When you go to Stride Place, you'll still hear the goal horn go off when the Portage Terriers score, you'll still enjoy the same popcorn from the canteen, and you'll still see so many friendly faces fill the arena, but something has changed that you might not have noticed.
Long-time ice cleaner Jim Nickels has hung up the keys to the Zamboni.
Nickels started working as an ice cleaner at the Centennial Arena in Portage la Prairie in 1978. In 2010, when the community's new arena opened, he moved to Stride Place and drove the Zamboni for countless laps. Nickels bid farewell to his long-time position over the summer.
"I was just going to stay there for a while until I found another position somewhere else back in 1978. But then I watched Junior and Senior hockey and thought, 'Hmm. I might enjoy this.' So, I ended up staying there forever," he smiled.
Nickels told PortageOnline that he would absolutely miss it, but after 46 years, it was time.
"My first Zamboni was a case tractor with a pull-behind ice resurfacer on the back, hooked up to a three-point hitch, and that's how we resurfaced the ice at the old arena."
Nickels was always ready to lend a hand at the rink, even pitching in to cook fries in the canteen when the staff were short-handed. Although it wasn't part of his job description,
Nickels consistently did his best with any task given to him. He particularly enjoyed entertaining the little curious Canadians.
"Many times, little kids would come down to the Zamboni room and peek around the corner. I'd invite them in and let them sit on the Zamboni and show them how it worked and all that kind of stuff, and the parents really appreciated that as well."
Nickels has witnessed his fair share of quirky events at the rinks, but one story stands out above all in his memory.
"One time during a Terrier game. The announcer came over the PA system, and he said, 'The score clocks on fire.' Everybody kept just playing hockey, and nobody paid attention to him. Then he yelled over the sound system, 'Jim, the scoreboard is on fire!' We all looked up there, and sure enough, you could see flames coming out the top of the scoreboard. We stopped the game and lowered the clock to the ice to put the fire out. We actually had to move the game from the big arena over to the west arena to finish it off."
Anyone can drive a Zamboni, but Nickels mentioned that it takes years to master the art. After many laps, it's time to say goodbye. The long-time Zamboni driver said he will still be at the rink from time to time to watch the Terriers.
When asked how many times he cleaned the ice over the years, Nickels couldn't put a number to it.
"A million times probably," he laughed.