Schnarr and his team were well on their way to doing just that with an estimated 600 gallons of white paint and somewhere between 18,000 to 20,000 gallons of water set to be used by completion.
Of course, this sheet of ice has to hold up throughout the seven-plus months of an NHL season, which now includes 42 regular-season home games. Additionally, there are the concerts, shows and other events that take place when the Preds aren’t playing that also affect the surface when it’s covered up.
“I found my sweet spot to be right around an inch and three-eighths to an inch and a half, because we have so many shows, and we’re scraping out after concerts and stuff like that,” Schnarr said. “It does bode well to hold a little bit more ice. And then I’ve also found from player feedback that when we do have thicker ice and I can run it colder, they seem to like that a little bit better.”
Schnarr has plenty of tools at his disposal to make sure that’s the case, including a new control system in the chiller plant – part of the lead up to Bridgestone Arena’s transformation over the next several years – that helps to cool the arena floor and allows the ice to remain frozen all season long.
There is also a new thermal camera being installed that will shoot the entire sheet of ice and allow Schnarr to look at an iPad to see readings like the surface temperature and color coded spots on the sheet that may be running warmer or colder.
New sensors on top of the glass will also provide information like the relative humidity, dew points, air temperatures and plenty more, which will allow Schnarr to learn more about how the temperature of the ice fluctuates during a game, especially with the heat from 17,000 people in the building on a game night.
Indeed, there is very much a science to all of this, especially in a place like Tennessee, which can sometimes be reluctant to let go of those scorching weather patterns.
But, on a day like this that inevitably signals cooler temperatures – and our favorite sport – are on the horizon?
Say no more.
Yes, with a long, hot summer winding down, there’s a sheet of ice inside Bridgestone Arena once again. Soon enough, the goal horn will be echoing, too.