Dan Ahearn of Lombard knows that true happiness for an ice skater-not just someone who skates, but an ice skater-is a clean sheet of ice.
Ahearn knows that it`s a heavenly layer on which speed and distance are mastered with the ease of one stride. On that surface, a razor-sharp blade slices a glass-like finish with a clean, clear crunch.
The sensation is precious to anyone who has waited the 10 long minutes a Zamboni ice-resurfacing machine needs to create such supreme conditions.
The ice at Chicago Stadium, the premier sheet in the Chicago area, is considered Ahearn`s baby. The 35-year-old Elmhurst native steers the Stadium`s Zamboni on a mysterious path, mesmerizing boisterous fans before action-packed Blackhawk games and between periods.
As Don Cesario mans a goal judge booth at Blackhawk games, he sees Ahearn in action.
”No one has more knowledge about ice and refrigeration in general than Dan,” said Cesario, who is also rink manager of the Franklin Park Ice Arena. ”You look at the Stadium ice during pregame warmups. There is not a mark on it. Immaculate. It`s like a mirror. That`s Dan handiwork.”
Ahearn`s contributions are recognized throughout the organization.
”Dan is always the guy who comes through when we need him most,” said Jim DeMaria, the Blackhawks` public relations director. ”He is in constant contact with (the coaches) about the condition of the ice. The coaches and players, to a man, will tell you that the Stadium ice is second to none in treatment and care. And when they have suggestions, Danny is always there to listen.”
Ask Ahearn and he`ll profess considerable pride in keeping the Stadium`s smooth surface from being lumped in with New York`s Madison Square Garden or Quebec`s Le Colisee, two NHL rinks that incur plenty of criticism for chipped and lumpy ice.
Aside from his obvious preoccupation with the glasslike conditions at 1800 W. Madison St., Ahearn admits to being a basic, no-frills hockey nut.
”My interest in all of this comes from a love of the sport,” said Ahearn, who started organized play around age 7. He played on the first-ever York High School (Elmhurst) team in 1971-72 and continued in the junior ranks with the Chicago Minor Hawks before torn knee ligaments limited him to occasional men`s leagues appearances for the last 15 years.
”It`s definitely satisfying to hear people compliment us on how the ice looks or feels,” he said. ”That`s part of what really keeps you committed to doing everything possible. I also love working on machinery, and I get to do plenty of that here. It`s a combination of a few things that I take great interest in doing.”
Driving the Zamboni at Blackhawk games puts Ahearn in the spotlight, but most of his responsibilities are more pedestrian.
”People think that the ice just sits there,” said Ahearn. ”We`ve got to clean and shave it every day. We`ve got to clean up the ice after basketball games, maintain it for ice shows and melt it down for the circus every year. And when you first make ice, you`re talking about two to six guys laying down 14,000 gallons of water over a period of 30 hours.”
The circus is in town for 12 days every year, so while the Blackhawks and National Basketball Association Bulls spend that time on the road, the crew finds it`s just as easy to remove the ice, which sits on top of a concrete floor in which freezing coils are embedded. When the teams are in town, there is no problem with simply laying foam rubber insulation and the basketball court boards over the ice. As long as the air conditioning is working, condensation does not appear on the floor.
There`s more to ice layering than just standing there with one arm wrapped around a water hose. The red and blue lines that geometrically separate the ice surface must be carefully applied.
”It takes about four hours to lay down all the lines, which are measured out from center ice,” said Ahearn, who coordinates the effort. ”The two big Blackhawk emblems in the middle are made of paper. All the lines are cloth. Right after a thin mist ices over the cement, we put down a layer of titanium dioxide (ice paint) to color it white.”
The lines and emblems then are laid down and more water put on top to build up the ice to a thickness of about half an inch.
Working on ice is nice, but a flat coating doesn`t last long without a heavy-duty resurfacer. In addition to supervising general maintenance crews, Ahearn pampers the Stadium`s two Zamboni machines, one of which is still sprightly at 24 years old.
