If you tuned into yesterday's Pasty Cam, you heard about the Michigan Tech Women's Hockey roadtrip to North Dakota. This "Shoebox Memory" is actually a part of the gallery in the beautiful new arena at the University of North Dakota.

But something tells me, this had to be invented by a Yooper :o)

How does that contraption work exactly?

Looks pretty primitive, but I bet it didn't cost the $50,000 to $85,000 today's Zamboni does either! Wonder how long it took to resurface the ice.

What year was this picture taken? Wouldn't you love to see it in action?

The machine they used at Dee Stadium was far more advanced than the North Dakotan model. The hot water tank was mounted on two bicycle tires and the contraption looked like a hot dog cart. After the snow was removed by giant squeegies, the hot dog cart full of hot water was pushed around the ice a new ice surface was born. The water was distributed much the same as a modern zamboni, using cloth sacks that dragged on the ice.

The Calumet Armory had natural ice, and at the end of the day, we swept the entire ice surface with standard corn brooms (every bit of snow had to be removed), and then the ice was flooded by a hose. We practiced from 8pm to 10pm, and then swept for the next hour. I can still sweep with the best of 'em.

By the way, we all walked to the Armory every night, which was at least a mile for most of us, and uphill both ways.

By May the farce be with you on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 03:18 pm:

In ice resurfacing machine invented by two members of "The Farce" made a feeble, yet entertaining attempt to clean the ice between periods of a game in 1979.
(Photo by Ron Smith/Grand Forks Herald)

Clyde,
In all your hockey have you ever seen a Manboni like this?

I must say that the "Hot Mop" isn't too different from one that I used for the city of Ferndale, outside Detroit in the early seventies. The major difference was that ours was on wheels.

It actually worked pretty well if you swept the ice pretty clean before you started.

PS I'd never try the bicycle!

The best to you all.