A few weeks back, at the Summerland Arena Complex and Curling Club, their ice resurfacer did something no one had expected. It needed to take some sick days. In fact, it was particularly nasty — so nasty that a tow truck was called to take it away so it could be repaired. Luckily, they had a spare resurfacer in the form of a 40-year-old Zamboni named “Zelda”.

As you can see in the video below, despite her advancing age, this cougar still has what it takes and didn’t complain when her ice maker called her back into service — even if it was for just a few short days. Castanet reporter Dustin Godfrey’s full story on Zelda’s return to the ice can be found here.

I called the arena to ask them where she’d been all this time. Turns out, she’s been safely tucked away in the Zamboni room ever since the new one took her place. And although she’s been having quite the nap, she’s always been waiting patiently for the day when someone would come and take her out for a spin one more time. She started right away!

Wearing It Well

They may call her a beast and say she doesn’t handle as easily as her modern cousins. But if you take a close look and stop the video and zoom right in, you, too, will be impressed with how well she’s aged. And, as a bonus, she smells like “hockey” — at least that’s what driver Erik Laflamme says.

Sure, you can see some liver spots, some beauty marks — some laugh lines too. But it looks like this old girl has kept her figure well.

What about your arena? Do you have a spare resurfacer? Or do you need to run begging to another arena to ask for a loaner whenever your ice resurfacer calls in sick?

Do you have a contingency machine like Zelda tucked into a corner somewhere with a cosy tarpaulin for a blanket, eagerly dreaming of just one more spin on the ice under those glorious lights? Leave a comment and let us know. We’d love to hear your story.