GAITHERSBURG, Md. (ABC7) — ABC7 News caught up with one of the teams responsible for keeping Capital One Arena and the Kettler Capitals Iceplex chilled for fans and for players.
While the NHL isn’t saying exactly what temperature it plans to keep the ice at, US Olympic guidelines call for hockey ice to be kept as close to 24 degrees Fahrenheit as possible with an ice depth of 1.5 inches.
“The ice surface is 24 degrees and there's a separate ice chiller plant that will handle that. Typically it's ammonia refrigeration and a lot of pumps and a lot of tubes,” said Jerry Taylor, sales manager at Boland Trane.
Said Taylor, “Humidity is crucial, especially in an ice arena. If the humidity is too high, the dew point is too high, you'll have condensation on your drinks, you'll have condensation on the ice, you can create a fog bank."
Boland Trane stationed portable units outside Capitals One arena – pumping in additional chilled air through tubes attached to the outer wall.
Boland engineer Kevin Bradley said, “We really want to take that moisture that's in the air and really dry it out. When those doors are opening, closing, people are in their yelling and screaming and all that good stuff and the Caps are in the there. You've got a lot of moisture coming out of people, you got a lot of moisture coming in through the building.
“We don't want the ice to start to condense then the puck starts to bounce incorrectly, We could have injuries occur.'
See the video here: http://wjla.com/news/local/capital-one-arena-stanley-cup-final