NHL Stadium Series prep begins with conversion of NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium
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Early Monday morning, a 16-wheeler truck with a 53-foot-long trailer came rolling up next to N.C. State’s Carter-Finley Stadium.
Let the preparations for outdoor hockey begin.
The huge trailer belongs to the National Hockey League. It’s the Mobile Refrigeration Unit, said to be the world’s largest mobile unit, and is used to convert something like a 100-yard football field into a 200-foot-long, 85-foot-wide hockey rink suitable for a regular-season outdoor game.
The Carolina Hurricanes, at long last, will make their first outdoor appearance Feb. 18, hosting the Washington Capitals in the 2023 Stadium Series Game. For much of the next two weeks, it’s up to the NHL’s Derek King, the league’s senior director of facility and hockey operations, to have Carter-Finley ready for play.
The weather on Saturday, Feb. 18? In North Carolina? That’s anyone’s guess, but the NHL must be ready for all contingencies.
“Warm rain makes things a little tougher, right?” King said. “But we’ve had rain in other climates. We’ve kind of grown accustomed to it.”
Among the first steps Monday was laying out armor decking on the stadium field. From a distance it looked much like laying a type of new flooring in a house.
“Today is a big day for us, when we get everything parked and set up,” King said. “Once the deck is down we’ll start with all the piping off the truck. You’ll see it start coming all together (Tuesday) when the field is covered.”
Next will be setting up for the actual arena floor. By Friday, King said, the 14-man ice crew will start making the ice sheet used in the game.
King said the ice on the playing surface will be approximately two inches in thickness. Most of the ice-making, he said, will be done overnight — away from the sun — and the ice sheet will remain covered during the day.
King noted that at PNC Arena, the ice is about an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half, but said that for the outdoor game “we’ll run a little thicker just to be on the safe side ... giving us a lot sturdier sheet.”
The Hurricanes and Caps each will have a practice session at the stadium on Friday, Feb. 17. The next night, it’s game on.
