Winnipegger takes
outdoor hockey to New Zealand
As Winnipegger Kerry Goulet
stood in the massive warehouse in
Minneapolis last April, he started to
wonder what the heck he had done.
Goulet had traveled from Toronto to find
the perfect set of used NHL-style boards for
the new look dasher system for the 2017
Ice Hockey Classic in Australia. Goulet, the
co-founder of Stop Concussions and Shoot
for-the-Cure, had always dreamed that the
Classic could deliver a new look and feel
when it came to the ice and board system.
With his top ice experts, Jeff Amaral
and Paul Kempffer with him, he was
able to purchase a set of boards – the
old St. Paul Fighting Saints boards
– that would add clear poly plastic
to each side of the rink boards.
The board system was prefect and
could be converted to the specifics that
were needed to fit any arena or stadium
footprint in Australia. Goulet had also
talked about doing the first outdoor game
in the Southern Hemisphere, but the first
step was to present clear dashers and then
take the next step, creating an opportunity
for the outdoors. It was a huge challenge.
Goulet had seen an outdoor game in
Finland a few years back that had a rink
with completely clear dasher boards.
T H E
N E W
He loved the look and feel and knew it
would deliver a one-of-a-kind experience
to the spectators in Australia.
In 2017, the clear boards were delivered
to Sydney and were not only a huge hit,
but also gave the ice team an amazing
learning experience for future events.
Now the focus had to shift to
Phase 2: An outdoor game.
For just three hours of ice hockey at
the WestPac Stadium in Wellington,
New Zealand this coming June 23, 2018
there will be hundreds of man hours
spent both in both labor and planning.
“I’m really proud to be able to bring
this to New Zealand,” said Goulet, a
former member of the St. Boniface
Riels and European professional star,
“It has always been a vision of mine and
to be able to work with Jeff, Paul and
Jonathan Cornford of AIS on the ice
production as well as Murray Hodges
and Damian Pratt of TEG Live on the
implementation of the tour, is truly an
honor. Go big or go home is how I live life.
“Oh, and I must not forget we have five
other games on this tour -- June 22 in
Auckland, NZ; June 23 in Wellington; June
28 in Queenstown, NZ; June 29 in Sydney;
July 5 in Adelaide; and July 7 in Brisbane.
Z E A L A N D
O U T D O O R
R I N K
B Y
During the last three years, Goulet
along with TEG Live and TLA Worldwide,
have turned the Ice Hockey Classic into
one of the most successful sporting
events in Australia. Each year Goulet has
reached every one of his goals in order
to produce the incredible quality and
excellence of the Ice Hockey Classic.
With the Classic’s first outdoor game
coming in 2018 – it’s also the first outdoor
game in the Southern Hemisphere -- Goulet
plans to make the Outdoor Game a yearly
event. And one of the greatest success
stories in the New Zealand and Australia.
From left, Paul Kempffer (29 Sports),
Winnipeg’s Kerry Goulet, Chris Parkinson
(Mexted), Jonathan Cornford (AIS
Australia), Cameron Mexted (Mexted) and
Hagen Faith (WestPac Stadium).jpg
T H E
N U M B E R S
9,000 37,854 15,000 22,000 96,500
Litres of glycol coolant
used to freeze the rink
Litres of water
needed to create a
two inch ice surface
Feet of electrical cable
used to power the
rink, stages, audio
systems, etc
Square feet of decking
for construction of
the rink
Weight, in pounds,
of the refrigeration unit
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