Saturday, September 29, 2007

First Pics 2007

Hopefully this will get everyone's juices flowing... your 2007 Center Ice Logo. The only change from last year is the lettering around the circle. If it was something really different, I wouldn't have posted the pic.


Click the Pics to Enlarge.

In the interest of "full disclosure" I did not get to do any ice painting. My "day job" kept me away. Painting was done by the 'unsung heroes' of the arena, see below for more on that.

Here is a pic shot during the process of re-stringing the goal net. It is a tedious and unsung task. But, there are a lot of unsung tasks going on around the arena. I have it great, I show and and pretty much do what I want when I want. As a part-timer, I have that luxury. Major Kudos go out to the guys who work there full-time doing the little things that fans and spectators never see.



Here is a cool pic of the Delta Queen. It is actually derived from 14 separate pictures, made into a panaroma with a very cool program called AUTOSTITCH.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

USBA - Back In Action

OK Folks, everyone is gearing up for hockey, including the staff at USBA. The compressors were turned on last week and fired up with no problems. It is common at any arena for something to have failed over the off season, or to fail shortly after the restart. But, the system fired up with no problems and has been running for about a week. The icemaking process, as described in the blog last year, will begin Thursday 9/26. It will be under constant care for at least 72 hours, and then close care for days after that.

Disney On Ice is coming, so the center box area will have to be built up for that, and then cut back down before hockey.

The locker room is all set up, with the known player names already posted above their seats. Pants, gloves, and helmets are hung from their places, getting ready for use.

Weber and Burke are spending the week in Montreal with the Habs, in preparation for camp.

We have painted the goals, and we are in the process of re-stringing the nets on the pipes. I have the blisters to prove that!

The Zamboni went to Mueller's hockey supply in Michigan for routine maintenance and she's running good. She did not get the cool new paint job we were hoping for. The Northern Kentucky Ice Center had to borrow it over the summer when they had problems, so the timeline for painting was lost.

All of the pieces are in place, awaiting the first drop of the puck!!