Ottawa – It has become a tradition for millions of Canadians to gather around the television on Boxing Day to watch the annual World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in the hopes Team Canada will bring home the gold medal. But while Team Canada fell short of being crowned the world champions, a local ice painting company based outside of Eganville can consider themselves the gold medal winner of ice painting companies after the business was selected to paint all the logos featured on the ice surface at TD Place in Ottawa during the 11-day tournament.
Eastern Rink Services, based at Kelly’s Corner, was originally founded in 2008 by Kevin Hill and services over 100 indoor and outdoor rinks throughout Eastern Ontario. The business employs around 12 people based on time of year and is now run by his son, Spencer.
The younger Mr. Hill has been the owner since his father transferred ownership over to him in 2021. Kevin Hill said the experience certainly helped the company gain not only regional exposure, but their meticulous and professional services were under a global television microscope for millions of viewers, and among those viewers were the official sponsors.
Those companies paid very high fees to have their company brand seen by the international audience, a brand that was installed by the local business. Both father and son were thrilled when they were informed by TD Place staff their company was selected by the Hockey Canada to install the logos.
“When we received the news that Hockey Canada approved the selection of Eastern Rink Services to install the logos, it was a mix of excitement and immense pride,” Kevin Hill told the Leader in an interview with both father and son.
The senior Hill said working alongside his son and crew of local painters to install the logos at TD Place was something special.
“It’s not every day you get the opportunity to do work that will be on the world stage. I am very proud of him and the staff for being asked to perform such services,” he said.
Spencer Hill said they submitted the proposal to staff at TD Place and although taking nothing for granted, he was optimistic the company had a good shot at winning the bid.
“We currently provide the ice painting services for TD Place, which is home to the Ottawa 67’s and they have been satisfied with our work,” he said. “But it was a month before we received confirmation from Hockey Canada that we would do the installation and at times it felt a lot longer.”
The younger Mr. Hill explained the installation of the logos is a very technical process using modern digitalization equipment as opposed to what some might think involves buckets of paint and paint brushes.
“Using modern technology, our crew arrived at TD Place after their staff removed the ice and we prepared the cement surface for the install,” he said. “The application involves using screens with holes on top of the surface using specialized paint and it took our crew just over three and one-half hours to complete the job. Our crew understood the importance of this job and their workmanship and pride certainly was shown when the games started.”
Spencer Hill understood the importance of doing it right the first time.
“Hockey Canada has very high standards for this type of work and the last thing anyone wants is for an error to show up after we have left the arena,” he said. “We have the equipment to go back and correct an error very quickly, but I am happy to say the crew did an amazing job and Hockey Canada was happy with our work.”
He said the timing was perfect for his company. Eastern Rink Services installs logos for about 100 indoor and outdoor arenas primarily in Eastern Ontario and some in Southern Ontario. It is part of the business cycle for things tend to slow down from mid-December, and that slowdown allowed him to have everything lined up when the day came to go to Ottawa and install the logos.
“We installed a total of 11 logos and they included the IIHF, Hockey Canada, City of Ottawa and the main sponsors like TSN and Esso,” he said. “The logos really shine when the ice is treated before each game, and it was amazing to watch the games over the last two weeks and realize our company installed those logos seen around the world.”
He said the crew members were part of something they will talk about for years and although they are likely feeling on top of the world right now, they begin January back at work, and under far different circumstances.
“Our business runs on a cycle and that includes having completed most of our indoor rinks,” he said. “Now we finish up any outdoor rinks and that means working outside in January and we all know what that can be like.”
