“We had a few pipes go a few years ago,” said Men's hockey coach and ice manager, Jim Fowler.

In order to fix the pipes, the ice will need to be melted on April 19, and the cement pad, which serves as the arena's floor underneath the ice will be torn out. Fowler said the pipes were starting to rot out and needed to be replaced.

Melting the ice takes several steps. The pipes underneath the ice contain brinewater, which is a calcium chloride solution. Brinewater can also be thought of as an antifreeze agent. The pipes containing this solution are embedded in a concrete base beneath the ice. To melt the ice, the brinewater is heated and pumped through the concrete base, heating the under layer of ice and allowing it to melt. The water is then collected in an underground drain. For more information on how ice is melted: http://entertainment.howstuff
works.com/ice-rink2.htm

Another change will be new boards and glass.

“The glass we have now is old Plexiglass. It scratches up real easy. We're getting new tempered glass.” Fowler said.

He added with four teams currently using the rink as home ice (Buff State men's and women's teams, Erie Community College , and Canisius College), the wear and tear to the boards and glass was starting to take a toll.

The glass on the press box side of the ice will now be seamless glass, while all other areas of the rink will use partitioned glass. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The issue recently was the topic for debate in the NHL.

Seamless glass offers fans a clear view of the action, but doesn't give in a collision. Plexiglass systems use partitions or stanchions and absorb the force of the hit. That means they have more give to them.

Last year, the NHL required all teams to switch to the Plexiglass system in an effort to cut down on injuries.

“One of the things we studied inside and out is the glass and its effect on injuries. From personal interviews and our own tests, it was clear that the softer Plexiglass was much safer than the harder seamless glass,” said Dave Dryden, the chair of the NHL's safety panel in an interview with ESPN last year.

Even though the Sports Arena will have both forms of glass, injuries should not be a problem. The majority of hard hitting checks occur in the areas that will have the softer glass. Coach Fowler did not expect the new changes to impact the game or injuries that much. There may be a few minor changes that result from the new system.

“The boards will probably be livelier as we pass the pucks off the boards. There won't be any dead spots off the boards.” he said.

The construction is scheduled to last from mid-April through the end of September, and will cause some disruptions on campus. Parking in Lot S-2 will be limited to the eastern half until graduation, and will then be unavailable following commencement. That is when contractors will have exclusive use of the lot.

Once construction is complete, crews can begin flooding the ice sheet, which is expected to be completed by Labor Day. Coach Fowler was unsure how the projected was being funded or how much the project will cost, but believed it was funded by SUNY and not students' athletic fees.

Email: solana23@mail.buffalostate.edu