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The Zamboni Story


james laverance

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I've seen the rescued and refurbished Zamboni #4 displayed at the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota.   It has an interesting history in itself as it was originally purchased for the Ice Capades.

 

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At 1:00 on a cold Sunday morning in February of 1973, Ted Dunn was awakened by a fire call from the ice rink. By the time he arrived, the garage (which housed the Zamboni machine and their old Jeep-plow) was in flames. A loft above the machine also stored such flammables as rubber flooring and hockey sticks. Amid the smoke and flames, the old Jeep was driven out the door onto the ice. The firemen were about ready to give up on No. 4, when Ted asked to give one more try to removing it from the burning garage. Soaked by the fire hoses, he re-entered the garage, threw a dampened canvas over the engine and after having to quickly tighten the battery terminals, got the engine started. Signaling to the firemen to push the burning loft up, he drove out the door, carrying burning hockey sticks, part of the garage door and other debris with him. This machine was rebuilt and restored (by the Zamboni Company) to its original condition and has been on display for many years at the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota.

1

 http://www.zamboni.com/images/PDFs/The_Odyssey_of_Number_4_Story.pdf

 

I'm not sure if any of the first 3 were preserved and are on display somewhere.  

 

Frank Zamboni was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, a little late imo.   He also was inducted into The US Figure Skating Association Hall of Fame in 2000, the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2006 and the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2007.  All of these honors were too late to honor Frank Zamboni, as he died in 1998.

 

Zamboni was named the "Official Ice Resurfacer of the NHL in 2002.

 

 

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