Basketball and hockey were on the schedule on a recent Saturday at Boston College’s Silvio O. Conte Forum.
But there was also a third game — one fans didn’t see. It wasn’t a game between two teams, but rather a race against the clock, in which dozens of workers dismantled the basketball court after the BC men’s basketball team’s loss to Cal to switch the building to a hockey rink for BC’s men’s hockey vs. Merrimack.
The game is played by Conte Forum’s “bull gang”, the crew that quickly and efficiently converts the 8,000-seat arena from one sporting venue to another.
At multi-use college arenas like Conte, bull gangs — a mix of full-time arena staff and student workers — are responsible for converting the building from basketball to hockey and back again, several times a year.
With four teams in two sports as full-time tenants — men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s hockey — Conte is in a constant state of transition, making the switch between the two sports several times a year. On a few occasions, two sports are played on the same day, which adds an extra degree of urgency.
The size of the crew often determines how quickly the work can be done.
“The more the better,” said John Driscoll, BC’s manager of athletic facilities. “We have the luxury of a lot of student labor right now. And we have union staff as well. We wouldn’t be able to do it without all these people here.”
Workers first remove the basketball court, risers, scorers table, media box, seating and other basketball equipment. Then come the floorboards, exposing the ice surface underneath. The hockey boards are a permanent fixture, but the glass must be installed around the rink, with each panel aligned and secured so it can withstand player contact.
Once the rink structure is in place, the ice itself must be resurfaced — shaved to remove dirt and ruts, then layered with fresh water to create a smooth, hard playing surface.
The entire process requires careful sequencing and teamwork so dozens of moving parts come together before puck drop.
“It takes a little while to shave the ice down, make it nice and clean before we can start adding water, to make it good for hockey,” Driscoll said.
Advances in technology have made transitioning between sports much easier over the years. John Cormier said the risers (on which behind-the-basket seats are set for basketball) in use now are much more user-friendly than when he joined the bull gang in 1993. Also, Cormier added, in the past, certain aspects of the hockey rink could stay in place for women’s basketball games.
“We could leave the end zone glass up for basketball, and it would force everybody to sit in the middle, which was nice,” Cormier said. “And then the band, you could put the band on the floor. You got a nice buffer that drew the sound back out.”
Much of the job is about sequencing the work so dozens of people aren’t standing around waiting.
“It’s a puzzle — a lot of moving parts,” said Joe Russo, a 19-year arena veteran. “You have to understand the flow and what needs to be done first so you’re not holding people up.”
Some of the most important work happens in places fans never think about.
“I take the time to reset the glass to make sure it’s solid in all the corners,” said Mark Dalton, who’s been working at the arena for 37 years. “So when the big guys are out here checking, they don’t go through them.”
On this particular Saturday, it was fortunate that the basketball game went first — transitioning from basketball to hockey, while labor intensive, is much easier than the other way around.
“There’s a lot more setup involved with basketball,” said Jack McNicholl, a senior accounting major who works with the bull gang. “You have the court, you have the risers, you have the smaller risers. And then you got the whole media area over there with carpets. It’s just a lot of intricate stuff that you have to place well.”
Then the arena’s heating and cooling system gets to work. Driscoll said the BC men’s hockey team requests the arena temperature be set at 52 degrees, a far cry from the game-time temperature of around 70 for basketball.
“The hockey program likes it cold in here,” Driscoll said. “We try and get it as cold as possible for them, but the building has its limitations. We try and do what we can.”
When the doors open and the puck drops, the work is finished — and mostly unnoticed by the fans.
“Between us, the students, management — if you can’t have fun, why show up?” Dalton said. “Why show up to work?”