Yes,  I have been a bad blogger again this year. So much to do, so little time.

I get about a 10 day break because the circus is in town. This is the only time during the year when the ice comes out completely. After the Cyclones victory against Evansville on Saturday night, the chiller system was turned off. Sunday morning the crew returned and the ice surface had "popped" or de-bonded from the concrete.

Two bobcat type mini-bulldozers ripped up the ice and took it out. The floor was cleaned with scrubber trucks and the class and full dasher boards will be removed by Monday afternoon, all the way down to the ice dams.

After the circus, the dasher boards will go back in and then WWE performs at US Bank Arena. The dashers help delineate the floor area and keep people out who do not have tickets. The next day the glass will go back up and the floor cleaned thoroughly. All the ice painting supplies will be set up by the rink and ready to go for the next day.

Then, the 4-day process of icemaking begins. Non-stop so no frost builds up on the building ice, the rink will be ready for hockey practice 5 days after it all starts.

We'll have "virgin ice" for the last two home games and playoffs.  It will be a little rough at first, as it reaches equilibrium and settles in but it will be awesome for playoffs.