Aunts and uncles 1,846 miles away will tune in this weekend to watch the livestream of Jackson Hole Moose Hockey.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account and connect your subscription to it by clicking here.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
By Allie Gross
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via Wyoming News Exchange
JACKSON — Aunts and uncles 1,846 miles away will tune in this weekend to watch the livestream of Jackson Hole Moose Hockey.
But those fans are not there for the hockey. They’re there for the Zamboni.
Before the game, while the band of the week plays, Zach Slaker backs the ice resurfacing machine out of its station and onto the rink, clad in a moose antler hat he found in his grandfather’s attic from an Alaskan cruise. Slaker has lived in Jackson for five years and has captained the Zamboni as the assistant manager of the Snow King Sports and Events Center for three years.
“I always dreamed about driving a Zamboni as a little kid,” Slaker said. “It’s every hockey player’s dream.”
Slaker grew up playing hockey in Marietta, Georgia. The sport runs in his blood: His father was the team doctor for the NHL’s Atlanta Knights, and his brother plays for the University of Michigan’s hockey team. At a late January game Slaker’s visiting sister Facetimed in nieces and nephews to watch Uncle Zach drive the Zamboni by.
“I love hockey,” he said. “I love to watch competitive games. It’s such a fast-paced sport.”
Slaker calls piloting the Zamboni an adrenaline rush. With hundreds of hockey spectators attending Moose games, he said, it can be nerve-wracking being alone on the ice.
“It’s almost like a show in itself,” Slaker said. “The way I always put it, it’s like having 1,200 people watch you cut your grass.”
And just like the crowd is vocal with the hockey players, he’ll get an earful from them, too.
“The crowd is definitely a bunch of hecklers,” he said.