DUCKS SKATING ON (B)RINK OF SUCCESS.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

When the Mighty Ducks take the ice against the New Jersey Devils, they'll have a secret weapon: a super-sharp steel blade.

That blade gives them a fine plateau of ice to skate on, a unique sheet not found at most rinks. That blade, forged from heat-treated stainless steel and sculpted with precision tools used for aircraft parts, makes what a rink manager termed ``the world's fastest ice.'' And that blade hails from Pacoima.

To craft the slicing instrument, known as the Avalanche, Accurate Double Disc Grinding married its expertise in machining to the broad blades used on Zambonis for the last 50 years. Toying with a traditional blade in their shop near Whiteman Airpark in 2001, co-inventors Bill Birch and Andy Beilin came up with the durable blade, not thinking they'd have a viable product on their hands until they began seriously studying the intricacies of the business.

``It's almost like the Wright Brothers meeting Lockheed Martin,'' said Beilin, who directs the blade's sales. ``It's like the jet age of ice hockey - faster ice means better business, lower maintenance costs and more savings for the rinks.''

The device proved to be so successful for the firm, Accurate launched a subsidiary, 32-Degrees, which incorporated as its own company earlier this year. The latter rose to prominence during the 2002 Winter Olympics, when its blades cut the ice at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex where figure skaters and speed skaters practice. At the time, 100 rinks across the country used the Avalanche.

32-Degrees now services more than 700 rinks, including the Ducks' Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, Staples Center, The Ice Palace in Tampa, Fla., and practice facilities for the Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche. Joel Francisco, who holds the snappy title of ice technician at the Pond, used to change blades every other game, but can now last five games between switches.

``It gives us a finer cut and it lasts twice as long,'' he said. ``It gives a smoother finish and the skates move across it better. You get a faster stride and better puck movement.''

And, noting that the Ducks have been unable to beat the Devils away from home, Beilin thinks his blades deserve at least a bit of the credit.

``They're very dominant on their home ice,'' he said. ``When another team comes to their home arena, they're not used to the ice, which gives the Ducks an advantage. The puck travels a little faster and their reflexes are used to it.''

The blades rent for $189 a month, while Beilin estimates traditional blades, similar to industrial-sized paper-cutting knives, can cost up to $300 per month. To handle the increased demand, he's hired three new employees just to handle the shipping and tracking and opened a resharpening center in Detroit to handle East Coast orders.

Though 32-Degrees already pulls in $500,000 in annual revenues, Beilin has higher goals. Next year, he wants contracts with half the National Hockey League and by the year after that, he has his sights on up to 35 percent of the 7,000 rinks in North America.

``It's not something we're promoting, but certainly people have come back and said they're happy with the results,'' said Doug Peters, a regional sales representative with the Frank J. Zamboni and Co. Inc. in Paramount. ``The difference is the blade ... is harder. It's supposed to stand up longer.''

But while he's convinced that his blade helped the Ducks get to the Stanley Cup finals, Beilin still can't get the one thing he wants in return.

``The action's underneath the machine, so no one knows what's making the ice flat,'' he said. ``I still can't get free tickets to the Ducks.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color) Machine operator Jorge Valer sharpens an ice blade at the Pacoima headquarters of 32-Degrees.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer