Well before the puck is dropped at Munn Ice Arena, plenty of work is necessary. It’s not glamorous, but it is essential in making sure that the Michigan State hockey experience is the best it can possibly be. And it’s done by an incredibly dedicated team.
The team consists of Steve Lantzy, the Munn Ice Arena manager, a couple of full-time employees, and around 20 students make sure Munn is in tip-top shape. They’ll use Zambonis, an edger (a lawnmower-looking thing that helps to clean up the ice where the Zamboni can’t reach), chippers (ice scrapers), a hand drill, and some waxy goo to make sure that Munn looks like, in the words of student-employee George Spicer, “one of the best hockey rinks in North America.”
A game day at Munn typically starts with Lantzy arriving somewhere between 8-10 hours before puck drop. Before the ice is touched, Lantzy is all around Munn, making sure that everything is getting set up.
“Usually, I’ll spend the morning doing any prep that needs to be done on the concourse, like setting out tables and chairs that are needed for various things and getting different rooms set up downstairs,” Lantzy said. “So we have a crew of off-ice officials that run the scoreboard, do the penalty box, and stuff like that. So they have a room that we will set up for them. We’ll make sure the room is ready for the on-ice officials.”
After setting up, there’s some downtime until around four hours pre-faceoff. This is when the student workers come in. Whether they are picking up trash or using a waxy goo to help clean the glass of puck marks, they are always moving as the time ticks down to the opening faceoff.
Then comes the on-ice prep, starting with the drilling of the ice.
“Another big thing that we do is drill out holes. That’s for the net pegs. It’s a cavity about 6 inches deep,” Matt Brown, an arena employee, said. “The rubber peg helps the net stay in during games and if a player hits the net, it’s less likely to fall on the ice.”
Others are tasked with taking the ice scrapers and going around to level out the ice along the boards. They are then followed by an edger, which is used to make the ice between the ends of the Zamboni’s reach and the boards is ready to go.
The Zamboni makes another pass before the players step out onto the ice for warmups. Using both hot water (for ice making) and wash water (recycled water that helps clear out the ruts in the ice), it makes sure the the ice is in pristine condition.
After the warmups, the crew uses two Zambonis to clean up the ice and make sure that it is ready. Now that the pre-game work is done, the students wait for the point in the period where they are sent onto the ice to shovel off all the excess snow, which helps make the puck move faster, which in turn makes the game better to watch.
While they aren’t on the ice, the students become de-facto customer support. While they aren’t tasked with running the building, they are always available to help anyone who may need it.
“Once people are let in the doors, we’re customer service agents first,” Spicer said. “So if someone has a problem, they’ll notice that we’re wearing Munn Ice Arena jackets. They’ll come to us, they’ll ask about anything that's wrong or give us suggestions, which we’re always happy to take. And we’re here to do what needs to be done. There’s no real better way to sum it up than that.”
After the game, the nets are taken off the ice and then there is another go-around with the Zamboni to make sure the ice is prepared for the next, which may be another gameday for either the varsity team or one of the four club teams that call Munn home (two men's club teams and two women’s club teams), a travel team to practice or even an open skate for the students of MSU.