Thanks to vigilant city crews, the hockey camps starting up this weekend will not be skating on thin ice.

Senior Arena Maintenance Worker Mike Pries says his team has spent the past two weeks cleaning the Centennial Arena, preparing the ice, and painting the lines. He notes that this season his team is continuing with an ice-building method they piloted last year.

“We used to build up the ice with the Zamboni itself but we found that the layers were a bit too thick. Now, we use a sprayer and tank. They’re very fine layers so the process is more tedious but it creates significantly stronger ice and less thin ice problems later on.”

According to Pries, the whole endeavor is a very meticulous task: four thin layers of clear water are sprayed across the arena floor, followed by four layers of white tinted water, four more layers of clear water, painted lines and logos, and, finally, 120 more loads of clear water.

(Video credit: Steinbach Pistons)

Pries notes that this new process received much praise last year from hockey players and casual skaters alike. He says part of maintaining the rink means constantly doing research to find out how you can improve the surface and make skating an even better experience for patrons.

As Pries explains, there is also an element of pride in seeing the finished product. “It’s great to see it at this point and I have to thank my crew for doing a fantastic job. Much of this is due to them.”

The first official booking on the rink is for this Saturday, but Pries is hoping to have an inaugural skate as early as Thursday to test the fresh ice.