Craig Transforms Ford Field to Hockey Palace
-By Mike Moore-
DETROIT — Hockey would be played here in a little over a week, but on this March 30 afternoon, Ford Field was a construction zone occupied by sheets of plywood, rubber flooring and a silver panel covering the west end zone that stretched from one sideline to the next.
To the casual onlooker, the eight full days left before the 2010 Frozen Four officially began would hardly be enough time to transform this football gridiron into a sheet of playable ice to crown college hockey’s king.
Someone, somewhere had to be stressed out.
Surely, whoever was in charge of this operation had to have the panic button in hand?
“I never get nervous,” Dan Craig quipped, hands empty, by the way. “We’ve had years to think about and plan for this. We’re ready.”
His confidence and his smile were interchangeable as he spoke to a group of media in the stands at Ford Field, his master puzzle being constructed behind him. There was no stress, no tension, just a contagious ease and comfort.
You see, Dan Craig knows ice; it’s as simple and complicated as that.
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Dan Craig talks with the media March 30 about the process of
putting an ice rink on the turf at Ford Field.
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And the results of his knowledge will be on full display from April 8-10.
“This time of year, I don’t have a home,” Craig laughed when asked where he resides, adding a quick rundown of his itinerary during a typical month in early spring, covering every corner of the country and back, twice.
His official job is NHL Facility Operations Manager, meaning, more or less, he’s the ice man for each and every rink in the NHL.
If something isn’t right, he’s summoned.
If things are perfect, he’s there to make sure.
Transforming a field into a hockey rink is a delicate and complicated process, and when that’s the case, Craig is usually the man for the job.
He was there, in charge at Wrigley Field for the NHL’s 2009 Winter Classic between Detroit and Chicago. When Boston hosted Philadelphia at Fenway Park for the 2010 Classic, and when Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, the ice was under his careful watch.
“Everything I do is a big event,” Craig said when asked about the 2010 Frozen Four. “If it were a high school game down the street, it’d be a big event and a big deal to me. Whether it’s 8-year-old kids or guys making $18 million a season, we want them to have the best of the best.”
He talked about the process as if it were no different than building a house. One step at a time, certain things required for others to fall in place.
Still, as standard an operation it is to him, Ford Field certainly presented its fair share of obstacles.
Due to its size, the refrigeration trailer, which tips the scales at roughly 300 tons and freezes and keeps frozen the ice surface, will remained parked outside the stadium, some 400 feet from the ice, which, in turn, requires some 400 feet of piping to supply the 3,000 gallons of coolant.
“Normally it’s about 200 to 225 feet away,” Craig laughed.
On top of that, the trailer will sit 40 feet above ice level, another first for Craig and his crew.
“We did a rink in Japan once and it was about 8 feet above, that’s the most we’ve ever done,” Craig added, still smiling. “Again, we’re not worried. These machines and these systems are designed to do what they do.”
Craig and his NHL staff arrived in Detroit March 28 and began rink construction — set in the west end zone and running from sideline to sideline with risers for additional seating on two sides — on March 29. There were 112 sections of boards installed March 30, while the glass went up March 31 and the four-day process of pouring the ice was scheduled to begin April 1.
“Ice making is patience,” Craig said. “We’ll spray the first layer, let it sit, go have a beer and steak and come back later. We’ll check things, do the next layer and so on.”
In all, more than 20,000 gallons of water will be used to create an ice surface two-inches deep. The total process takes four days.
“On (April 5) I’ll put the skates on and see how things are,” Craig said.
The four teams in the Frozen Four take the ice for the first time April 7 for practice.
By then, Craig expects his ice, as it always is, to be perfect.
You can reach Mike Moore at mjm12@albion.edu
