One of the most anticipated events of the Winter Olympic Games is ice hockey -- men's and women's. In fact, at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games being contested right now, there are not one but two indoor arenas in use for ice hockey -- The Peaks Ice Arena and the E Center, not to mention a third indoor ice rink -- the Salt Lake Ice Center -- where figure skating and short track speed skating events are conducted. 

But to think that if a certain innovation in playing surfaces hadn't been made, ice hockey might never have made it onto the Olympic stage. The innovation we are talking about is, of course, the indoor ice rink. 

In 1925, New York's first professional hockey game was played indoors. The New York Americans, of the fledgling National Hockey League, faced off against the Montreal Canadiens on the newly installed ice surface at Madison Square Garden. Even though the Canadiens defeated the Americans 3-1, opening night was still an instant success. A capacity crowd of 17,000 filled the arena as New York saw the birth of both its professional hockey team and indoor ice surface. Today, indoor ice rinks are scattered across the country. But in 1925, the indoor ice rink was a relatively new concept, and it wouldn't have been possible without the help of Carrier. 

The secret behind the icy playing surface was hidden from plain sight in a separate enclosure on the exhibition floor. Three Carrier centrifugal refrigeration machines, each offering 800 tons of cooling capacity, were cooling brine to 11 degrees F. The brine was then circulated through 12 miles of parallel piping laid beneath the arena floor, and water was sprayed on the terrazzo floor above, producing ice. As the ice was frozen, in layer after layer, a white pigment was mixed with the water. The result was a smooth, white glistening surface-a one-inch-thick sheet of ice. It took 12 hours to prepare the ice and six hours to remove it so that the floor could be used for dancing or other events after the hockey games. 

Even the normally stoic New York Times was impressed! According to the newspaper, "the new rink is a perfect hockey plant. The smooth, glassy playing surface is the largest on the National Hockey League circuit and the skaters could be seen from every seat in the arena." 

During the next few days, all eyes will be focused on the outcome of several Olympic events as they transpire on the surface of an indoor ice rink. Figure skaters will pirouette, speed skaters will glide, and men's and women's hockey teams will contest for the Gold Medal, all thanks to the ingenuity of a man named Willis Carrier.