For the first time last season the NHL decided to have, in addition to the Winter Classic and the Heritage Classic, four outdoor hockey games as part of their Stadium Series 2014. The idea behind this was to bring hockey back to its original outdoor roots while being in a bigger venue. Three venues were chosen for the four Stadium Series Games: Yankee Stadium in New York, Soldier Field in Chicago, and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Over the years, the quality of NHL rinks has been increasing. The expectation of the quality for these rinks is so high, it makes it very hard to bring the same quality to an outdoor rink. Building a rink in a major stadium is not as easy as it would seem. Today, the elements alone are not enough to create an NHL worthy rink. Factors like wind and rain are enough to disrupt the creation of good ice. That’s why the NHL brought in Dan Craig, Senior Director of Facilities Operations for the NHL, to help create the perfect ice for these games.
The technology used to build an ice rink outdoors is more complicated than one might think. Even in the dead of winter in New York and Chicago, man-made assistance and technology are necessary to build a flawless surface to skate on. To make a rink in these stadiums, the first step is to make a solid level surface on which to build. To do this, wood blocks are laid out over the fields to make sure they account for any possible unevenness in the surface. This was particularly important when building at Yankee and Dodger Stadium due to the transition from dirt to grass in the infield and outfield areas.
Next “decking risers [with] adjustable footings” are added to help guarantee a level surface. On top of that, plywood is laid down. According to Craig, aluminum is “the best heat-transfer material on the planet,” so aluminum trays measuring 30 feet long by 30 inches wide are laid down across the plywood. A refrigeration truck nearby then circulates 300 tons of glycol coolant through the trays to cool the rink.
In addition, there are 16 sensors embedded in the ice to help monitor the ice and make sure it stays at a perfect temperature of 22 degrees. But before the ice can be laid down, the boards are put up and attached to the aluminum trays. Once this is done, water is lightly sprayed with a hose across the playing surface. Due to the coldness of the aluminum and the spraying technique, the water freezes on contact with the aluminum. This is done until the ice is about one inch thick. From there, white paint is put on and then covered with another layer of ice. Toward the end, the crew can finally put on the finishing touches and paint on the final lines and logos.
Probably the most significant evidence of the great technological achievement of the Stadium Series was being able to host one at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Unlike the other stadiums, Los Angeles is in an area not known for cold winters. This past December, Los Angelinos were panicking as the temperatures dropped to highs in the 50s. Jimmy Kimmel even had an entertaining segment mocking how Los Angeles handles a little bit of cold. So, even in the worst Los Angeles winter possible, how could the NHL manage to put a professional quality ice rink outdoors in Chavez Ravine when a very cold day is still 10 degrees hotter than freezing?
Like building the other outdoor rinks for the Stadium Series, creating a level foundation to build upon was crucial. The rink needed to be in the center of the field for good viewing since there would be no additional on field seating, so the rink was placed between the pitcher’s mound and centerfield. This required the deconstruction of the pitcher’s mound in order to make a perfectly level field. After this was done, construction of the rink was very similar to the others. The one main difference was the outdoor temperature. Unlike New York whose average temperature in January is about 32 degrees, Los Angeles is usually in the mid-60s with days in low 70s. But this year was a little warmer than usual.
Part of the challenge of this build is Dodger Stadium is the southernmost and westernmost stadium to ever have an outdoor hockey game. According to Craig, when planning to use Los Angeles as a site for the Stadium Series tour, he looked at 15 years of weather patterns that said Los Angeles would be somewhere between 62-68 degrees. During the time of construction, Craig and his team had to deal with temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s—something that they did not plan on.
Working by day with the direct sunlight would not be ideal for laying the ice down. So to combat this, they built a special insulated thermal tarp to cover the ice during the day to prevent it from melting. This tarp has a reflective surface to help protect the ice from the warm winter sun of Southern California. In addition, most of the ice laying had to be done at dusk or after sunset when the temperatures go down to make sure the ice could actually form on the aluminum trays. The main concern of this project was making sure all the machines and refrigerators were running properly at the right time of day in order for the construction to go smoothly. But in the end, the ice was ready by game day and the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings were able to lace up their skates and play, while the fans watched in flip flops on a warm winter evening.
Not to say the Los Angeles game was a complete success, there are still issues with putting a rink outdoors in this city. One of those problems was not a bug in the system, but a bug on the ice—literally. Unlike playing indoors, players have to deal with the environment; and on a warm Los Angeles night, even in winter, bugs will be out. The game was actually stopped for a while as a referee and players tried to kill a moth on the ice before a face off. Stopping the game for a moth seems slightly ridiculous considering other sports deal with bugs outside all the time, but in a sport normally played indoors like hockey maybe a moth causes more trouble than one would think.
In all, the outdoor hockey games are great for the sport.
Not only does it bring hockey back to its original roots, it can put more fans in the seats. With the Stadium Series game at Dodger Stadium, the Ducks versus Kings game had an extra 32,000 fans that would not have been able to go if it were in the Honda Center or Staples Center, respectively. They more than doubled their seating capacity in one game! And that’s just at Dodger Stadium.
When the Winter Classic is held at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Red Wings seating capacity increases from 20,000 to over 100,000. That’s five times more people that can attend a game. Moving games outdoors would be perfect for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Stanley Cup, itself. As hockey grows in popularity across the United States, the need for bigger venues will be necessary. In addition, with a bigger outdoor venue, more of a show can be added to the event. For example, in the Ducks versus Kings game at Dodger Stadium, they were able to have a marching band come onto the field surrounding the rink as well as set off fireworks before the game. These are two examples of things that cannot be easily done in an indoor arena. With the technology today and the near perfection of making an outdoor rink, it only makes sense that more and more NHL games will be played outdoors. If Los Angeles can pull off an outdoor game with a little bit of tech, there is no reason it cannot be done elsewhere in the country.