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Ford Field Can they freeze?

NHL facilities operations manager, in charge of the ice surface for Frozen Four this weekend to play in This cavernous NFL stadium, I could feel a change in time - and one that was not for the better.

The average temperature here in early April is 53 degrees. Thanks a warm front that was not allowed in the city at night, temperatures rose to 67 on Wednesday with a relative humidity of 80.

"The moisture is not a friend of ours, "said Craig." What does fall to the ice surface because that is the coldest point in the building and automatically draws a magnet. When we get too much moisture, which is becoming a little sticky and gummy and really affects the feeling that the disk in a single pass to the next. "

When this year's Frozen Four was awarded to Ford Field (through the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and Sports Detroit) in June 2005, there was no way to predict the climate.

But there is no way we should care, either.

Enter Craig.

As a guru of the NHL ice, which has overseen the three first NHL Winter Classic, and many other non-traditional ice events. And he always involved through the Stanley Cup final when games have played in June in sweatshops, and Raleigh, North Carolina, and Tampa, Florida

Craig knows this weekend could be a challenge if the weather stays hot.

The temporary rink was installed within two days last week. It takes 10,000 liters of water to make one inch of ice, and the plan is to have 2.5 inches when the record falls on Thursday for the first national semifinal between Rochester Institute of Technology and Wisconsin (5 pm ET, ESPN2 HD). The ice was 2 3 / 8 inches on Wednesday.

Craig said the desired temperature of the ice surface is 22 degrees, and ideally the building would be 60 degrees for the ice-making equipment to operate at maximum efficiency.

The one factor that has not been introduced into the mix however, is the crowd. The expected number Fan is somewhere north of 30,000. That would break the record of 28 183 indoor hockey back on April 23, 1996, for a NHL playoff game between Philadelphia Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning at Tropicana Field.

"The ambient air is very important," said Craig. "We have had the building to 55 degrees, the other day, so we know it can be cold. We will try to reach 57 degrees when we open the doors tomorrow.

"We know that there is a cold front moving in, and I just do my prayers at night and I look forward to here. "

Frozen Four teams practice here first time on Wednesday afternoon. And about the reaction of most ice was cautiously optimistic.

"I do not think the ice is worse than what we have skated before, "Detroit forward RIT and native of Cameron, Burt said." It's something we're going to have to deal with, and is something that every team is going to have to deal with, so can make no excuse on the ice. "

Wisconsin has some recent experience with unique locations, have been home to Michigan, in front of 55,000 fans in the classic Camp Randall in February. And Boston College, who will play at Miami (Ohio) in the second semifinal on Thursday night (8:30 pm ET, ESPN2 HD) played at Fenway game Frozen in January.

Both teams talked about the need to make an adjustment to the lines of sight and the position of crowds in stadiums. And that will be needed at Ford Field, too. But these two games were played outdoors when the weather does not adversely affect the ice.

"It was more about the same out there, other than temperature, "said Wisconsin forward Blake Geoffrion tested the Ford Field as ice." It was pretty wet there. Usually my hair is not going to be wet all the way through until about the third period, and was quite wet after the first 15 minutes. I think the temperature will be a very important factor. They are still working on the ice, but it was not so bad. "

The other major adjustment for players will walk to and from the ice.

Miami, the No. 1 seed in general, the closer has the costume on the track. It took 154 steps to go from the room to the ice. Add another 100 steps to RIT, which is the lowest seed here.

The walk is so long that the goalkeepers, because of his team heavy, came and went in golf carts.

Despite all the focus on the quality of ice on the eve of the Four frozen, the wow factor of playing in a NFL stadium was not lost on the players.

"We played a little ice on hard surfaces over the last couple of months, and today was not the best ice, but it's pretty amazing what they've done so far - especially in a football field, "said Capt. Dan Ringwald RIT." Once everything is just another surface ice hockey, and once the game starts, you have to focus on playing. "

Craig hopes that the focus for the rest the weekend will be in hockey is played and not on the surface of ice that is played on.

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