Time out : Ice gets better

Anyone who has stepped on the ice at the Ed Meagher Arena this season has noted that until recently, the ice has been terrible.
Never mind the huge crevices in the corners or the missing chunks all along the boards, what about the nets that fly off their moorings at the slightest nudge or the bumps in the crease areas that have plagued the rink all year?
At best, on one of Montreal’s August-like November days last fall, the ice had the same texture and feel as a fresh wheel of Norwegian cheese.
Any hockey player, a Stinger or not, would likely agree that the ice was sub-par for most of the fall semester.
But all that is history.
That soft, cheese-like substance that was passed off as ice during the warm weather has hardened up, and with some great work from the rink attendants, the ice has become not only playable, but an utter joy to skate on.
The surface at Ed Meagher has been praised by many in recent weeks, including some members of the McGill Martlets women’s hockey team.
They said the ice there is better than their own at the McConnell Winter Arena up on Mount Royal during the Theresa Humes tournament at Concordia earlier this month.
According to one of the rink attendants at Ed Meagher (who wished to remain nameless), it has been very tough to keep the surface up to par this year because of the warm weather, and the fact that the ice is used non-stop for more than eight hours every day.
This, not to mention the fact that the ice-cleaning machine (no, it’s not a Zamboni, it’s an Olympia), has broken down and caught on fire on at least one occasion this year.
There are several important games coming up in the next little while, including a visit from Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business for some charity games on Saturday, and some big Stinger matches, as the women fight for first and the men fight for their lives.
With all this in mind, it is good to know that we can rely on the rink workers to keep Concordia’s facility among the city’s best.
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