10/20/2025
Gianna Simbari ’24 can wear a championship ring on a hand that’s carried the Stanley Cup. But she’s never gone top shelf on a breakaway or won a faceoff.
Instead, she’s giving the NHL’s pros a chance to play on ice that’s the envy of any frozen pond pickup game.
The sport management grad worked as an ice technician for the recent two-time champion Florida Panthers, before heading to the New York Islanders this fall. It’s an unexpected career twist for someone who described herself as never a diehard fan of the sport.
“It’s not the hockey that brings my love for (the job), it’s the ice making and the ice maintenance,” Simbari said. “Without the ice, you don’t have hockey. I take an immense amount of pride in what I do, and that’s what brings me the most joy.
“I get to watch the pros and be around them, that’s like an extra bonus — but it’s really what I do that makes me love the game and the sport.”
In Florida, Gianna maintained two sheets of ice at the Panthers’ practice facility. She found that taking care of the ice in a pro-level rink can be an interesting challenge, especially in Fort Lauderdale, close to Miami and with an average high temperature in the 80s.
The switch to the Islanders has given her more opportunities to grow, letting her gain experience in converting an arena for concerts and other events, on top of her prior work of keeping the ice surface smooth and skaters happy.
The memories made already have proven special, but all of Simbari’s work is building a future in an industry where building the perfect playing surface is as much gut feeling as hard numbers.
And yes — there’s way more to it than driving the iconic Zamboni.
“It’s been really interesting to learn how to maintain and keep a quality sheet of ice in different weather conditions and in different places in the country,” Simbari said.
She explained that there’s a lot of background knowledge behind her work, including an awareness of the right temperatures needed for resurfacing and the thin margin of error between being properly chilled and a puddle.
“It’s the art, the science, the mechanical knowledge,” Simbari said. “It’s a little bit of everything.”
Simbari discovered a love for her job while still at SUNY Cortland, working on the maintenance of Alumni Arena. Her experience with the Sport Management Department came thanks to a change of heart in high school. She considered a career in music production but decided to make a change.
“I’ve always been super into sports,” she said. “Not just as an athlete, but just the whole sport industry and how there’s the entertainment and business aspect of it and what it takes to operate.”
Cortland’s reputation in the field got her attention. She praised the ability of her classes to show the range of sport-related careers available.
“I truly enjoyed taking every class offered by all the professors within the major,” Simbari said, adding that she also credits Todd Malone '11, director campus event management, who hired her to work at Cortland's rink and taught her to use a Zamboni.
Sport management majors at Cortland need to complete an internship aside from their coursework. As a junior and senior Simbari networked with ice technicians around the country, earned a full-time job with the Panthers and used her first 480 hours of that job to complete the requirement, while establishing herself in the field.
Now, being part of a championship-winning team is just a nice prelude to Simbari’s plans for her future. She’s started courses to become a certified ice technician (CIT), a designation given by the U.S. Ice Rink Association and recognized by the NHL.
“It would definitely help me with my career,” she said. “I definitely see myself staying in ice operations for a while, but I’d love to eventually be the general manager of a major multipurpose arena or stadium one day.”