from Chad Graff of the Pioneer Press,

Inside a dark ice rink on a warm Saturday morning in August, Ryan Suter is on all fours ripping out sections of rubber glued to the concrete.

Since returning home in May after the Minnesota Wild ended their season with another playoff loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, Suter has had his eye on the rubber that wraps around the ice rink in this Madison suburb.

The rubber was too dirty, old and tattered, he thought, and now that the rink carries the name of Ryan's late father, Bob, everything needs to be perfect.

So on a sunny day, Suter, his younger brother Garrett and a couple of teenagers who play for Garrett's junior hockey team here removed the rubber from the floor, power-washed it out behind the rink and stacked it for use later.

The work started at 6 a.m., and by late morning, sweat was pouring off Ryan Suter's forehead even in the cold rink. Garrett looked at Ryan and wondered aloud how many other NHL players would spend their summers this way, working 10 hours a day in a dark ice rink.

Ryan thought about that, if only for a moment. After an 82-game grind -- and, in Suter's case, 10 postseason games -- NHL players tend to devote summers to relaxing and recharging. Not Suter, who shook his head at the thought and went back to work on the flooring.

"I don't have the patience for golf or fishing," he said.

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