Alex Wilczynski drives into history

Professional hockey has been a constant presence in Toledo for over 70 years. But, the 7,595 fans who were at the Huntington Center for the Walleye’s match-up against Indy on March 3 witnessed a first in the city’s hockey history as Alex Wilczynski became the first woman to drive the Zamboni during a Toledo professional hockey game.

Wilczynski has been a part of the Huntington Center ice crew since January 2018. She began that season working with the Walleye promotions team, and got to know members of the ice crew from working post-game skates. Once the ice crew discovered her history of working in an ice arena, they asked her if she would be interested in joining their team.

She worked at the Recreation Center in her hometown of Fremont, Ohio for five years, where she started out as a rink guard, before eventually driving their Zamboni for open skates and hockey games. That experience made it a natural progression for her to join the award winning Huntington Center crew, which has been honored for having the ECHL’s best ice for three consecutive years.

ECHL.com had the opportunity to talk to Wilczynski about her historic Sunday afternoon.

ECHL.com: Was driving the Zamboni something that always appealed to you? What was it that made you want to drive it?

Alex Wilczynski: Yes, I've always wanted to drive a Zamboni - but who doesn't! My dad taught my siblings and I to skate at a young age so every weekend growing up we would go to the arena with our friends. Seeing the Zamboni on the ice always intrigued me and once I got a job in an arena I knew eventually I wanted to be a manager and drive it. The more well rounded of an employee you are in a building the more hours you're going to get so that definitely helped me push to learn how to drive. 

ECHL.com: How long is the training process to learn how to drive and operate all the mechanisms on the machine?

AW: Learning how to operate the machine isn't too difficult. It takes maybe about two weeks to feel comfortable behind the wheel. The real tricky part is your pattern and your water control. On a Zamboni, you can see your left-hand side really well as to what is clean ice and dirty ice. Your right hand side is blind though. Everyone has a different point they line up to make sure they are getting their path complete based on their height so that can take awhile to figure out exactly where you need to line up that focal point. Also if you go over your goal lines with the water on full blast it'll be a wet mess, take forever to freeze and your ice will be to high around the boards. Getting the perfect amount of water down on the ends can definitely be tricky. 

ECHL.com: What is the most challenging part about operating the Zamboni?

AW: For me, the most challenging part would be sliding on the ice. The tires do have small studs to help with traction but if you are going too fast into a turn you will definitely slide, which then causes your corners to round out. You can slide past dirty ice and miss a spot, and the pattern will have to be rounded the rest of the cut. Once you round one corner there is no going back and your goal should be to square out the corners. 

ECHL.com: From a driving perspective, is driving the Zamboni any different than driving a car on icy roads?

AW: Its similar. The machine is a lot heavier than a car which can cause pretty fast and scary slides. But just like a car, you can over correct and start swaying back and forth, which is hard to get the vehicle straight again after that. Slowing down for the turns prevents it mostly. Also you have to use your left hand to drive which isn't tricky for me since I'm a lefty, but for others it can be challenging. You need your right hand on your water valve always. 

ECHL.com: How exciting was it for you to be able to operate the Zamboni in front of a sell-out crowd at Sunday's game?

AW: It was incredible. Toledo hockey fans are amazing people; they are supportive, encouraging, kind and so passionate. Our season ticket holders have been asking me since last season when I was going to drive during a game and I'm so glad I finally did it. Being the first female Zamboni driver in Toledo hockey history is amazing. Our arena is amazing. We've had the best ice in the league the past three years and I know why. We have an amazing team. Jesus Riviera, our operations manager, is an incredible leader for us with so much knowledge. He believes in all of us and encourages us, he really is such a great mentor for everyone on the crew. Being able to share this moment with my team, my friends, makes it so much better.