METHUEN — A few minutes before Wednesday night’s Methuen/Tewksbury girls hockey game, a former Methuen High student was chatting with longtime ice hockey rink manager Paul Trussell.
“You know Paul, you’ve been here for 35 years and I think it’s time that this hockey rink is named after you. No one else deserves it more than you,” said the former wrestler, who never played hockey.
Whether that eventually happens or not, one thing for sure is that Paul Trussell has been the face of Methuen High Hockey for a very long time.
Besides his love of serving as the Methuen High JV boys hockey coach, Trussell’s true hockey love comes in the form of operating the actual hockey rink.
He arrives daily at 5:30 a.m., and more often than not, doesn’t leave until very late in the evenings.
He’s been employed at the rink for 35 years, the first 15 as a rink attendant and the past 20 as “the” guy in charge, the rink manager.
If you’ve ever worn a pair of skates in Methuen, you know “Mr. Trussell.”
His passion, his dedication and his relentless work ethic to his craft of running a first-class, beautiful ice rink is second to none.
“We get a lot of compliments about the rink, how great the ice is, and how clean it is,” said Methuen boys hockey coach Bill Blackwell. “Some of these other rinks you play at, the ice itself is terrible. Paul does a lot work making sure his ice is level, his ice is not too wet and the edges are done right and all of this other stuff that I know nothing about. He’s relentless with it.
“That rink is his baby. He has an obsession with that rink.”
While the pandemic changed a lot of the way America does business, one thing it did for rinks like the one Trussell runs is part-time workers became sparse.
So his long hours got longer the last four years.
“He’s had trouble getting workers and is spending seven days a week open to close,” said Blackwell. “He’s not willing to turn that rink over to just anybody. He’ll come to me and say ‘They aren’t doing the Zamboni the right way … They aren’t edging the ice the right way or … It’s not as clean as it should be.’”
That obsession with his work and “his” rink started back in the late 1980’s. A 1986 graduate of Methuen High, who played one year of hockey on the freshman hockey team, Trussell had one thought as he entered the real world.
“I want to work at a hockey rink,” he said.
That didn’t happen right away. Out of high school, he started working for the Ristuccia Family and their car dealerships, one in Methuen and the other in Wilmington. At that time, the family was in the process of building their own rink in Wilmington.
“I remember the rink wasn’t complete and there was a big snowstorm and we went over there and shoveled it out,” Trussell remembered. “I started talking to Al Reidy (who became the general manager of the rink) and he wouldn’t hire me. I just don’t think he believed in me, probably because I was too young.”
Trussell didn’t stop there.
“I decided to apply here at Methuen. They kept saying no and I kept coming back asking for a job,” he said. “I remember them saying, ‘Look kid, we don’t have a job for you.’ I went home one day and my mother said, ‘The rink just called. You start tomorrow.’”
That was 35 years ago.
To get the job, he had to take a civil service test and also get the approval from the school committee. He passed both with flying colors.
He worked for three years before wanting to do something else.
“I thought I was going to run the world,” Trussell said. “I left and went to visit a cousin in California and quickly realized that wasn’t working out. I came home and was fortunate enough to get my job back. Once you lose something, but get it back, you realize the value of it.”
After a decade working under Walter Martin, Trussell earned the promotion as the new rink manager.
“The job has grown. At first, it was scheduling and selling (advertising) signs and put together a rental program for public skating and now it’s grown into you’re managing everything,” he said. “I’m the Zamboni mechanic. We have an outside company but I’m the guy who does all of the maintenance – I change the blade, and I edge the ice.
“You are caring for the whole facility. I’m A-OK with that and love every single minute of it. I have learned a lot about the machine, the operations of the rink and refrigeration. This job has taught me a lot about life-skills.”
Over his run at the rink he’s seen it all — Horrific injuries; fights; unruly players and parents.
He worked through the difficult COVID year when spectators weren’t allowed in the facility, only to find parents hiding in the rink.
“Along the way I have learned how to deal with the public and deal with people,” he said. “I have observed the best of people and unfortunately have seen the worst in people. You are dealing with people in sports so you see things go from zero to sixty in a flash. I have seen a lot over the years, I really have.”
He’s been a part of three rink rebuilds.
And he’s lasted through three different Zambonis. The first was run by gas and the last two electrically. He said he drives the Zamboni probably ten times a day, which would equal close to 100,000 times over his career at the rink.
Trussell has made countless number of friends. He also watched his two children, Taylor and James go through the school system and graduate from Methuen High. Taylor is now a special education teacher at the Marshall School and James, who played goalie for his father and Blackwell, is now a North Andover Police Officer.
Through and through Trussell is no doubt the face of Methuen hockey.
“Coach Trussell is the best. He’s the greatest coach and is always here for the kids,” said Dawson Burke, a junior member of the junior varsity team. “He’s been my coach for three years and he’s just always here for all of us. He runs really good practices. He not only helps us become better hockey players, but also become better people.”
At 55 years old, Trussell says there is still a lot left in his tank.
“I do want to do this for a few more years,” he said. “I love what I do and I can’t picture myself doing anything else. I just feel like the time has gone by so fast. I can’t believe that I have less time than more before I hit retirement. I’m grateful for every minute I’ve spent here.”
Twitter: @JamiePote