“I check the inventory list all the time.” How the NHL brought a hockey arena to Australia
July 30, 2023
The league is entering a climactic phase of preparation for two historic games in September.
A freighter arrived in Melbourne with a unique cargo for Australian latitudes. Three huge containers brought equipment for the hockey arena to the country. On September 23 and 24, the city will host preseason games between Arizona and Los Angeles.
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Never before has the NHL played so far from its great North American home. “It’s quite an exciting feeling to know that we’ve officially arrived in Melbourne, and now everything here will be waiting for the time we’re ready,” says the league’s senior director of facilities operations, Derek King.
In recent years, the NHL has gained significant experience in staging exhibition games outside of the main arenas. The balance of the league includes two construction kits for the quick construction of stadiums. The one that was stored in Ontario went to Australia.
“Everything you see in NHL hockey arenas, we’ll create in Melbourne,” King announces. And indeed, everything was included in the luggage, from zamboni to branded records.
The cargo headed to Toronto in railcars, then transferred to the train to Philadelphia, from where it entered the water. The teams occupied the entire area of the Maersk Wellington ship, which is 254 meters long and more than 32 meters wide.
Cargo overcame the road to Toronto on trucks
Photo: www.nhl.com
The Water Taxi began its journey on June 21, reached the equator a week and a half later, and reached its destination on Friday. “When everything was loaded onto the ship, I experienced some relief,” King admitted. “I check my inventory list all the time: “Do I remember this? Do we have this?”
Now the containers are going through the customs clearance procedure, after which they will be sent to a warehouse for storage, and will be transferred to the stadium only on September 14. The matches will take place at the Rod Laver Tennis Arena, famous for hosting the main games of the Australian Open. The teams will arrive on the continent on September 18 and plan to hit the ice the same day. “Things will happen very quickly,” says King. “We have a very, very aggressive work schedule because of limited time.”
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The NHL has decided not to ship the cooling system it uses to host outdoor games to Australia for fear of excessive wear and tear during transit. The replacement will be the development of the Dutch company Ice World.
The tennis court will be covered first with plywood and then with a rubber coating. It will fill with water and freeze to form an ice base.
This isn’t the first time Rod Laver’s arena has experienced experimentation. In the early 2000s, the stadium became the venue for the World Wrestling Championships, later hosting competitions for gymnasts and the world championships in aquatics.
