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Ice skating rink
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An ice rink is a frozen body of water where people can skate or play winter sports. Some of its uses include playing ice hockey, figure skating exhibitions and contests, and ice shows.
Name origins
Rink, a Scottish word meaning 'course', was used as the name of a place where another game, curling, was played. The name has been retained for the construction of ice areas for other sports and uses.[1]
Natural ice rink
Many ice rinks consist of, or are found on, open bodies of water such as lakes, ponds, canals, and sometimes rivers; these can only be used in the winter in climates where the surface would freeze thickly enough to support human weight. Rinks can also be made in cold climates by enclosing a level area of ground, filling it with water, and letting it freeze. Snow may even be packed to use as a containment material.
A famous example of this type of rink is the Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa, Canada, estimated at 1,764,000 square feet (163,900 m2) and 7.8 kilometres (4.8 mi) long,[2] which claims to be the "world's largest ice skating rink."[3] The rink is prepared by lowering the canal's water level, letting the canal water freeze due to the low winter temperatures. The rink is then resurfaced nightly by cleaning the ice of snow and flooding it with water from below the ice. The rink is recognized as the "world's largest naturally frozen ice surface" by the Guinness Book of World Records.[4]
Another famous rink is the annual River Trail rink cleared on the Red River at Winnipeg, Canada, which claims to be the "world's longest ice skating rink."[4] The Trail is cleared by volunteers with snow shovels and is 8.5 kilometres (5.3 mi) long.[4]
Artificial ice rink
In any climate, an arena ice surface can be installed in a properly built space. This consists of a bed of sand, or occasionally a slab of concrete, through (or on top of) which pipes run. The pipes carry a chilled fluid (usually either a salt brine or water with antifreeze) which can lower the temperature of the slab so that water placed atop it will freeze. Such rinks were developed in the late nineteenth century, the first being the Glaciarium in London.[5] This methodology is known as 'artificial ice' to differentiate from ice rinks made by simply freezing water in a cold climate, indoors or outdoors, although both types are of frozen water. A more proper technical term is 'mechanically frozen' ice.
A famous example of this type of rink is the Guidant John Rose Minnesota Oval, a 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) rink in Roseville, Minnesota, United States. It is claimed to be the "largest artificial outdoor skating surface" in North America.[citation needed] Another example is the outdoor rink at Rockefeller Center in New York. In 2008, an artificial rink of 338,000 square feet (31,400 m2) was constructed in the Zocalo public square of Mexico city, claiming to be the "world's largest."[6]
Construction
Modern rinks have a specific procedure for preparing the surface:
- With the pipes cold, a thin layer of water is sprayed on the sand or concrete to seal and level it (or in the case of concrete, to keep it from being marked).
- This thin layer is painted white or pale blue, for better contrast; markings necessary for hockey or curling are also placed, along with logos or other decorations.
- Another thin layer of water is sprayed on top of this.
- The ice is built up to a thickness of 2–3 centimeters (around one inch) by repeated flows of water onto the surface.
Operation
Periodically after the ice has been used, it is resurfaced using a machine called an ice resurfacer. For curling, the surface is 'pebbled' by allowing loose drops of cold water to fall onto the ice and freeze into rounded peaks.
Between events, especially if the arena is being used without need for the ice surface, it is either covered with a heavily insulated floor, or melted by heating the fluid in the pipes.
A highly specialized form of rink is used for speed skating; this is a large oval (or ring) much like an athletic track. Due to their limited use, speed skating ovals are found in much fewer numbers than is true of the more common hockey or curling rinks.
Those skilled at preparing arena ice are often in demand for major events where ice quality is critical. The level of the sport of hockey in Canada has led its icemakers to be particularly sought-after. One such team of professionals was responsible for placing a loonie coin under center ice at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah; as both Canadian teams (men's and women's) won their respective hockey gold medals, the coin was christened "lucky" and is now in the possession of the Hockey Hall of Fame,[7] after having been retrieved from beneath the ice.
Standard rink sizes
Speedskating
In speedskating, the official Olympic rink size is 30 x 60 meters for short track, and 400 meters for long track.
Bandy
In bandy, the rink size is 90–110 m (300–360 ft) x 45–65 m (148–213 ft).
Ice Hockey
There are basically two rink sizes in use (as below), although there is a great deal of variations in the dimensions of actual ice rinks. Historically, earlier ice rinks were smaller than today.
National Hockey League (NHL) - Canada & USA
Official NHL rinks size at 85 × 200 ft (26 × 61 m). The dimensions originate from the size of the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Canada.
International/Olympic Ice Hockey
Official Olympic/International rinks have dimensions of 30 × 61 m (98 × 200 ft). The 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, however, were played on an NHL sized 85' x 200' ice sheet as GM Place -renamed 'Canada Hockey Place' for the games- is an NHL venue for the Vancouver Canucks.
See also
Gallery
 Typical ice box with rolled up ice floor and main headers |  Supervisor[8] rolling out the ice floor |  The ice floor completely rolled out |  The chiller and the buffertank connected to the ice rink |
 Filling up the buffertank with cooling mixture |  The main headers of an ice rink |  The small headers at the end of the ice rink |  Installation of the dasherboard of a mobile ice rink |
 Supervisor spraying water and making ice |  The frozen main headers of an ice rink |  Leisure skating in open aire in city center |  Typical out door ice skating rink in city center |
 A big ice rink in Kharkov |
References
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ice rinks |
- ^ Redmond, Gerald (1982). The sporting Scots of nineteenth-century Canada. Toronto, Ontario: Associated University Presses Inc.. p. 271. ISBN 0838630693.
- ^ "Guinness World Records has confirmed it! Ottawa offers the Largest Skating Rink in the World". canadacool.com. http://www.canadacool.com/COOLFACTS/ONTARIO/OttawaSkate.html. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
- ^ "Rideau Canal Skateway". National Capital Commission. http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/bins/ncc_web_content_page.asp?cid=16297-16299-10080&lang=1. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
- ^ a b c "World's longest skating rink". canada.com. http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html?id=82e36af4-c290-41c0-97e1-17db86842375. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
- ^ Martin C. Harris, Homes of British Ice Hockey
- ^ "Largest Outdoor Skating Rink-world record set by Mexico City". www.worldrecordsacademy.org. http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org/biggest/largest_outdoor_Skating_Rink-world_record_set_by_Mexico_City_80440.htm.
- ^ http://www.hhof.com/html/olypress.shtml
- ^ [1] Advanced Ice Technology by WWIP
External links
- Comprehensive list of ice skating rinks in the U.S. and Canada