Robe on the rig for NHL return to play
- Details
Lighting equipment was supplied by Solotech and included over 200 Robe moving lights - a mix of Pointes, Spiiders and Tarrantulas used by lighting designer Tom Kenny.
The 24-team playoff format (comprising Eastern and Western Conferences) was staged in two Canadian hub cities - Edmonton and Toronto - over two months, running as two complete Covid-secure ‘bubbles’ for production teams, players, coaches and other associated personnel.
Tom was asked to design lighting for the two arenas - Scotiabank in Toronto and Rogers Place in Edmonton - working closely with production designer Gary Wichansky of Seattle based Hotopp. The two have collaborated in these capacities on several previous NHL projects, and together they crafted the production design for clients, the NHL entertainment team of Steve Mayer, Rachel Segal, Bob Chesterman, John Bochiaro and Renee Riva.
The overall production offered what is currently a rare and much-appreciated opportunity for some of the industry’s highly skilled creatives and technicians to work through the months of July and August.
The production featured crews across all disciplines and departments who had been integral to many of the highest-profile tours on the road in March when the industry ground to a halt.
Tom in turn asked four lighting directors onboard to look after the shows for him once up-and-running. Kurt Wagner and Brent Clark were stationed in Edmonton, and Corey Thom and Eric Belanger in Toronto, chosen - amongst many other skills - for their “ability to think independently, take initiative and make informed decisions for themselves”.
The design was identical for each venue, but with some variations in the lighting kit lists due to local availability and what could be added from the existing in-house systems. A lot of LED screen made up the set with eight different surfaces wrapping around 500 metres and almost 180 degrees along one of the venue’s long sides, rigged in the seating area to bring it close to the ice.
In Edmonton, there was a combination of 32 x Robe Pointes, and 19 x LEDWash 1200s helping to raise the roof and the lumen levels, while in Toronto, 104 x Pointes, 19 x LEDBeam 1200s and 36 x Tarrantulas had the honor.
The 2020 Stanley Cup final in Edmonton saw Eastern Conference champions Tampa Bay Lightning defeat Western Conference champions, Dallas Stars.
