Wayne Bacon at the REALice Canada exhibit at the AARFP trade show in 2023, pointing out Slave Lake on the installation map.
On Monday, I heard from Wayne Bacon, the Lead hand at the twin pad arena in Slave Lake, AB. It was a day off for him — a well-deserved day off. He and his MRC ice crew had just finished the most demanding three and a half days of the season. They’d done 86 “ice makes” in that time, finishing after the winner of the 9:45 pm game on Sunday had been decided. The 21st Treaty 8 Cup was in the history books.
AKA Wayne’s Ice
This is Wayne’s third consecutive Treaty 8 Cup. Like last year — and the year before — the ice held up amazingly, as he’s come to expect. No one from the ice crew stepped foot on that ice even once to make a patch: no patching was needed. There were no chip outs, blow outs or gouge outs. The ice was fast, creating very little snow. After the ice resurfacing machine had left the ice and the Zamboni gates were closed, the teams didn’t have to wait for the ice to dry. Wayne’s Ice, as the locals have come to call it, was already dry.
Those tidbits, as well as how much praise he and his team got for the facility and the ice (“phenomenal, Wayne”) was all he had time to tell me. It might be his day off but since one of the pads is closing for the season, he was heading to the rink to take out the mesh logos from the ice before the front-end loader would come in to attack the ice in the morning.
Hakan Gronlund, CEO of REALice (left) and Wayne Bacon at the MRC in 2023.
Phenomenal
That phenomenal ice is because of the pride and work Wayne and his ice crew put into it, and their not-so-secret weapon, their REALice. The MRC stopped using hot water floods to maintain the ice in 2022 after I sold them a system. Since then, they do their ice makes with tap-temperature cold water, treated using pressure. As the floodwater is forced through the REALice wall unit, a stable vortex forms that pulls the trapped air and CO2 out of the water, creating a long string of air that is extracted downstream.
Most rink operators are scared of even thinking about using anything but hot water to flood their ice. Heating is the common way to remove the trapped air from the water that, left in, causes brittle ice and lots of snow. But unlike REALice, heating is an expensive process, requiring energy to heat the water and energy to remove that heat from the water to get it to freeze. REALice water has a lower viscosity so it’s runnier and denser at the same time. The water freezes faster, requiring higher temperatures.
It was a little hard for Wayne to imagine, at first.
Leaving the Hot Water Floods Behind
Like most operators used to hot water floods, Wayne wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of change. I remember that first call from him. It was July 4th, 2022.
Yeah, hello. I’m starting to put the ice in. What do I need to know about this REAL ICE system? – Wayne Bacon
I heard his question and detected a slight tinge of annoyance in his voice. I wondered if this would be an “old dogs, new tricks” scenario. I explained that the water would freeze faster, so he needed to run the ice warmer.
Warmer than 17°F? We’ll see about that.
As soon as the water hit the concrete, Wayne saw it was setting up faster than it ever had before. He called back to let me know.
You can see that already? Great stuff — not all operators can. Your REALice ice is already showing you it wants to be warmer.
Warming the ice is done by changing the ice plant’s refrigeration setpoints. Ice rinks are run in one of three ways: on the temperature of the brine, the slab or the surface of the ice itself. At Slave Lake, they were running on slab temperature. With hot water floods, it had been set to 17°F.
Like a Duck to Water
Wayne took to the REALice like ducks take to the water of the Lesser Slave Lake which the town dovetails against. He took our best practices to heart — an early morning dry shave followed by a light flood, the snowball test, the occasional cold-puck puck throw down the ice to see what the puck movement is like. Sharp blade, clean spreader towel, consistent floods. He found his ices’ sweet spot temperatures. Those were 5 and 6°F higher than he’d run the ice when he was doing hot water floods.
The compliments about the ice started right away and Wayne’s ice quickly became known as the best ice in the north of Alberta, then the best ice in all of Alberta. Some say it might even be the best ice in North America.
Wayne, I don’t know what you’ve done with the ice. It’s amazing.
Ice Envy
The legend of Slave Lake’s ice has made others curious, disbelieving, even a bit jealous. Billy Creber, the lead hand at a rival rink, the Millview Recreation Centre in Boyle, took a road trip to visit the MRC tosee what all this nonsense around Slave Lake’s amazing ice was all about.
