Putting the icing on the Cake Tin

Wellington’s Westpac Stadium will be turned into an ice skating rink when a match in the Ice Hockey Classic tour is played there in June.

The venue will become the first outdoor stadium in the southern hemisphere to host a major outdoor ice hockey match, when the Ice Hockey Classic tour visits New Zealand in June.

The June 23 game will be part of a three-match series between teams from the United States and Canada.

Converting the stadium into an ice hockey rink will be a massive technical challenge for organisers. Westpac Stadium chief executive Shane Harmon said the rink’s creators would have just 72 hours to build and dismantle the playing surface.

Outdoor ice hockey games are played in the US and Canada on baseball or American football fields in midwinter but, generally, the outdoor temperatures there are close to, or below, freezing.

While Wellington has notori- ously bad winter weather, it is unlikely to get that cold in June.

Harmon said: ‘‘Building a National Hockey League-sized ice hockey rink on the pitch presents some technical challenges.

‘‘The team have a 72-hour turnaround period to build, freeze, unfreeze and dismantle the rink. But we believe it is worth the effort to create such an exciting and innovative event experience for fans.

‘‘Few Kiwis will have experienced a live ice hockey game before, so we think it will be very popular, particularly with the calibre of athletes who are expected to compete.’’

The teams will feature a collection of current ice hockey players, illustrious veterans and promising emerging talents.

One of those taking part will be Mike Commodore, who captained Team Canada in the 2017 Ice Hockey Classic tournament staged at indoor arenas across Australia.

He played 13 seasons in the NHL before retiring in 2014, racking up more than 480 games of professional hockey and winning an Ice Hockey World Championships gold medal with Canada in 2007. The 38-year-old said he was looking forward to touring New Zealand.

‘‘It was great to see so many passionate ice hockey fans come out and support us in Australia.

‘‘Touring Australia with the Ice Hockey Classic has been a highlight in my career, and it will be fantastic to reignite the rivalry with USA for yet another year,’’ he said.

The other two matches in the tour will take place at Spark Arena in Auckland on June 22, and the Queenstown Ice Arena on June 28.