FUN FACTS: ‘A’ TO ZAMBONI

The proud Zamboni company is quite touchy about its famous product being used as a noun, citing trademark erosion of Coke and Kleenex. They insist it should be referred to as a Zamboni ice resurfacing machine, always with a cap Z.

■ There is a 50-year-old Canadian company, Olympia, based in Elmira, Ont., that produces resurfacers, too. Finnish-based Ice Cat is also big in the green energy market.

■ In 2001, a Zamboni machine was driven from St. John’s to Victoria, a trip that took almost four months.

■ If there are four resurfacings per game (before, after and between periods), the machine travels an average of 4.8 km during each game.

■ In the early 1950s, Frank Zamboni personally delivered one from his garage to Chicago Stadium for Sonja Henie’s ice show. But another such order was delayed on the highway from Paramount to Berkeley, Calif., when a key popped out of the steering shaft and the Zamboni veered into the roadside bushes.

■ Sam DeAngelis drove at the Gardens and Air Canada Centre for 44 years aboard various Zamboni models, estimating he’d driven as far as his native Italy and back. He was honoured by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. and the Zamboni family.

■ The machine’s blade weighs 26 kilograms, is 1.27 centimetres at its edge, sharp enough to slice through thick stacks of newsprint.

■ Each tire has around 400 Tungsten Carbide studs. In one cleaning it picks up approximately 680 kilograms worth of snow, leaving approximately 544 kg of water.

■ A Minnesota band, the Gear Daddies, recorded Zamboni Machine in the 1990s, about a wannabe driver, still a staple in many U.S. rinks during intermissions:

“Now e’er since I was young it’s been my dream That I might drive the Zamboni machine I’d get that ice just as slick as could be And all the kids would look up to me”

■ When an NHL-themed Monopoly board was created in 2000, a silver Zamboni was a player token.

■ The expansion Minnesota Wild staged a parade of Zambonis as part of their celebration to enter the NHL in 2000. An arena driver from that state had his funeral procession led by a Zamboni machine.

■ The machines have been featured in TV shows like CSI, Cheers, Hands on History, Late Night with David Letterman and Junkyard Wars.