Prepping The Ice For The River Hockey Classic

Clayton NY:

The River Hockey Classic Pond Hockey Tournament is not until this weekend [7th - 9th]  But site preparations have been ongoing for the past week or so.  The best word to describe the prepping of their ice... METICULOUS! All sorts of equipment is used to clear and level the ice, everything from Bobcats to a full sized Zamboni [which the town sold to the Clayton Youth Hockey for $1]. 

The entire pond is manicured to a perfectly level surface using the big equipment in between many floodings. The organizers want an ice surface that is safe and has high level of  integrity.  The process will be completed by this Thursday when the boards will be installed defining the 4 regulation sized rinks.

Once the boards are up, the ice surface will be maintained during the event by using shovels, brooms, power sweepers and the infamous Yamboni!  The Yamboni is a scaled down version of the Zamboni.  A Yamaha four wheeler retro-fitted with a Yamboni kit that is capable of spreading 500 gallons of water per hour across the ice, smoothing it with its 6 foot power up, power down water boom.  RHC organizers and volunteers will work diligently to preserve the integrity of the ice through out the weekend event.

A last minute competition has been scheduled for this Friday evening at 6:00 pm.  A Sled Hockey Game between the CNY Flyers and the Fort Drum Wounded Warriors will take place.

Sled Hockey which is also referred to as sledge hockey is a program that enables its participants to play the game of ice hockey. Sled Hockey is very similar to ice hockey with the exception of equipment. Participants use specially designed sled which sit atop two ice hockey skate blades. Each player has to short hockey sticks with metal picks on the end which is used to propel him/her across the ice.

Prepping The Ice For Pond Hockey from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.


2014 River Hockey Classic Promo Video from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.