On This Date in Sports March 10, 1955: The Zamboni Arrives
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The sport of hockey is changed forever as the ice-resurfacing machine, invented by Frank Zamboni, is used for the first time in an NHL game. The Zamboni was invented six years earlier and previously used in the minors. The Zamboni is used to clean and create a fresh sheet of ice during both intermissions as the Montreal Canadiens, and Toronto Maple Leafs skated to a scoreless tie at the Forum.
It’s a fact of life that skate blades damage the ice. For this reason, there are two intermissions during an ice hockey game. As the ice becomes more scratched up and slushy, skating becomes harder. While it was effective, it was imperfect, and there was no way to make the ice as pristine as it was when the game began. To make the ice pristine took hours as a hand resurfacer was pushed, shaving the top level of the ice while a new layer of water was laid.
Frank Zamboni was born to Italian immigrants in Eureka, Utah, on January 16, 1901. Raised on a farm near Pocatello, Idaho, Zamboni worked in the refrigeration business that produced ice for ice boxes. However, as home refrigerators went on sale, Zamboni’s business became obsolete. This led him to open up an ice-skating rink in Paramount, California. Needing several workers to resurface the ice, Frank Zamboni began to look for a better, more cost-effective way to clean and resurface the ice.
For several years, Frank Zamboni tried unsuccessfully to cut down on time needed to resurface the ice using a variety of machines attached to a Jeep. However, they could never do a complete and satisfactory job as the blade was often damaged. In 1949, using an Army Surplus vehicle, Zamboni attached a water tank that collected ice scrapings and squirted a thin layer of water. Making further enhancements, Zamboni put together his own engine and applied for the patent.
At first, the NHL was reluctant to switch to the new machines, as Frank Zamboni sold them to minor league arenas. However, it was quick for the benefits to be seen, as the Zamboni revolutionized how ice was made, as what took hours now took minutes. Instead of worsening the ice throughout the game, the NHL could get a fresh sheet of ice at the start of every period.