In addition to the whipping my Stars gave the Griffins (or as I jokingly call them, Griffindor because they have this dorky Harry Potter-like emblem on their shoulders), I got to be a passenger on the rink’s Zamboni® during the first intermission! I got an opportunity thousands of Canadians and specific Northerners covet. You think I’m kidding? I’ve seen TV commercials on the CBC, Rogers Sportsnet and TSN (their ESPN) for a hardware chain saying, have your kid come in for a drawing to ride the Zamboni at an NHL game intermission. They probably do it for the AHL and CHL (aka Juniors) teams too.
I must take some of the credit for the 5-1 victory too as you can see I was helping the staff resurface the rink in our favor.
Anyway, the Stars started executing this little hockey tradition recently (they didn’t last season) and I had been bugging my account exec (Chris, a great dude) for a turn. Being a season-ticket holder helped get me in queue.
What was it like? In short, Icesome! The memories of riding on my grandpa’s tractor came to mind although I don’t think I ever sat perpendicular to the driver before. Coworkers teased me about the helmet element. It’s mandatory in the waiver you have to sign yet what could go wrong.
I did learn more than I anticipated. First, it’s harder to get on board and I’m six feet tall. Second, Zambonis can really move when on concrete. Third, they’re not automatic, the driver would shift gears manually as we sped up on the straight sections. Fourth and last, you get sprayed because the seat is next to where the intake pipe suck up the surface water, the flap doesn’t stay shut.
As you can see in the photo I am seriously geeking out, waving to all the fans. Our announcer even said my surname correctly! I bet Chris wrote it out phonetically since few people learn Italian. It was a fantastic experience to add to my CV. Chew on this. How many folks have you (my friends/readers) met that have had a ride in a DeLorean, a Porchse 920 and this?
I did want to capture of a movie from my perspective but the driver explained why I couldn’t. If I dropped my iPhone, it would probably break from that height and hard surface below. Besides, I didn’t have $80,000 on me to replace the Zamboni should it get sucked in. I may have some movies from Somara and a co-worker’s perspective later.
Here I am after my ride with the skilled and courageous Zamboni crew.