Before the stars can take the ice, well, there has to be ice. That’s where Jim Schmuke and his crew come in. Over his 40-year career as an ice technician with the Blues, Schmuke has smoothed the way for hundreds of games—including the 1988 All-Star Game at the Arena and last year’s Stanley Cup Finals. His tenure has given him the expertise needed to prep for such a big event.
- With two weeks to prepare, Schmuke will have to decide whether to replace Enterprise Center’s 1.25-inch ice for the NHL logos or just cut it down a half-inch and paint over everything.
- Once they decide, the logos—four ads between the blue lines, one behind each goal line, and the one at center ice—will be painted with a new type of mesh template. It’s laid out, flooded with a hose, and smoothed with a paint roller. “You used to have to repaint it every time,” says Schmuke. “It took three hours.”
- Ads on the boards (essentially big bumper stickers) will be changed out, too.
- This year, the NHL will also be using virtual ads superimposed around the ice. Schmuke estimates that the NHL will replace about half of Enterprise Center’s dasher boards with that tech.
- The game will be covered by media in nearly every NHL town, so the Enterprise Center will add seats for more press.
- Once the extra prep’s done in the weeks leading up to the puck drop, game day will be pretty much the same as always: Schmuke will arrive at 7 a.m., take measurements to ensure that the ice is thick enough, cut impurities out, and level the surface.
- Once the teams have warmed up, Schmuke will return to resurface and do maintenance throughout the action.
- When the final horn sounds, Schmuke and his crew will help the TV crews load up—before doing it all over again in preparation for the season’s second half.
