There can be only two builders inducted into the hall every year, and there are always too many deserving candidates among hockey's innumerable owners, coaches, general managers, broadcasters and other contributors to the game.īut there's something unique about Frank Zamboni, who persisted despite initial failures. The man himself - who was a commercial ice-maker and refrigeration installer before changing hockey - liked to say to rink owners, simply: "the principal product you have to sell is the ice itself."ĭuration 1:01 5 former NHLers and Olympians were honoured at the ACC on Friday Indeed, there is no way countless local arenas could book themselves solid without the Zamboni doing a quick sweep of the ice between minor-hockey practices, beer-league games and public skates. Think about it: there is no other way any big-league game could be completed in a few hours the Zamboni ensures the best and most efficient cleanup of the ice surface during a short intermission.īut beyond that, the Zamboni changed the recreational game of hockey also. There's no doubt that Zamboni changed the game of hockey.Ĭlear it and they will come: Do-it-yourself 'mini Zamboni' a hit on Calgary rinks The Hockey Hall of Fame has a "builder" category, for which inductees are chosen on "the basis of his or her (i) coaching, managerial or executive ability or ability in another significant off-ice role, (ii) sportsmanship, (iii) character and (iv) contributions to his or her organization or organizations and to the game of hockey in general." Many years later, the Zamboni was designated the "official ice resurfacing machine of the NHL" by the league. (They actually donated that machine to the Hockey Hall of Fame). The Boston Bruins were the first National Hockey League team to regularly use his machine back in 1954. Zamboni even got a Google Doodle in 2013, on what would have been his 112th birthday.
That same year, he was also inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000, the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2006 and the U.S. Zamboni, who died in 1988, was inducted into the U.S. The hall of fame will welcome its newest inductees Monday, but notably absent again this year is the humble inventor of the famous ice-resurfacing machine that bears his name. Where is Frank Zamboni's name in the Hockey Hall of Fame? Recently, after reading my one-year-old son his A-to-Z hockey picture book for the umpteenth time, I realized – after a quick Google search – that the last name in the book has not achieved hockey's highest honour.