The ice at CN Centre has been turned green.
Environmentally-friendly, that is.
And if everything goes as expected, the quality of the skating surface will be better than ever.
On Wednesday morning, the local arena began using a technology called REALice and will continue to do so until at least the end of February. With the adoption of REAL ice, CN Centre became part of a 10-week $300,000 pilot program funded by FortisBC. Rinks in Duncan, Mill Bay, Delta, Richmond, Vancouver, Kamloops, Kelowna, Castlegar and Nelson are also participating in the program.
REAL ice was introduced in 1998 in Malmo, Sweden, and is now used in all 11 of that city’s rinks — including the one that hosted this year’s world junior hockey championship. The technology can be found in more than 250 arenas across Europe and has also made significant inroads with the National Hockey League.