NEWS FROM RINKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Some of the things that happen in ice rinks are downright astounding.

The good astounding things typically happen on the ice. The bad astounding things typically happen everywhere else.

Last year a friend of mine was walking through the lobby of an arena when another man, in his late 30’s, suddenly stopped in front of him, reached down deep into the depths of his lungs and "hocked a loogie", (not to be confused with former Calgary Flame Haken Loob), on the nearest wall.

When my friend, who is a rather large and physically imposing ex-professional hockey player, politely asked him what he was doing, the man flippantly replied, "it’s a rink…" as if nothing else needed to be said.

When my friend suggested that the man clean it up, the man actually got mad about it. When my friend politely went and got a paper towel for him and suggested it again, this time with a little more enthusiasm, the man finally saw the error in his ways, and wisely did as asked.

Now spitting in an ice arena is a pretty common occurrence. On the ice! And although it is not exactly one of the most picturesque or breath-taking visions of the sport of hockey, it happens and it happens a lot. You drink water on the bench to cool the pipes and might not want to swallow it all, so you might spit some on the ice. Occasionally the pipes get congested and need to be cleaned, so you do what it takes to remove the clog and deposit it on the ice. I admit, not pretty. But where else would you spit it during the action?

So it happens. And always will happen. That’s not going to change. Fortunately every hour or so, the ice resurfacer comes out and shaves off the top layer of ice and lays down some fresh water. Most importantly, we should understand that it’s probably not a good idea to eat the snow on the ice!

Spitting anywhere else is another matter. In every locker room in every arena in the world, there is a trashcan. And in every locker room, a rare minority of well-mannered hockey players, having the need or urge to spit, will actually stand up, walk over, and make the required effort to spit into to the trashcan.

Others, having heard the terms "proper behavior" and "good manners" at some point in their lives, will actually make the effort to turn their heads to spit toward the trash can, usually considering it a success if they hit it, even if only the outside. Others will, as our friend did earlier, find the closest wall and let it fly.

As you may or may not have realized by now, the issue is actually not spitting. It’s respect, or more importantly lack of it, for ice skating facilities.

But before I leave the subject of spitting entirely, one of the more memorable things I have seen in a rink was up in Cheboygan where a very impressive indoor ice rink was built in the early 1990’s. If you have ever been there you know what I mean. It really is outstanding and a great source of community pride. And really, it is no different from many smaller communities, where in the winter the ice arena is "the gathering place" and a part of the very fabric of the community.

What struck me as odd in Cheboygan were the many very strategically placed "No Spitting" signs almost everywhere throughout the rink. I had never seen them before, and I haven’t seen any since.

Having grown up in a small community not unlike Cheboygan, I have a pretty good understanding of what it means to respect ice skating facilities. Until I was ten, I lived in a town with a population of 36, yes 36, before moving up to a much larger metropolis of 800 (which probably suddenly paints a much clearer picture to many of you who read my opinion regularly in this space and wonder sometimes what planet I must be from).

And in that town of 36, there were two grain elevators, two churches, a grocery store, a combination hardware store-post office, a school, a curling rink and of course the ice rink.

Although the town was small, the rink really just served as the "meeting place" for the people who live in the surrounding areas, no different from how those very same facilities (the church, the grocery store, the post office, the school, the ice rink) are meeting places in other small and large communities anywhere in the world. They are a part of the community. In many instances, they are the community, particularly in the case of a sport like hockey.

Growing up, we learned very early on, as they do in Cheboygan, to appreciate and respect what we had. Disrespecting the ice arena was looked at the same as disrespecting the church. We never did it, partly because we were taught not to, and partly because we knew that very delicate surgery would be required to remove the rink caretaker’s boot if we were caught. And most fathers, including mine, would have only been satisfied that we had gotten the message once they repeated the process a time or two at home.

But that was many years ago. Times have changed. In most cases, for the better. More arenas have been built and more kids and adults have the opportunity to enjoy the world’s greatest sport. Many of the newer arenas are beautiful, brightly lit, well ventilated, fresh smelling and sparkling clean. At least they start out that way.

Many older rinks have spent the money, time and effort to upgrade their facilities and keep them clean and well maintained. Some more so than others, but in the end, I can assure you that every rink operator wants to run an arena that is a safe and enjoyable place for people to be.

While the upkeep is not easy or inexpensive, in many instances it is entirely unnecessary. Some of the stories you hear from rink personnel about the needless damage that they are required to repair and messes that they have to clean up on an all-too-regular basis are downright disgusting. I won’t get into the details, but say the name of former Red Wing Uwe Krupp, and you should get the picture.

The good majority of people are very respectful of ice rinks and the people running them. Typically, its ten percent of the people (or their children) who cause ninety percent of the problems. And also, not coincidentally, they are ones who wouldn’t have figured out halfway through reading this that I wasn’t writing about spitting.

But to make matters worse, they are also the ones who would be the first to complain that rinks charge too much for ice time, that they are dirty, smell bad and are run-down.

They are the first to point out the finger, and the last to realize where it should be pointing. They are the ones who need to be pointed in the direction of the "No Spitting" signs.   

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