Everyone always asks why the Komets don't use two Zamonbi machines between periods since the Memorial Coliseum actually has three on site. A member of the Komets' staff asked a member of the coliseum staff the question. Some folks like to blame the Komets for being cheap with this, but that's not the problem.
Besides needing a second operator for the Zamboni, the coliseum would also need a separate area to dump the snow and water from the second Zamboni machine.
``The biggest hurdle we have is our physical challenges,'' the coliseum official said in an email to the Komets official. `` We would have to modify the Zamboni room significantly so that Two Zambonis would fit at one time. Second issue we would encounter is we would probably have to develop a dump tank to dump the snow in because I do not think we would have the water capacity to melt both machines, like we presently do, and get them filled up during the time allotted between intermissions.
``As you know we did use two machines for the NCAA tourney a couple years ago but that was only because we had Expo IV available to us for those games and a non-public corridor to drive the machine through to get it to a spot to dump and fill it and get it back on time for the next intermission.''
In other words, there was nothing else going on in the building at that time, which is rarely the case with a Komets agme. So there would be significant challenges to being able to use two Zambonis during a game. Keep in mind the Zamboni room probably hasn't been modified significantly in more than 50 years.
Interesting, but that's the real answer to the situation.
Comments
Wouldn't be the same amount of snow? 1 machine doing all the work or 2 doing half?
I'm guessing the problem is it takes a certain amount of time to drain the Zamboni machine and there's no way to speed that up, so you have to do something with the other Zamboni at that time. You can't leave it running inside smogging up the building. There's also not a lot of room to maneuver back there.
That's just a guess.
Robberblind,
Like Blake said, there is very little room back there. I remember driving cars on and off the ice from back there when I was part of the game night staff.
The amount of space to make the turn to enter and exit the ice is minimal, and there is only one drain to dump the snow back there, and only a single bay to store the Zamboni.
That area of the Coliseum is essentially a "time capsule."
Too bad that area couldn't have been revised during the other construction projects.
the zamboni in evansville was FAST why cant we just get a faster one? They only used one but it looked like it was FLYING around the ice.
I don't think that driving the Zamboni fast does anything to make the ice any smoother....if anything I think it could reduce the quality of the ice surface.
And do you want to explain why you lost control of the Zamboni and crashed it into the boards?
I heard the ice was not of optimal quality, but that sometimes happens when a new building opens.
Bob is correct in that. If you watch the way Paul does it, and he's the best at it, he goes slow over some patches and faster over others. That's because he has the rough areas already scouted out and knows which ones need to go slower to get a little extra work. He'll sometimes go over a spot an extra time or two. The situation is then he has to make up the time by going faster over other areas.
The coliseum staff works on the ice quite a bit. Sometimes in the spring when it gets warm, there's not a whole lot they can do, but they really do try very hard to make the conditions as good as possible.
Raise my taxes, I want 2 zambonis running
who cares?? i dont understand why anybody even cares about this. intermision time is the same so who cares how long it takes to scrape the ice>??? istnt there hockey to discuss instead??
Chuckitt, at least we can finally put this topic to bed and move on to, why doesn't the zamboni have passenger seats like the ones at NHL games?
I've been asked this probably 100 times over the years.
From what I've been told, it's because the coliseum insurance won't allow it, Burgee. That's why they started the Ride with Icy thing.
I knew that, I was just being my usual self.