The ice crew floods one of four curling sheets on Tuesday at the Sandman Centre ahead the Scotties, which begin Friday (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

ICE, ICE, BABY!

From hockey arena to curling ice: Kamloops technician helping transform Sandman Centre for Scotties

Feb 14, 2023 | 3:43 PM

KAMLOOPS — The minute the Blazers wrapped up a dramatic 5-4 win over Prince George on Saturday night, the transformation of the Sandman Centre from a hockey arena to a curling rink began.

“The Blazers finished 10 o’clock Saturday night. They arena staff had to take the glass out, which was a few hours, so we got started early Sunday morning,” said the Scotties’ chief ice technician Mike Merklinger, who also manicures the ice full-time at the Kamloops Curling Club.

The Sandman Centre ice was shaved down to make it as level as possible before starting work on the four curling sheets.

“The more level it is, the more easier it is to get going, so that’s the first thing — shoot it with a laser — level it with a zamboni, and once we’re happy with that just start building our ice on top of theirs,” said Merklinger.

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He says those floods will be done over the next two days before the teams practice on this ice Friday morning.

“That’s the pre-event practice, and that’s really when we get to see what the ice is doing and how it’s reacting,” he said. “Up until that point we’re just getting it prepped as best we can, and then we’re going to watch the curlers play on Friday morning.”

The ice technicians will be keeping a close eye on the ice conditions from now until the championship game on Feb. 26.

“We’re more watching what the ice is doing than how the game is being played,” said deputy chief ice technician Rebecca Duck. “Some of it is watching how they throw it. We’re watching our temperatures, we’re watching how the ice is reacting, curling speeds.”

From the time they arrive in Kamloops, it will be long days for the ice crew.

“We usually start around six to get the ice ready for the first game and we’re here until the last game comes off the ice,” said Duck.

Curling ice, more than hockey ice, is just a labour of love for these technicians.

“Before every draw, every game, it gets completely scraped and fresh ice, so it’s quite a bit of scraping, and a lot goes into it before even the first draw starts,” noted Merklinger. “It’s high-maintenance, really manicured ice and that’s usually the way I look at it compared to hockey ice or arena ice. It’s a lot of high-maintenance manicuring.”