The Zamboni Look -- The Maker Of Ice-Resurfacing Machines Skates Into New Territory: Clothes, Caps

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Jill LeGault admits, reluctantly, that she has signed an autograph or two.

"I think I signed `Zamboni Girl,' or something like that," says LeGault, 24, who drives one of two Zamboni-brand machines used to resurface the ice at Anaheim Mighty Ducks games.

Even Al Tyldesley, a retired fireman turned rink manager, has people who scream for him in the night.

"Heeeeyyyyyyy . . . Zamboni Man!"

Why do Zamboni drivers have fans? Because people like Zambonis.

A lot.

There are Zamboni songs, (including the seminal "Zamboni Race in Outerspace" by The Zambonis), Zamboni comics, and Zamboni belt buckles.

There are Zamboni Web sites, Zamboni essays, Zamboni jokes.

There is something called "Zamboni disease," which is more about whiffing too much propane in a poorly ventilated ice rink than anything directly related to the machine.

And there is even the "Frank J. Zamboni Hall of Fame," run by Tyldesley, which pays homage to the nation's greatest ice-rink managers.

"Cult is not too strong a word for how people feel about the Zamboni," says Tyldesley, who drives one every day as manager of the Charles Moore Arena in Orleans, Mass.

"Everybody loves it. And, more than that, a lot of people think about it more than you'd think.

"It's a great, great invention."

Test of name appeal

Strong words for a 49-year-old product that looks like a Dumpster on wheels? Perhaps.

But the sentiment behind the words could translate into serious cash for Frank J. Zamboni & Co., the family-run company based in Paramount, Calif., that makes the machines.

Zamboni & Co. last year started a new division, Zamboni Merchandising, and hired a Disney retail veteran, Paula Coony, to manage sales and operations.

Zamboni previously sold trinkets, including key chains and buttons asking the question "What the Hell's a Zamboni?" But the company says its new division is the first serious attempt to find out how strong the brand name is among people who care more about cool clothes than smooth ice.

"Our core customer is the serious ice enthusiast," says Coony. "After that, we're still in the process of finding out what we have."

If early sales are any indication, Zamboni someday could make nearly as much on clothes as it does on smooth ice.

Using a freshly designed logo - a roundish "Z" surrounded by a rink-esque oval - Zamboni gear ranging from baseball caps to diaper covers sold well during the Christmas season, even though the line was available only through a few skate stores and a Chicago-based mail-order house, Rainbo Sports Shops.

"The brand is amazing," said Rainbo owner and former Zamboni driver Cale Carvell. "People who have no interest in skating or hockey, they know what a Zamboni is and they like it."

Already a top brand

Carvell says Zamboni already is one of the top brands in the relatively small niche of skate apparel and soon it might rival mainstream athletic brands. Eventually, he says, the brand could generate annual sales of about $10 million.

"You go to any rink in the world, and you'll see people using different brands for skates, different hockey equipment, different everything - everything except Zamboni," Carvell said.

"Zamboni is the one name you see everywhere."

Any revenue from hats and shirts would be a big boost for tiny Zamboni.

The privately held company, which has sold about 6,000 Zambonis over the past 49 years, doesn't disclose sales or profit. However, sports-industry experts figure Zamboni could generate sales of about $9 million this year on its machines in the United States, and maybe half again as much out of its Canadian plant in Brantford, Ontario.

Overall, 55-employee Zamboni holds roughly a 65 percent share of the world's ice-resurfacer market, with machines in more than 60 countries. Its biggest competitor is the Olympia, made in Canada.

"Whatever happens with Zamboni (clothes), we'll still be making the machines," says President Richard F. Zamboni, 64, son of Frank Zamboni Sr., who invented the machine in 1949.

Soon, possibly next year, Richard Zamboni will turn over full control of the company to his oldest son, Frank, 42, who runs the company's Canadian business. That'll be a formality, according to Richard, who says Frank is already in charge of day-to-day operations.

