrete floor.
Next, they hand paint the blue and red lines and face-off circles. Once the paint dries, it’s time to start making ice with the freezing coming from underneath.
Emiliano Salcedo, Operations Crew Leader with Seven Venues says, “They keep the floor somewhere between 16 to 22 degrees. Very cold.”
Glycol is pumped through tubes running inside the concrete floor, freezing each layer of water as is it sprayed on the surface.
While the crew continues adding layers of water, they place the ice logos - which actually look more like a mesh screen than a decal.
“Once you get your stencils and you seal them and make sure they're nice and smooth... they look nice and glossy, like a portrait," says Salcedo.
As the layers of ice continue to stack up, the crew puts up the glass around the rink. Salcedo says, “[they're] big, heavy pieces of glass 200 to 300 pounds. You need at least four to six people to put them up.”
Once the process is complete, the ice is about ¾ of an inch thick, and we are ready to drop the puck.
Even though the ice surface is indoors and kept cool from underneath, it can still be impacted by the weather. Salcedo says it becomes an issue very early and late in the hockey season when it is warmer with more humidity.
“When it starts getting warm, a lot of moisture comes inside of the building and that's something that we try to fight," he says.
The Admirals players I talked to say they can notice a difference in how the ice feels.
Norfolk Admirals forward Justin Robidas says, “Sometimes it's choppy, sometimes it's soft, it's hard. It really depends on the weather outside. When it's colder, the ice definitely tends to be harder a little bit.”
Former Norfolk Admirals defenseman Ronan Seeley says, “When I was down in Florida for a little bit, we had a preseason game there. And I mean, yeah, it's a little different. But once you get on the ice, it's the same game right? No matter where you go in the world, it's the same game.”
You can visit norfolkadmirals.com to learn more about the Norfolk Admirals and check out the players (and the ice) in action.
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