Jackson man fulfills longtime dream by driving Zamboni

Posted 2/16/19

Aunts and uncles 1,846 miles away will tune in this weekend to watch the livestream of Jackson Hole Moose Hockey.

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Jackson man fulfills longtime dream by driving Zamboni

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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.