The Zambonis made in Canada are virtually the same as the Zambonis made in Paramount. Part high-tech, part low-tech, the machines are ugly but intricate models of ice-scraping efficiency.

For instance, the basic Zamboni - priced at $50,000 to $80,000 - uses the same engine that once powered Cabriolet model Volkswagens. However, the machine also comes equipped with a special transmission that transfers all its speed into low-end torque. The result is a machine that can go maybe 9 mph tops, but can do so while scraping away a 77-inch-wide strip of ice a quarter-inch deep.

In addition to possessing the power required to cut ice, the machine also must handle the delicate job of spreading out 160-degree water. The hot water reconditions old ice and creates new ice. For an NHL game, a Zamboni will spread about 150 gallons of water over 17,000 square feet, a sheet that's roughly one-sixteenth inch thick.

"It's really an interesting and powerful tool," says Steve Bireley, manager of the Disney Ice skate center in Anaheim and a Zamboni driver at Ducks games.

The power was part of what made Bireley start driving Zambonis when he was a 15-year-old rink rat in San Diego.

"I don't remember exactly when I saw my first Zamboni. But I was hanging out at the rink a lot back then and was eventually lucky enough to get the job driving," he says.

"I did all the other jobs, too. But driving the Zamboni was the most fun."

Smooth job

These days, the man who once put the words "Zamboni driver" on an unemployment form is in charge of making sure ice at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim is up to NHL standards. He's been at the job for the past two years, during which time player complaints about the ice - once common - have subsided.

Bireley arrives at the Pond no later than 4 p.m. for a typical 7:30 home game. Smoothing the ice takes only a few mintues, but Bireley's need to worry is far more time-consuming.

"If there's any emergency, any little problem with the machine or the ice, I want time to fix it. I don't want the pressure of trying to fix something for a 17,000-person event breathing down my neck."

Fair enough. In fact, the pressure of NHL-level Zamboni driving is palpable. During a typical game, Bireley and LeGault will smooth the ice three times, using different patterns that they've invented - "Old One," "Michigan" and "Mirrors." Though the graceful, looping patterns are mostly for show, the process of smoothing the ice is not. Any mistake, such as laying out too much water or forgetting to turn off the compressor when there's no water in the pump, could ruin the expensive machine and, worse, delay the game.

"Hasn't happened yet, and, hopefully, it won't," says LeGault, who is believed to be the only female Zamboni driver who regularly works NHL games.

During a recent Ducks game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, dozens of fans stay in their seats between periods to watch Bireley and LeGault smooth ice. Unlike most nights, however, this mellow crowd refrains from spanking the plexiglass surrounding the rink or from screaming to get the driver's attention.

"You ignore it after awhile, but a lot of people watch."

`Celebrity' driver

Tim Codispoti, the Zamboni man at the Rye, N.Y., rink where the New York Rangers practice, might be the biggest celebrity in the Zamboni world.

He's the guy selling snow cones in an ESPN commercial. Ice for the cones allegedly comes from the rink used by the Rangers.

"Saying `I'm the Zamboni guy' isn't a line I can use at a bar to meet women," says Codispoti, who is single. "But it's something everbody gets a kick out of."

Tyldesley, who has driven the Zamboni for events surrounding the National Hockey League All-Star game, says two types of Zamboni drivers tend to make mistakes.

"There's the ones who get flustered when a few thousand people are looking, and there's the ones who are hams. They love the attention, but forget to watch what they're doing," he says.

"Your better Zamboni drivers can do without the attention, but don't mind it, either."

One Zamboni driver of note was Disney Chairman Michael Eisner. According to Bireley and others, Eisner - who once helped to rake the infield during an Anaheim Angels baseball game - spent a few hours learning how to drive the machine so he could take a spin during a Ducks game.

How'd he do?

"Mr. Eisner did a fine job," Bireley says.

"Print that."