Sticks flying in the stands (Photo courtesy of Boston Sports Extra).
Ever been curious about how people clean the ice off of the ice rink during a hockey game? Just me? Okay… For other questions no one else asks, read my other articles here.
A Common Hockey Occurrence
As a fan of the NHL’s 1990s era, blood on the ice was a regular situation. Sometimes it would be a little, and other times it would be a flood.
A quick towel on the ice might work if it’s just a nosebleed, but things freeze quick in a skating rink.
If you have to peel the player off the ice, the ability to clean up the pool afterwards would be that much more difficult.
So how do the hockey experts do it?
Oops, Let Me Get That For You
It’s probably more than a little morbid and a biohazard if you leave the blood on the ice during a hockey game.
What is possibly more morbid is how you actually clean the red stuff off the hockey rink.
A Quick Hockey How-To
Disclaimer: This is for hockey-affiliated people and not Jeffrey Dahmer types in cold regions.
- Get your cones out. Players play through chickens being thrown onto the ice, so ignoring a red patch wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.
- Let the blood freeze; this could take a minute since it has to be colder than water for it to do so.
- Good grief. Do not forget the gloves and a biohazard-safe container for the blood.
- If it’s just a little bit, use a scraper. Borrow it from someone who had to clean the ice off their car that morning. If there’s a lot, you’ll need something to chip the ice with. An ice pick-type instrument would be perfect. Carve out all of the red stuff and get the chips in the container. You might need a ride-through with a Zamboni if there’s a crater in the ice. Fill that sucker up with water, get your cones, and go.
- Bleach literally everything.
Don’t just run the Zamboni over the red stuff. That’s a corner you just don’t want to cut.
That also goes for hockey rinks that are multi-purpose: when a little kid expels their fluids at a public skate (and they will, regularly), the same five steps apply.
Maybe throw a disposable hazmat suit on the list.
