Work begins on outdoor rink for Dec. 29 game at New Era Field

by Jeff Baker

Posted 12/20/17

After last year’s dramatic gold-medal matchup, the red-hot hockey rivalry between the United States and Canada has been reignited. And now, they’re taking it outside.

History will be made when the teams face off for the IIHF World Junior Championship’s first-ever outdoor game on Friday, Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. at New Era Field in Orchard Park, N.Y.

One week from now, the outdoor ice rink must be complete. Crews are working overtime to fulfill the massive undertaking of installing it in the middle of a football field. Construction began immediately after the Buffalo Bills game on Dec. 17 in order to have everything ready.

“It’s a significant process,” Michael Gilbert, Sabres Senior Vice President and Chairman of the World Junior Championship Host Organizing Committee, said. “They took the goalposts down and the Bills kind of turned the stadium over to us. We’ve been working pretty much around the clock since Sunday afternoon.”

First, a 20,000 square-foot deck had to be assembled to level the playing surface, adjusting for the curvature of the crowned field. Matting was then laid down on top of the floor.

To create the infrastructure, boards and glass are pieced together around the rink’s perimeter.

A 400-ton cooling plant will be brought down to the turf to generate the freezing power. Glycol, a chemical found in antifreeze, will be pumped through an impressive 30 miles of laid tubing.

Water will then be sprayed to let science and nature take its course.

“If you look at an NHL rink, under concrete, you’d have steel piping,” said Sabres VP of Arena Operations Stan Makowski, who’s helping oversee World Juniors facilities. “These guys have plastic tubing they’ve laid down. Next couple of days, we’ll get the chillers in. They’ll connect all that, start running the coolant through it. And pretty soon, we’re looking at ice.”

Lines, logos and creases will be painted once a solid ice base forms before more water ultimately creates the final layer.

Working on a tight deadline, the labor-intensive project is in good hands. Stadium staff have been collaborating with the experts at Ice Rink Events, a company that specializes in building outdoor skating surfaces.

“They do this all over the world,” Makowski said. “A lot of the guys who were here doing it, worked on the original Winter Classic, so we’ve got great partners there.”

Returning to the site of the NHL’s inaugural Winter Classic, where the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins in a picturesque snowy setting on New Year’s Day in 2008, the elements could again play a factor this year.

But when it comes to outdoor hockey, winter weather is something to be embraced.

“It’s outside, it’s Buffalo,” Gilbert, said. “There’s going to be that element. But that’s also what makes this a pretty unique event. And what made the Winter Classic.”

With Team USA’s riveting 5-4 shootout victory to win gold in Montreal last January, the U.S. will defend their title on home soil as the World Juniors head back to the states for the first time since Buffalo hosted the tournament in 2011.

Current and future top NHL draft picks, all under the age of 20, will take part in the rematch for the most highly-anticipated game of the preliminary round, which runs from Dec. 26 to Dec. 31, before the medal round begins on Jan. 2.

Tickets for all games are still available at BuffaloWorldJuniors.com as sales have continued to ramp up over the last week with the event nearing closer.

“Hopefully, that trend will continue over the next seven to 10 days and throughout the tournament,” Gilbert said. “And more people will come down and get a chance to see some of these players that, a year from now, will probably be in the NHL.”

Once the rink is ready, the U.S. and Canadian players won’t be the only ones hitting the ice.

Fans will have the chance to skate at New Era Field on Wednesday, Dec. 27 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, Dec. 28 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. before the big game on Friday afternoon.

“Most people who are into hockey or just love to skate, at some point in time in their childhood, they skated outside,” Gilbert said. “To see a lake in the summer, that all of the sudden, becomes frozen in the winter...and a chance to skate. I think it just brings out the kid in everybody.”