TAMPA, Fla. – Steve Mayer walked through the southwest tunnel at Raymond James Stadium on Thursday morning and was floored by what he saw. The NHL’s head of events and content witnessed something that was a long time in the making: preparations for an outdoor hockey game in Florida.
“What we’re doing, and how we had to engineer this, is extremely unique,” he said during Thursday’s media briefing that took place on the 200 level of the south end zone with the not-yet-fully-constructed tent, under which a rink is being assembled, serving as a backdrop. “For many years, it was just hard to figure out how to engineer what we’re about to do. Once we were able to figure it out, we were off and running.”
The NHL’s 45th outdoor game between the Lightning and Bruins on Feb. 1 will be unlike any of the previous 44.
On Sunday afternoon, the media was invited to view the initial stage of the ice-making process under the now-completed climate-controlled tent. Six air conditioning units lining the tent’s exterior on both the east and west sides were humming full blast to cool the interior to a temperature in the low-fifties, according to an NHL official. By the feel of it at 5 p.m., such a desired temperature level was well on its way to being achieved.
“If we were building the ice without the tent and we were dealing with 80-degree days, 70-degree days, it’s not easy to maintain,” said Mayer. “The fact that we’re building in a controlled environment and then exposing the rink for just a few hours of the game, I think we’re going to be okay.”
Lines and logos will be installed Thursday and come early morning game day, the tent will be disassembled over a period up to 10 hours. It is an extremely ambitious schedule leading up to an early evening puck drop — coverage in ESPN begins at 6:30 – when considering such a project typically days to fully disassemble. The idea is have the ice exposed for as short a time as possible.
GNB Global is the manufacturer of the tent at RJS. The company is headquartered in Winnipeg and has manufacturing facilities in Canada and the U.S. It was at the firm’s facility in Rhome, Texas, about 50 miles northwest of Dallas, that several test runs were performed.
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“They’ve been rehearsing the dismantle of the tent for months now,” said Mayer. “So, with all that and all of those pieces having to come together, we’re ready. It’s going to be quite a day.”
Mother Nature may have turned into a hockey fan. Low temperatures for Tampa throughout the week are forecasted to be in the 30s. On game day, the high is forecasted to be 55. Of course, the forecast can change. Things are looking pretty good, though.
“We’re used to just about everything and based on weather forecasts that we’re looking at right now, we should be okay,” said Mayer.
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