Ice skating in its purest form is done on a frozen lake or pond of
the north. There is no white paint to mar the crystalline surface
and only inky black water inches below your feet, swallowing shadows
after each cut of the blade. The miles of ice stretch ahead, swept
clean by the winds and frozen perfectly by the cold. With a little
wind from behind helping legs along and no boards to make stopping
necessary, freedom can be found on the pond. A boy could really fly
out there. Wings on your feet, thin leather covers cold toes and a
fraction of an inch of metal connects body, mind and spirit to the
ice. Freedom from friction, from slow clumsy winter boots, and
freedom to skate to inner heart desires. That is what skating is
about. Just remember to watch out for the ice- fishing holes cut
into the ice-a wet frozen skate is not a comfortable skate.
I have been fortunate to skate at such an idyllic setting. Actually,
I have skated in such pristine conditions many times.
 I
have had the pleasure of skating on small local lakes around my
hometown of Taber, Alberta, in Canada where at times you can even
observe the fish darting underneath the ice. I have been awed by the
outdoor rink in Banff where the towering Rocky Mountains glow in the
moonlight. I have skated indoors and out, shoveled snow off the ice
outside, played pick-up games of shinny on the lake near town, and
lost pucks through the fishing holes. I have countless memories of
hockey games that I played and watched as a youngster, and through
it all the one constant that remains is the sounds. You would have
to experience it to really understand it, but I think everyone who
listens can relate to a sound that takes you to a different time or
place.What does all this have to do with Missoula? Well, the
sounds of skating have become part of our community at the Glacier
Ice Rink. On any given day from September to May the rink bustles
with activity. Youth hockey, figure skating, public skating, adult
hockey and private ice rentals keep the ice surface busy from six in
the morning until after midnight most days. If you aren’t already
attending one of the many skating opportunities that can be found at
the Glacier Ice Rink, there’s a good chance you just don’t realize
how popular skating has become in Missoula. For that matter, you may
not even know the rink is now enclosed allowing the sounds of
skater’s laughter and enthusiasm to echo in the air at the Missoula
County Fairgrounds.
There is something special about these sounds. Grizzly football
fans will know the roar of the crowd and boom of the ROTC cannon
after a score. Baseball fans will know the crack of the bat at a
ballpark. The sounds of these experiences become an integral part of
the event. Let me share another sound with you. Listen carefully
now. Can you hear the sound of cold hard steel carving arcs in the
ice? I would guess the sound I’m describing is not going to capture
the imagination of nearly as many people as the first two examples.
For me, though, that sound is inextricably linked to my childhood.
As far back as I can remember I have known how to skate. I’ve taken
figure skating lessons, I’ve played hockey, and I’ve skated for the
joy of it when the ice fishing was slow. The winter was a wonderful
time of the year for me and many memories are linked to the sound of
metal on ice.
The chatter of skates might not flood most of the three river
area residents with nostalgia, but a whole new generation of skaters
is taking to the ice and hearing the sounds for themselves. Can you
hear it? It’s the sound of ice meeting metal and it’s happening
every single day in Missoula. When I first moved to this wonderful
city, ice skating really wasn’t on my mind. As a student athletic
trainer at the U of M I had football, basketball, and track duties
to attend to. No hockey at this school. I did discover, one dark and
foggy January night, a single street light standing sentinel over a
small patch of ice. I didn’t know then who maintained it, flooded it
or even who went through the trouble of putting the rickety boards
up for me. I wasn’t worried about those minor details, what worried
me was how to get my skates down here from Canada before the ice
melted. Fortunately, that winter in Missoula stayed relatively cold
and the ice hung around for at least three weeks. I may be
exaggerating a little, but it was two weeks for sure. I found myself
stopping to skate almost nightly. Sometimes the light was on and
sometimes it wasn’t. Very seldom did I meet anyone else at the rink
and I reveled in the peace, the quiet and the cold.
