An equipment managers nightmare

At 3 am I met the equipment manager from Muskegon (Andrew) at the Coliseum. They had just dropped the players off at the hotel and he along their trainer came to the rink to unpack the equipment.

I thought I had it bad, I can't even imagine what the equipment staff in Minnesota had to go through. Check out what happened when they arrived back to the rink in Ottawa after a practice at a local rink

http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=510434


Here are a few more pictures:

http://my.thescore.com/scoreblog/archive/2009/12/18/wild-fire-minnesota-wild-equipment-truck-catches-fire.aspx

If that would have happened at this level, I don't think the team would be able to play. Most NHL teams have 2 sets of gear which would make it a little easier, however the 2 big concerns would be skates and goalie equipment. If they are able to play tonight in Ottawa, it would be a miracle. Having spent 2 training camps with the staff there in Minnesota, I know if anyone can do it they can.

I recieved a question about skates and how often guys get them sharpened. This all depends on the guys. Some guys get them sharpened before every morning skate on game day. They do this because they want to make sure they have good edges, but they also want to make sure they are use to them. Other guys like to skate on freshly sharpened skates and they get them done right before every game. There are a handful of guys on this team that won't get there skates done unless they notice some wrong with them.
Another question had to do with contouring skate blades and what this means. Basically it means how much of the steel on the skate actually touches the ice and whether you lean a little forward or back on your skates. Most people never mess with this unless someone introduces it to them.

I hope this helped. Keep the questions coming.
Guys are starting to arrive for morning skate so I better go.