Transcript – Dan Craig, NHL’s Facilities Operation Manager

Q: How does this work from the truck to the ice?

“What it is… is it’s similar to your freezer. This is similar to the little compressor in the back of a [refrigerator] and the coils on the back of the fridge are the piping that goes into the floor. What we do is we take the truck and we park it out on the street and then we put the pipes down to the floor and we have a portable floor that we put together. And all the solution from the truck flows down into the floor, turns around and comes back and we make sure that the floor is nice and cold.”

Q: So the truck essentially makes the ice?

“Well, it keeps the floor cold so that we can put water on it to freeze it. That’s what it does. This is the largest portable refrigeration system that is known to us in the world.”

Q: Was this system designed specifically for the Winter Classic?

“Yes it was. It was designed over the summer after the Buffalo game basically because there was a certain situation that happened during that particular event. The National Hockey League and I sat down and we just said that it would be better for us moving forward that we had our own equipment. I was able to have my own crew that we were able to bring in, so that I would not have such a high stress level.”

Q: How much did this unit cost?

“This particular unit, the truck it self was $800,000 and the portable floor was about $600,000. So we’re over $1.5 million. And then the floor, we bought that. We also had our own boards. The boards that we used in Buffalo belong to us. We’ve had our board system for 10 years and we’ve also now purchased two smaller zambonies to go with the system we have.”

Q: Have you done anything… is this system different than the first one you used in Buffalo?

“This is totally different from Buffalo. It’s exactly the same as the one used at Wrigley Field, so from Wrigley Field on – we’re using exactly the same system every year.”

Q: And this is a better system?

“Oh very much. This is state of the art. Everything is computerized on it. If we had the system set up right now, we have a system that we put within the floor that sends a signal through a Blackberry or a computer, wherever we are, I can help prevent it if I have a problem with the system, it will signal me that I have to leave now or I can stay here and I can eat.”

Q: Are there any unique challenges that Fenway Park poses compared to other sites in the past?

“No, it’s fairly similar to what we had last year at Wrigley. The run from the truck to Fenway is going to be a little bit shorter. So if we have a warmer day we will be able to have a quicker recovery on our system, compared to what we would have if it were warmer at Wrigley. We had had quite a run, we had over 450 feet of run on.”

What if it’s way above freezing on New Year’s Day?

That’s an envelope we haven’t pushed yet. We want to make sure the system we have engineered and designed will get us to what we need to have. For me saying that we won’t have a problem at 50 (degrees) I know in my heart of hearts, but until we get there and we push the system, what to we really have.

What kind of challenges do you have in the event of rain or snow?

That will depend on how much rain and how much snow. In Buffalo we had a lot of snow and from there we developed a program.
As for rain, that would be a game day decision by Gary Bettman and Colie Campbell. They would come to us on the hockey operations side and ask us how it’s impacting the ice surface and how we can keep up. For me, we have the machinery and the personnel to stay on top of the problem.

Could heavy rains postpone the event?

It will impact the play of the game faster than it would impact the condition of the ice because of the speed that this game is played. We’ll be able to freeze the rain that falls. But a player playing the game with a visor and skating as fast as he can – if it’s 38 degrees and raining, that’s cold. It’s like pins and needles. That would be one of the things between Colie Campbell and the commissioner as to when we delay or when we cancel.

source: NHL Network