paint the ice night

When I started my career in hockey I had one goal in mind, to give back to the sport and leave it in a better place for future generations on hockey fans.  The sport meant so much to me growing up, playing hockey, learning how to be a member of a team, how to play your role and so much more.

During my first season, I was so lucky to be heavily involved in a promotion that was the first, ever, of its kind that would change the landscape of minor and major league hockey promotions we initially called, WE PAINT The Ice Night, but would eventually be morphed into The Painted Classic.

The idea was to engage our audience in a two-pronged event, one event where after a game was concluded, fans would be asked to paint the ice using ice paint with the players followed by a second game that would see two teams play on the painted ice surface.

Risky…yes.  It’d never been done before. However, it didn’t stop us.

And the hockey world has been blessed because of it.  The event, which was the original brainchild of my first President, Brian Sandy, was largely planned by me and our Vice President of Operations, Bryan Boyes.  We planned everything down to the minute detail and the event, which took place on December 31, 2013 went off without a hitch.

We followed that up with The Painted Classic on January 3, 2014 and made history when the Stockton Thunder played host to the San Francisco Bulls on the first game played on fan painted ice.  It became a viral and overnight sensation, reaching across the nation initially from Long Island, NY to Honolulu, HI. It was picked up by every major sports publication, including ESPN, CNN, NBC Sports and Sports Illustrated to name a few.

In fact, you can google “hockey” and “paint” and you’re guaranteed to find the Stockton Thunder near the top of every search possible for this event.

More importantly, it inspired others to do the same thing.  First it was the Florida Everblades who replicated the event, then we saw it being done in the NHL as a “thank you” event to fans after seasons were over with both the New Jersey Devils and the Minnesota Wild.

Fast-forward to present day, and the event that we began in Stockton has now teams from across the globe and across the spectrum of junior and professional hockey. I’ve received dozens of calls over the years, and still receive some to this day, about the event and how other teams can pull off similar events for their fans.

Hopefully I’m not done leaving my mark on the game of hockey, but knowing that something that I was a large part of, that has brought so much joy to fans across the world, and business successes to the teams who’ve replicated this event for their own fans, has been such a special part of my life and my career in hockey.

the original we paint the ice night was covered by