Ducks convert part of their ice complex in Irvine to food bank

Although the NHL season is on pause and players have been advised to stay at home through April 30, the Ducks found a good use for the largest of the four rinks at their Great Park Ice practice complex in Irvine.

On Thursday, the Ducks opened the doors to Rink 2 — an Olympic-sized surface that’s 15 feet wider than regulation NHL rinks — and turned it into a storage facility for Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. Art Trottier, vice president of The Rinks, said about 120 pallets of premade food boxes were delivered and stored on Rink 2 starting at 8 a.m.

The food will be distributed by Second Harvest Food Bank, which for the last five Saturday mornings has helped those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by conducting drive-through food distribution at Honda Center, the Ducks’ home rink.

“They contacted us and asked us if we had storage space and I said, ‘This is perfect,’ ” Trottier said. “We had just taken down the ice sheets the previous week so we definitely had some space. And it’s a community building, so what better way to help out the community in this type of situation?”

According to the Ducks, more deliveries are scheduled to arrive and be stored at Great Park Ice next week. The facility has been closed since March 18 and will reopen when health officials deem it safe.