The largest action sports event ever to reach New Zealand will be held in July when USA and Canada face off in a three-game ice hockey exhibition series.
The rivalry between these nations was on show at the 2010 Winter Olympics, when Canada beat the USA in the final round to take the gold medal
A portable hockey rink will be transported from Europe to accommodate the event.
Organisers will have two days to erect the NHL spec floor and dasher-board system, and
just 48 hours to remove it after the event, before transporting it to the next venue.
Over 18,000 spectators are expected to attend the three-game series which boasts live televised coverage across the globe including Australia.
Ice-World, which is Europe’s largest manufacturer of mobile aluminium ice rinks, will supply the portable rink for the New Zealand series. The rinks are first built in the Netherlands.
Event organisers DWG said it is the only company in the world that can assemble an ice rink with real ice overnight.
Craig Douglas, the director of DWG, said Ice-World rinks are up to 40 per cent more energy efficient than other systems, and stay cool in an ambient temperature up to 30° C (85° F).
“The ice rink will be set up directly on the existing floor of the venues, and two chillers of 600 kW each will transform the water basin into a solid ice floor," he said.
The rinks are environmentally friendly too. Ice-World only uses propylene glycol as a coolant for the ice rink system, which means any leaks and spillages during assembly and dismantling won’t pollute the ground.
In fact, the entire process – from manufacture, rental, sale, assembly and disassembly
– is carried out in a sustainable manner, with all the aluminium components of the ice rinks recycled.
Power to the Netherlands factory is supplied by wind turbines that provide 3 GW of energy
every year (the equivalent of the energy used by the ice rinks worldwide).
Ice-World ice floors also save a great deal of energy in comparison with traditional
ice rinks made of EPDM rubber or polyethylene as a result of using aluminium (the best cold-conductor) and the fact that the cooling pipes are in – not under – the ice. This means the cooling system can make and maintain ice using much less energy.
The Ice-World mobile hockey rink measures up to 60 x 30 m, and can be assembled and disassembled in a very short time. Three 40-foot containers will be used to transport the ice hockey rink elements, the barriers and a boiler (to melt the ice after the event) to
New Zealand.
On the first day of construction, the ice rink is set up, the barriers are placed, and the basin is filled with water which freezes overnight. The next day, the ice floor is painted, followed by another thin layer of water.
Subsequently, lines, spots and circles are fitted. Finally the goals are placed and the rink is ready to play. The ice floor requires approx 100,000 litres of water, close to 15,000 litres of propylene glycol, and takes 48 hours to build and freeze.
It takes 48 hours to melt the ice and disassemble the rink. The water supply is prearranged
with local councils and will be pumped into the wastewater system after the event.
Over 100 people are needed for the logistics of transporting the rink, its operation, construction and running. Not surprisingly, the flooring system is worth close to NZ$2 million.
