Nashville Predators Coach Barry Trotz isn't a licensed meteorologist, but he knows from heat and its effect on ice conditions.
"This morning, [they were] good, because it's still not 89 degrees, which is what it's going to get up to today. And you don't have 17,000 people in the building heating it up," he said after the Predators' morning skate, with Game 6 against the Vancouver Canucks set for Monday night.
"We're going to do everything possible to keep the ice as good as we can. But 17,000 people inside and 89/90 degrees outside, it's going to be hard to keep the conditions perfect."
Hard, but the Predators have made a concerted effort to ensure the ice is in the best condition can be in for Game 6 of the series, which stands at 3-2 in favor of Vancouver.
They've brought in the heavy machinery.
Before Round 2, the Predators installed four dehumidifiers and four air chillers, along with two generators, outside Bridgestone Arena. The equipment was provided by Thompson Machinery, whose president De Thompson V is a co-owner of the Preds.
"I think it was a much-needed move by the organization [to get] the dehumidifiers on top of the building. We probably didn't need it for the first couple of games," said Trotz.
That's because the temps on the days of Games 3 and 4 were 50 degrees or below with overcast skies. On Monday, the weather was expected to climb near 90 degrees with above 50-percent humidity.
"We wondered, 'Why did we bring this equipment in?' But it's just like [buying] insurance," said COO Sean Henry on the weather for the start of the series.
Before joining the Predators, Henry was the COO for the Tampa Bay Lightning and the St. Pete Times Forum for 11 years. He said he battled many of the same weather-related ice headaches during their playoff runs and that, in the end, it's the warm-weather teams in the U.S. that are best prepared to deal with them.
"The one thing that we have an advantage in, just like in Tampa, is that we're used to making ice in warmer conditions. Right away there's a level of preparedness."
Henry said the marks for ice quality at Bridgestone Arena have been high this postseason. NHL officials rate the ice conditions after each game of the regular and postseasons, he said. After Game 6 against the Anaheim Ducks, the officials gave the ice the highest available marks.
And that was before the team cranked up the dehumidifier and the air chiller, which have been in use over the weekend at the arena.
"We're going to be able to maintain conditions that are going to be even better than in normal conditions during the regular season," he said. "Where would you rather make ice in May? In one of the northern climates or in Nashville? Nashville, because we're used to it. They're not. But they do a wonderful job, too."
So, bottom line, will ice conditions be an issue for Game 6?
"It won't be an issue at all," said Henry.
But now that Trotz mentioned the challenge in maintaining the ice, won't it inevitably come up as a postgame excuse for the losing team?
"I'm glad he did," said Henry. "Both sets of teams will be playing on the best ice imaginable. And the same ice."