During the off-season-from about June through August, depending on how the Blackhawks do in the playoffs-Ahearn conentrates on maintenance of the Zambonis and other machinery.
Between high-compression watering and lug-nut loosening, Ahearn, who is single, logs 60-hour work weeks. The week after December`s annual Ice Capades extravaganza is particularly demanding-about 120 hours in all-because the ice has to be partially melted down before and after the Ice Capades to remove the emblems and lines.
In addition to his Stadium commitment, Ahearn is similarly devoted to a smaller location about 15 miles due west, cashing in his limited free time at the Elmhurst YMCA. Dave Lee, the Y`s executive director, knows his little ice rink is no Chicago Stadium, but he feels it has a lot going for it nonetheless.
”We think that our ice is almost as good as the Stadium`s,” said Lee proudly. ”I really mean it.”
That says a lot for this unsheltered hockey and figure-skating facility, which opened earlier this month for the 1992-93 season.
But battling the elements doesn`t bother Lee because he knows that in Ahearn, he has the best ice care around for this historic, postage-stamp size ice rink, the first in Illinois to organize a youth hockey program in 1963.
”We`re unique because we`re still outdoors,” said Lee. ”There aren`t many rinks like that anymore. But we prosper because of Dan. He does a lot more than just ride the Zamboni here, just like his job at the Stadium. I`ve worked with him here for 3 1/2 years now, and the crux of it all is his superb maintenance. Dan`s training is second to none.”
At 160 feet by 70 feet, the Y is about three-fourths the size of an average hockey rink. This primitive structure derives it quirky personality from puck-marked sideboards, square-angled corners and adjacent viewing lobby that doubles as a players` locker room, and the railroad tracks, across 1st Street, where freight and commuter trains thunder by.
The deafening noise doesn`t seem to faze skaters or players.
”The equipment we use to operate this rink is, on the average, 30 years old,” said Lee. ”For Danny to do what he does around here is amazing. With his assistants Al (Gervais) and Dave (Jorns), there isn`t a problem they can`t knock out. In the summer, when the ice is down, this place becomes a shop for broken-down Zambonis. They come from all around to get worked on by Danny.”
Whether navigating the cramped corners of the Elmhurst Y or the more conventional environs of the Stadium, Ahearn is in complete control atop his three-ton ice machine. His 20 years of experience began as a result of convenient timing.
”I was here at the Y refereeing a game on a Sunday. For whatever reason, there was no one here to clean the ice,” said Ahearn, who, at that point could have drawn on only a few experimental laps around the parking lot.
”So the guy didn`t show. I filled it up with water and started out;
there were no problems but it wasn`t easy. It was a Model F with a manual transmission and no power steering. It was a crude machine. And here I was this 140-pound kid.”
This solo performance sparked an interest in Ahearn. He began taking auto shop at York High School in Elmhurst. Before long, he was rebuilding a Zamboni from the ground up the summer after his sophomore year in the school lab.
”After a while, you just fall into the routine of caring for the machine,” said Ahearn, who has also added skate-sharpening expertise to his repertoire. ”You know, greasing the bearings weekly, changing the oil about once a month, checking the various connections in the engine and changing the ice-cutting knife.”
After high school, Ahearn began helping out at the now-defunct Jim Campbell Ice Skating Center in Westmont. Soon, he was holding down the position of rink manager. In 1980, the building was preparing to close its doors. Ahearn had befriended a few of the Blackhawks, who used the facility to practice on the few occasions the Stadium was not available.
He also got to know Don Murphy of the team`s public relations department, a connection that would prove invaluable.
”I was thinking of moving up to Minnesota, where all the rinks are,”
said Ahearn. ”I knew somebody up in Bloomington at the Met Center (home of the North Stars). Just before the start of the (1980-81) season, the Hawks called.”
Since then, Ahearn also has dabbled in stock-car racing. With Jorns and Gervais, he plans on driving a full late-model schedule in May in
Schererville, Ind. But it`s hard to imagine his experiences on the track being any more memorable than those on the ice.