As I skated, forgotten memories came back to me, memories of
watching junior hockey with my dad. One specific trip to watch the
Lethbridge Broncos of the WHL had me on the edge of my seat. Of
course, as any young hockey fan will do, I hoped all night that a
deflected puck would sail into the stands and into my grasp. Alas,
the night of action wrapped up and no pucks had found their way to
my seat. Only a little disappointed not to have a souvenir to take
home, I turned to head up the aisle toward the exit. My dad,
however, noticed the Broncos goalie had picked up the puck at the
end of the game and was skating near the boards with it in his
glove. My dad put out his palm and nodded at the goalie. To my
amazement and delight the goalie flipped the puck over the glass and
into my dad’s hands. That souvenir sat on my bookshelf as a trophy
for many years, proudly displaying the emblem of the Broncos.
Through the years of lonely skating at Playfair Park and an
occasional trist at the McCormick pond, I have witnessed the
blossoming of a sport in Missoula. At first a handful of transplants
from outside Montana began to meet and play some pretty organized
pick-up games. I don’t remember too many names from those bygone
years, much like early childhood gets lost in the shuffle of growing
up. I do remember the first Zamboni that was housed at the shop
beside the rink. It could scrape the ice clean, but couldn’t flood
it. In the middle of the cold night some brave soul with hose in
hand had to flood the ice sheet, leaving a fresh clean surface for
the following day’s skaters.
 I
also remember the Missoula On Ice’s attempts to bring a
multi-million dollar rink facility, along with a junior hockey team,
to Missoula. Maybe those plans were too big, or maybe they were a
little ahead of the burgeoning support that currently surrounds the
Glacier Ice Rink. It takes a lot of commitment and hundreds of hours
of volunteer work to make a rink a success, but Missoulians have met
the challenge in full support of the growing ice skating community.
Many of my current friendships have sprung from those first years
of skating in the dark at the Playfair rink. Once a week we don our
hockey regalia and to the comments of, “old time hockey boys” and
“let’s go get ‘em there, eh!” we take the long walk across the
parking lot to the rink that beckons us.
 It
takes a hardy soul to endure what we adults do to get our time on
the ice. We play in the cold at eleven at night for the glory of the
game, or rather the good friends and the occasional Molson. We take
the hockey seriously-sometimes. Well, very seldomly actually, but we
sure have fun. Lately I have begun to wonder if the throngs of fans
and supporters on the other side of the glass may actually be
enjoying the whole spectacle more than those who play. I invite all
of the readers of Three Rivers Lifestyle to come down to the rink
and judge for themselves.
More than a handful of fans have made the leap into the Glacier
Hockey League’s (GHL) novice division after watching a few games.
The novice league was created expressly for those who weren’t born
with skates on. In a few short years it has grown to ten teams of
newbie’s to the sport of hockey. It might surprise the uninitiated
just how popular hockey is in this area. The GHL has created five
divisions of eight to ten teams with players ranging in experience
from ex-NHL’ers to neophytes. The league divisions will give any
adult the right match for their skill level. There is also the
Women’s Hockey Association of Missoula, (WHAM) for ladies who don’t
wish to compete with the men.
A
more reasonable suggestion for someone who hasn’t had the pleasure
of skating before is to drop by the rink during a public skating
session. Skates can be rented at the rink if you don’t have your own
and a new wintertime pleasure is waiting for you to take your first
glide around the rink. If you think you might enjoy some instruction
in how to best balance on those skinny little blades, the Missoula
Figure Skating club offers figure skating lessons for all levels of
skaters. The Missoula Area Youth Hockey Association runs clinics
throughout the year to help those new to the sport.
Skating in Missoula has changed from my early days at the outdoor
rink at Playfair Park. The growth in popularity of all the skating
sports can be seen in the booming numbers of participants. More than
400 youth hockey players, 100 figure skaters, 80 women hockey
players, and 400 adult men’s league participants add up to one of
the most successful skating programs in the state. The Glacier Ice
Rink has become very popular in the community and supports a
wonderful group of people who are excited by the opportunities
offered to their families to spend time together exercising, having
fun and smiling. |
