It didn’t take long for the “Icernator Zamboni,” which the Bank of Maine Ice Vault debuted Dec. 22, to impact a game.

The Zamboni, which was outfitted with a three-barreled T-shirt launcher and special effect lighting by Darling’s of Augusta, created a sizable hole in the faceoff dot at the north end of the arena when it got stuck during the second intermission of an Eastern A game Saturday night between Cony and Bangor.

“I’ve never seen anything like that happen,” Cony coach Chad Foye said. “That was different.”

Drew Glasheen, operations manager at the Vault, said the pipes that carry the water are set low in this particular Zamboni. As a result, when the “Icernator” got stuck, it dropped enough water — heated at 180 degrees — to melt a mole that measured several feet long and an inch and a half deep.

“The tires were spinning and the Zamboni just stopped,” Glasheen said. “It’s something that happens. It just melted the ice and we couldn’t patch it in time. It just didn’t freeze over. We just didn’t have the time to do it.

The game was subsequently called, because the hole created a safety issue. Bangor was awarded a 3-1 victory.

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“We were playing pretty well,” Foye said. “We would’ve liked to play that third period but what can you do? It was just a real big hole on the ice. It was a fluke thing.”

Cony (6-3-2) tied Brunswick (6-5-1) on Monday. The Rams will return to the Vault on Saturday when they’ll host Gray-New Gloucester/Poland (2-6-1). 

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Maranacook/Hall-Dale/ Winthrop forward Dan Condon ranks among the scoring leaders in all of Class A with 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points in just 10 games.

Despite the eye-popping numbers, MHW coach Andy Dube decided to shore up his depleted defense by moving Condon behind the blue line, if only in spurts.

“We had to,” Dube said. “Condon is a natural defenseman and we need people back there.”

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The move came after the Hawks (7-2-1) learned standout defenseman Zach Glazier would miss the rest of the season with a back injury.

“We’ll move him back and forth,” Dube said. “Our defense is getting better as we go along. He helps us back there.”

How did Condon take to the switch?

“It feels different,” he said. “I used to play defense but I’ve been playing forward quite a lot lately. But I’ll go where I’m needed.”

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Gardiner (2-6-1) is last in Western B Heal points, but it could jump into the playoff hunt with wins in its next two games — Thursday against Leavitt (3-5-1) and Saturday against York (5-8-0). Both games are at the Bank of Maine Ice Vault.

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“It’s a big week ahead here,” Gardiner coach Jeff Ross said. “Both of those teams are sitting right ahead of us. They are pretty important games. We have to keep two teams behind us and those are two potential teams. This is an important part of the season.”

The Tigers, who are coming off a win over rival Winslow, and Hornets will face off at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

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After Messalonskee suffered its first defeat of the season, a 5-4 overtime decision to John Bapst on Jan. 12, coach Mike Latendresse decided to shake a few things up.

“The problem was we were just too comfortable,” he said. “When you’re 8-0 you think you are the best, but you are not.”

The Eagles didn’t play during the week but had several practices. Each one forced them to step out of their comfort zone.

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“Every day in practice I changed the lines,” Latendresse said. “The theme of the week was change. I played guys in different positions, changed the lines and worked on new systems. The guys got it. I think it will help us in the long run.”

Messalonskee (9-1-0) bounced back with an 8-3 win over Winslow last Saturday.

Latendresse played everybody and sat standout forwards Chase and Jared Cunningham the last six minutes of the third period.

“It was a good way to bounce back,” Latendresse said. “We had a good week in practice. We worked hard. Having a week off, it allowed us to work on different parts of our game. We were able to get back to basics, to get back on track. We worked on new things, new combinations and new systems.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com


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