If you’ve been to a Kamloops Blazers game in the last decade, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Jake ‘Ice Dude’ Caughill surveying the landscape from his perch on the Zamboni.
Truth is, creating the flawless ice surface is only one of Jake’s many responsibilities on any given night at the Sandman Centre. After a few minutes discussing his game-day routine, it is clear that Jake’s long list of tasks is something that the Kamloops native has been perfecting for years.
Jake cut his teeth at the now-defunct Ice Box Arena before joining the City of Kamloops where he has worked for over 11 years. His journey through various arenas led Caughill to the bright lights on Mark Recchi Way.
“I wanted to do Blazers games. That was my goal to get here and do that. I always wanted to do them. So I worked at Mac[arthur] Island my first year and then a shift came up which is a split, it’s the worst one. They’ve gotten rid of it now because it’s hard on people — it was three nights and two graveyards. So I would do that just so I could do the Friday and Saturday Blazers games. I did that for five years, that’s how badly I wanted to do it because that shift really was terrible.”
Short term pain, long term gain, as they say. Caughill’s dedication to his craft led to his current 4 PM-midnight shift that allows him to watch Blazers games in between his duties, most of which revolve around creating a pristine sheet of ice.
“Gameday, we’ll come in at 4 PM, Derek and I or Nancy, whoever’s doing the games. We’ll come do our pregame flood at that time, take our temps. Usually, [the ice is] a little colder at that time so we’ll do a nice slow flood to bring it up. Then we’ll go out and cut our holes, me and Derek throw our pegs down the ice, we’ve made a game of it. We’ll cut our pegs, put our nets out and then we more-or-less wait for the game. [The players] do the warm-up, the ice might be a little cold by then but it’s not too bad. Then that’s why we have that nice 20-minute [break before the game starts], we’ll do a nice slow flood and it usually brings it to a perfect temperature. We’ll clean the dressing room hallway so they don’t get anything on their skates. Whatever happens, we [do what we] need to do.”
Much of that heavy lifting occurs between periods, when Jake and another employee operate the two Zambonis, one fuelled by propane and one electric machine that debuted this season.
“Our last one was electric too and it did all the games. It’s too bad they got rid of it because it was running really good at the end. Usually, after 10 or 12 years they just replace them. Here, because we use it every day, we save a ton of money just because we’re using it for minor hockey and everything else so it’s got a lot of hours on it. Whereas this propane one is one of the newer ones, it’s only been used for games.”
How exactly does a Zamboni work?
“That blade shaves [the ice] so then the snow gets picked up by the augers and goes through there but some of the snow will stay out in front, you’ll see that when I’m driving. And then there’s what we call wash water that you’ll see spray out the back. That mixes with some of that slush and actually fills some of the gaps of the grooves in the ice. And then, obviously, hot water for us. Some of the other rinks have gone to cold water, the same principle, it’s just speeding up the molecules in the water, that’s why we use hot because it freezes faster. Plus, it just leaves a nicer surface in my opinion.
“So after it goes through that little slush mixture, it flattens out and this is enough to just melt that and smooth it right out. The auger then spins to the middle, shoots up the elevator and into the bin, that’s it.”
If you are unfamiliar with the process and are a visual learner like myself, this video provides a quick walk-through.
When Jake isn’t operating a real Zamboni, he’s likely driving a refurbished machine dubbed “The Fanboni” which carries a group of fans at every home game intermission.
“It has none of the other features, we couldn’t use it as an emergency. That’s what a lot of the kids ask me when they get on it. It’s actually one of our older ones that they got out. The kids have a blast.”
As someone who grew up watching the Blazers “since the old barn, since the Memorial [Arena] days,” Caughill understands the passion.
“This team is the best one I’ve seen in a while. The run we had against Portland [in 2012] — that was exciting because I remember the barn being full and they came back in that game but I’m really excited about this team.”
Jake’s fandom is shared between his hometown team and the distant Kansas City Chiefs. “I think I’m as big of a fan of the Blazers now where I used to be more NHL…it’s a KC-Blazer tie I think. So now, as confident as I was about Kansas City going all the way and winning, I’m pushing that forward to these guys.”
According to Caughill, this season’s cast is full of winners both on and off the ice.
“Well, Frankie’s my favorite, right? He knows that. And then Booch after because you’ll see me giving him fist pumps before the game. And then Zary, Centazzo who wears 19 which is my favorite number. Just the whole team really. Max Martin coming in has been awesome and then obviously Logie, right?”
Blazers starting goaltender Dylan Garand managed to squeeze his way into Jake’s good books. After suiting up in the U-18s for Team Canada, Garand returned to Kamloops with a hat for Jake who wears it only when Garand is playing in goal. That hat has been collecting dust while Garand rehabs an injury sustained on February 1st.
Which begs the question, would Caughill make a good emergency back-up goalie? Due to junior hockey rules, Jake is “luckily too old for this league” but that hasn’t stopped him from developing a hypothetical strategy.
“Well, I’m gonna take up more than half the net because I’m a big guy anyway so I might just lay down and make them shoot upstairs. I’ll just conserve energy because I’ll probably still have to clean the building after.”
A player or not, Jake knows this team is a contender and wants to be there every step of the way, especially for a potential championship.
“I hope they bring this out,” Jake says as he points towards the idle Fanboni, “and this is what’s driving in the parade, and if that’s the case, I’m going to push for me to drive it. I would love to be a part of it.”
