The Iceman Cometh

Top-tier ice technician turns Neepawa’s Yellowhead Centre into a curling mecca

Level 5 Ice Technician Greg Ewasko has been an important component of premier curling events across Canada for nearly

He and his team have brough their vast ice making experience to the Yellowhead

Curling Championship.

All of this work requires a precision and artistry only a select few ice technician can provide. Fortunately for Curl Manitoba and Neepawa’s Curling Committee, they have access to a person who is widely regarded as the go-to guy when it comes to creating the finest conditions for top-tier curling in Canada.

Manitoba’s Ice Man

Greg Ewasko of Oakbank, MB has been working as an ice technician since the late 1990s’. He has been instrumental in creating the best conditions for topflight curling events on a local, national and global level.

The Banner & Press had the chance to speak with Greg in-between sprays of the ice. He noted that every arena he works at has its own unique challenges.

“There is definitely a difference. For example, many larger facilities will have a heating floor underneath the ice. Here at the Yellowhead Centre they don’t have anything like that. Speaking with [Yellowhead Centre maintenance manager Tom Lisoway] over the past few days [he noted] that the rink floor does heave up and down. That’s another thing that we’ll have to be mindful of,” said Ewasko. “But, there are advantages, as well. A lot of the newer buildings are air-tight, [meaning] that you have to bring in air from outside to make up for some of the positive or negative air pressure in the building. Here, it’s a little easier, because there are a few cracks in the walls or the floor. So that does make it a little easier in the older buildings. All of that is part of the job. You fine-tune the building that you’re in and you make it work.”

Ewasko noted that Tom Lisoway and the local volunteers have been exceptional in helping he and his crew of technicians to prepare the ice and ensure it’s up to the standard that

Curling Manitoba expects. As for how it’ll go out there for the curlers, Ewasko was feeling pretty optimistic about how it’ll play for Manitoba’s top teams.

“Everything shaping up to where we’re supposed to be and I think it’s going to end up being a good week [of competition].”

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