Global Series rink in Melbourne has Australian Open touches

MELBOURNE, Australia -- When the NHL built an ice rink on top of the tennis court at Rod Laver Arena, home of the Australian Open, it included some creative touches. The result was a Grand Slam.

The face-off dots look like tennis balls, from the blue one at center ice to the red ones on the rest of the rink. The red line contains outlines of tennis courts. The blue lines aren't just blue; they're a particular shade of blue inspired by the tennis court at Rod Laver Arena that has produced champions like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

The details will add to the atmosphere when the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings play two preseason games at Rod Laver Arena in the 2023 NHL Global Series -- Melbourne, the first NHL event in the Southern Hemisphere.

The games will start at 12 a.m. ET and air on NHL Network and ESPN+ in the United States; Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ in Canada; and 9Go, 9Now, ESPN and the ESPN App in Australia.

"With all the planning and discussions that were taking place leading up to these games in Melbourne, we wanted to do something special that would tie in Rod Laver Arena and the NHL," said Derek King, NHL senior director, facilities operations. "We have been doing this for years at our outdoor games and All-Star Games."

For example, at the 2022 NHL All-Star Game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the face-off dots looked like poker chips.

"With the location of the rink at the home of the Australian Open, it was a no-brainer," King said. "After bouncing a few ideas around, we came up with the tennis balls for face-off dots and the outline of the tennis courts in the red line, along with changing our blue line color to the blue of the tennis court."

Kris King, NHL executive vice president, hockey operations, approved the plan.

Jet Ice, the company that produces the NHL's lines and logos, made some proofs. It tracked down the Australian Open Tennis Court Color Scheme -- Steel Blue, Bubbles and Cyan Cornflower Blue -- and combined the three colors for the blue line.

Finally, the NHL made the official decision to go ahead with what the fans will see.

The lines and logos are made of fabric, and they are sealed under a top layer of ice about an inch thick.

"We ended up carrying these with us in our luggage to ensure they arrived in time for us to install," King said. "Actually, some of these in-ice logos that you see were also transported in some of the New York staff luggage."

The NHL and the Australian Football League combined for a photo op at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday, putting the Stanley Cup and the AFL Premiership Cup side by side at center ice for the camera. But look closely, and you'll see the scene mixed not just hockey and Australian rules football, but tennis too.