Todd Lebel makes right turns for a living as an ice technician
Words by Sarah Mattes
Video by Jessica DiDominick
The ice is an inch-and-a-half thick at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. On top of it sits a roughly five-ton machine that could be mistaken for an unorthodox storage container.
A Zamboni is an elegant machine with its boxy shape and crooked angles. Under the hood, though, hides intricate gadgets and levers. As it rolls along at a steady nine miles per hour, all those mechanisms work to make that ice as shiny as a new brass bell.
Sitting on top of it all is Todd Lebel, an ice technician at Wells Fargo Arena. “Todd the Ice Guy” has been in the industry for 16 years and driving a Zamboni 15 years. It’s a bigger deal than you may think—Lebel knows what it’s like to be in front of a thousand screaming fans while operating a five-ton ice machine.
Urban Plains: How did you get your start as a Zamboni driver?
Todd Lebel: I actually got laid off. I was in the heating and cooling industry. That’s what I went to school for and took it as a part-time job and just kind of stuck that way.
UP: What is your favorite thing about this job?
TL: I like seeing the people that I knew from way back when I started. You know, it’s a pretty small ice sports community in Des Moines. Just all the people that I’ve had friendships with, that’s nice. And then the other thing, we’re the farm team for the Minnesota Wild, so seeing that a guy skated with you on Friday, and the next night he’s up skating with Minnesota, it’s kind of neat. Hopefully they’ll win a Stanley Cup some day, and we can say those guys started down here.
UP: When you’re out on the ice and you look into the crowd, what does it feel like?
TL: Well, I try not to look into the crowd. We try to focus on what we’re doing. There are promo crews doing quite a bit of stuff out there so we kind of have to concentrate to make sure we’re not gonna run into them. And then with the other Zamboni driver out there during the game, we just make sure we’re coordinated. So I try to focus on what I’m doing.
UP: Sounds like the focus you’d bring to plunging through rush hour traffic. Could you compare driving the Zamboni to driving a car or tractor?
TL: I’d say more like a tractor. You know, I’ve driven tractors outside of here. I grew up on a horse farm. It’s pretty comparable to that, if you were mowing a large field or anything like that.
UP: So what’s it like to be driving during the game?
TL: During a game, [the] best way I could describe it to ya is if you sat in the backseat of your car, turned on the music as loud as you could and had somebody sitting—cause I drive the one with the seat—somebody sitting with you trying to talk with you; that’s kind of what it’s like.
UP: Sounds like a higher pressure situation than many might think. Does that make you nervous going out onto the ice—even after 16 years?
TL: I’d say the opening game each year I’m still a little nervous. But after that everything cools down.
UP: What is it like when you have a passenger with you?
TL: It’s nice. You know, that took some getting used to. But I like having the kids out there especially. It’s fun. A lot of them seem nervous before we go out. Once they get out there, they wave and smile and are going crazy; so that’s kind of nice.
UP: When you come out onto the ice is there a big cheer that comes from the crowd or are you more “behind the scenes”?
TL: Now there is. I’ve developed some fans. I met them through the years here. Yeah, some of them cheer.
For more of Lebel’s adventures on ice, check out #ToddtheIceGuy on Twitter and Instagram.
