Like other community club rinks, Transcona's East End Arena is busy morning, noon and night on the weekends.

"There's a game every hour here and the games start at seven in the morning and they run until 10:30 at night when you get old timers in there playing and people that just want to rent ice," said East End Community Club president Bruce Talling.

Those hockey games are in jeopardy because of a shortage of certified staff who oversee the arena's ice plant.

Provincial regulations mandate a licensed operator be on site when the rink is in use.

It's a safety measure to prevent tragedies like the ammonia leak that killed three workers in Fernie, B.C. last year.

Talling says they're having trouble filling the weekend shifts. He says three staff members recently took the provincial exam to get their license but all failed.

Talling says there's a lack of licensed ice plant operators due to retirements and changes in the provincial exam resulting in a high failure rate. As of now he has no one to cover weekends.

"Something has to be done because we can't operate this without a licensed guy and what are we going to do," said Talling.

The Office of the Fire Commissioner has been in charge of rink inspections since 2011. In a statement the province says the requirements for operating a refrigeration unit are important for the safety of the public.

"The test that is currently being administered is a national examination developed by the Society of Power Engineer Examination Committee,” said the statement. It also said the test is widely used in other provinces and territories “for the certification of refrigeration operators.”

The OFC and city have agreed to meet to discuss the shortage issue.

In the meantime the city says community club arenas can draw from a list of city operators wishing to pick up extra shifts.

"There may be people available to assist the community club arenas from the city but that really is up to the individual operators working with the city whether they wish to do that of course," said Transcona councillor Russ Wyatt.

If the situation isn't sorted out soon, East End and other rinks like it could sit empty.

Talling is looking for a plan B for this weekend.

"I don't know, to be honest with you, we're not going to be able to open or else were going to beg and steal from somewhere and beg someone to come here," said Talling.