The night the Zamboni - nicknamed ‘Mabel ‘ by fans - conked out on the ice saw and eagerly-anticipated game abandoned even before it had started – and it happened 20 years ago.
January 2001 saw a crowd of over 2200 pack the rink, with a huge travelling support making the journey from the Midlands to support Coventry Blaze in what was a top of the table clash.
With warm up completed, staff began a routine ice cut, but when the Zamboni leaked fluid in the centre of the pad, it sparked a major headache.
Numerous attempts were made to repair the damage to the ice, with match referee, Graham Horner, emerging from the dressing room to try his luck with a fire extinguisher in a bid to flood the hole and then freeze it.
With the game well past its scheduled face-off time, the officials and club bosses came to the conclusion it was impossible to proceed.
All of this played out in front of the bumper crowd who were kept amused at all attempts to also remove to the stricken Zamboni from the ice pad.
. Game abandoned as Zamboni breaks down
The Zamboni is towed off the ice after fluid leaking from it led to the cancellation of the ice hockey game (Pic: Fife Free Press) Photo: Fife Free Press
1. Game abandoned as Zamboni breaks down
Referee Graham Horner tried to fix the hole in the ice with a fire extinguisher, but it failed. The ice cutting machine then had to be towed off the ice with the help of a 4x4 vehicle (Pic: Bill Dickman/Fife Free Press) Photo: Fife Free Press
2. Game abandoned as Zamboni breaks down
The match referee, rink staff and volunteers try to repair the damage to the ice (Pic: Bill Dickman) Photo: Fife Free Press
3. Game abandoned as Zamboni breaks down
A huge number of fans made the journey north to support Coventry Blaze, and left without seeing any action (Pic: Fife Free Press/Bill Dickman) Photo: Fife Free Press
4. Game abandoned as Zamboni breaks down
Paul Thomson (centre), coach of Coventry Blaze, and a Fife Flyers player inspect the damage to the ice (Pic: Bill Dickman) Photo: Fife Free Press