In 12 seasons at the sports shrine aptly called the ”Madhouse on Madison,” Ahearn has literally seen it all. Blackhawk fans are known as being the league`s liveliest, and that reputation has manifested itself in memorable ways.
”We got one of our Zambonis in 1984,” said Ahearn. ”The first year it broke down on the ice, right between periods, twice in two weeks. The funny thing is, the Hawks were playing Minnesota both times. Each time it caused a 20-minute delay. As it turns out, the guy with the parts we needed was up in Minnesota. He was probably watching on TV. Those are the only two times the Zamboni has broken down.
”A lot of times the fans throw stuff out onto the ice. Once it was a Wayne Gretzy blowup doll. Another time it was a plastic gallon jug filled with mustard that was tossed from the second balcony, David Letterman-style.
”Several times people have brought pucks to the rink and thrown `em out on the ice during play. Then the players don`t know what they`re chasing. Once, during this huge brawl, it was a 10-pound carp. At least is wasn`t alive. Or should I say by the time we got to it, it wasn`t,” Ahearn said.
The Stadium`s rowdy element doesn`t account for all of Ahearn`s Zamboni stories. The cozy surroundings of the Elmhurst YMCA have been home to some adventures as well.
”I`m not the only guy who drives it here,” Ahearn said of the Elmhurst rink. ”One time years ago, a guy rode right through the endboards, almost on to 1st Street. He called me at home and said the gas pedal got stuck.”
In his years of employment, Ahearn has become familiar with the personalities in the Blackhawks organization. He has lasting impressions of many of the players, remembering fondly alumni such as Al Secord (1980-87, 1989-90), Tom Lysiak (1979-85) and Ted Bully (1976-82) as well as current players like Keith Brown and Chris Chelios.
Chelios, an Evergreen Park native, won the Norris Trophy as the NHL`s top defenseman in 1989 with the Montreal Canadiens.
”Chris` kid goes nuts whenever he sees the Zamboni,” Ahearn said of 2 1/2-year-old Dean Chelios. ”All he says is `Zamboni, Zamboni!` Whenever he comes here, he has to work all the levers, turn the steering wheel, then he`s happy. Then Chris can go to practice.”
”He`s got a fetish over it,” said Chelios. ”I bring Dean in here a lot, and every time he runs right over to Dan. Dan`s great. He lets him ride around on it with him between practices. I don`t know what a 2-year-old thinks. All I know is that he`s best friends with Danny and he loves that Zamboni. It`s pretty funny.”
Dean Chelios` obsession with the hulking machine is an extreme case.
”We had to do something at home, so we tore apart a grocery store shopping cart and made a toy Zamboni out if it,” said Chelios.
The prospect of plying his trade before thousands of onlookers doesn`t bother Ahearn. Hordes of fans are just part of the job. At the charmingly antiquated Stadium, where amibitious construction is under way on a new facility across the street due to be ready for the 1994-95 campaign, moving the enormous Zamboni from its hallway bay to the ice surface during intermission means gently parting a sea of spectators.
”The crowd has changed over the years,” said Ahearn. ”People hang around the concession stands a lot longer nowadays. They even miss some of the game to do it. And it`s a younger crowd, which I guess is good. I mean, that`s your fan base.
”The fans are always asking about the `Z,”` said Ahearn. ”`How does it work` `How much do they cost?` `Is that hot water you use on the ice?` Some of them think that you actually `make` ice as you ride around. It happens every game.”
What the Zamboni does do is melt the loose shavings and snowy ice and lay down a very thin layer of hot water to smooth out the ice surface.
Ahearn`s job impresses a lot of people in different ways. For curious fans, whether they watch from the distance of their seats or from the Zamboni stall just north of Gate 3 1/2 on the west side of the building, this unusual ritual fascinates and confuses.
For others, like the YMCA`s Lee, it`s just the best way of doing things. No more, no less.
”Dan`s job is more than machine work and maintenance,” said Lee. ”Dan knows the sport and is a great friend to the kids. He works with them and helps with their skating and shooting skills. Dan is a well-rounded ice-rink individual. I don`t know where we`d be without him.”