I thought this Wayne guy was full of himself, Billy told me. And then I saw his ice. And I said OMG. He HAS the best ice.
Wayne showed Billy around, They talked shop, blade changes, edgers and floor cleaners. At the end of the tour, Slave Lake had sold Boyle a floor cleaner that still works well to replace the one at Boyle that wasn’t. It gave Wayne an opportunity for a reciprocal visit, and tips for Billy’s ice based on what he saw.
It usually comes down to two or three things, Wayne says. The ice is too thick, shave it down. The ice is too cold, warm it up. The ice needs a lot of edging, learn how to work your machine better.
Paying Attention
The key to success was paying closer attention to the ice. A stickler for details, Wayne started testing the level of his ice every morning, looking for that perfect sheet of ice.
My ice is flat. It’s an inch and a quarter everywhere. I can see it when I walk into each rink, but I do the drill tests anyways to just make sure.
Everyday?
Everyday.
What he saw was these warmer temperatures resulted in fast ice that created very little snow. That encouraged him to try other things to see what the ice likes the most. He’ll do at least one 12 minute flood each day, giving it a nice slow shave. And that dry shave routine? Rumour has it he goes three times around the perimeter, which has reduced the edging to once a month instead of once a week.
Eliminating problems
He’s also made a patent-worthy modification to the MRC’s ice resurfacing machine. Believe me, if I showed you what that looks like, ALL the manufacturers would be doing it. He’s also found other ways to eliminate on-ice problems. The blade, for example, is set and none of his crew can raise it or lower it as they want to. Wayne thinks that makes a big difference to both the happiness of the ice and removes human error from the ice make. It’s an idea that most ice operators find bizarre.
That’s how we do it. It lets our operators concentrate on driving consistently.
Slave Lake’s is in the heart of Treaty 8. The Treaty 8 Cup is for First Nations hockey players: a status card needed at registration. Its cash prizes, 50/50’s, sportsmanship and fast hockey are big draws. As is the location. The town itself has five hotels with 423 rooms, a bunch of restaurants, and a united community spirit that’s needed to run a tournament this large. For Slave Lake, “doing it right” has resulted in a multi-year contract from the biggest, must-play native hockey tournament in Western Canada.
And what a business it is. In 2023, the first year the Treaty 8 Cup returned to Slave Lake, 24 teams brought in $1.25 million to the town over the three-and-a-half-day tournament. This year the three divisions — Mens, Ladies and Legends — increased to 39 teams — a whopping 62.5% increase. That $1.25 million has blossomed and pre-Cup projections for the 2025 version were far more than that. Not bad for the town of 7,110 people.
With attendance counts of between 600-800 people per hour and an entry price of $12, the recreation staff was kept on their toes, filling up 6 dumpsters worth of garbage. The boys running the skate sharpening kiosk were rumored to have sharpened more skates on Thursday night than what they’d done the entire month of March. Susan from Susan’s Kitchen, the canteen located inside the MRC, got a handful of girlfriends to help out all weekend long; the extra staff managed to sell out of everything they had. And the 7-11 convenience store just across the street said they couldn’t keep up with the chicken orders!
Treaty 8: Bigger than Texas
Treaty 8 is a land agreement signed on June 21, 1899 between Queen Victoria and the North Americe in an area that was then called Athabasca. With more square miles than Texas, the Treaty 8 encompasses a vast territory — 840,000 km2 (324,325 mi2) — including lands in what’s now northern Alberta, northwestern Saskatchewan, northeastern British Columbia, and the southwest portion of the Northwest Territories.
According to the Treaty 8 First Nations Administration, there are 41 First Nations communities within Treaty 8. Each March, once the minor hockey championships have been decided, those communities come together to play adult hockey. The Town of Slave Lake is a natural gathering point. Unlike “The City” – Edmonton – a two-and-a-half-hour drive to the south, Slave Lake is big enough to accommodate, but small enough to feel like home.
And then there’s the ice.
Players came up to me and said, “This ice is incredible. I’ve never skated on anything like it.”
Wayne smiles. He’s heard it before and knows it’s true
