The Zambonis Are Leaving the TD Garden
Call it the end of an era. Soon, there will no longer be Zamboni machines at Boston Bruins games.
Oh, the ice will still be resurfaced between periods—and by a hulking machine no less—but it won’t be a Zamboni doing the trick.
Though the Zamboni sort of has a place in the cultural lexicon as the definitive term for goofy-looking ice machines, it’s actually a brand name. In the same way not all bandages are Band-Aids, or not all tissues are Kleenex, not all ice surfacing machines are Zambonis.
The Bruins have used Zambonis “since they’ve had the machines,’’ according to TD Garden VP of Operations Jason Beckett. Zamboni is also the “preferred partner’’ of the NHL.
But at some point in the next month, the Garden will debut at Bruins games its new Olympia Ice Resurfacer machines, made by the Ontario-based Resurfice Corporation. The Bruins, according to the league spokesperson, will be the fifth team to adopt the Olympia machines. The Carolina Hurricanes, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, and Washington Capitals also use Olympias. In the past, Toronto, Los Angeles, Calgary, and Montreal have used Olympia machines, but they have since gone back to Zambonis.
The Zamboni Company, based in California, is named after the godfather of the ice resurfacing concept, Frank Zamboni. According to the company’s website, he ran a refrigeration company when he started experimenting with what would become the Zamboni machine in 1942. He filed for a patent in 1953.
The Resurfice Corporation, by comparison, was founded in 1961. It didn’t put out its first self-propelled machines until 1974, according to sales and marketing director Don Schlupp, whose father Andrew Schlupp founded the company.
Beckett, at the Garden, told Boston.com that the venue needed new machines and decided to go with Olympias because the new machines come with technology that provides what he called a “subtle’’ advantage. When ice is being resurfaced, two operators will be on the ice at the same time. When the operators cut the ice, it’s in their hands individually, allowing for some error, Beckett said. With the Olympias, a laser system coordinates the cut of the ice, making it consistent with both machines.
There may also be a financial edge; Resurfice customers buy their first machines outright, but the contract provides customers with new machines every three years for a relatively small upgrade fee, Shlupp said.
At the Garden, the new machines are just about ready to go. Beckett said training sessions for using the machines are scheduled in the near future, and he expects the new machines to debut by the end of February. The Zambonis will be retired—though Beckett said it’s not yet decided what will become of them.
The Olympias have been outfitted with a seat for a fan to ride along during an intermission, long a staple tradition at Bruins games. That will still be an option, same as it ever was. You just can’t call it a Zamboni ride anymore.
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