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The Syracuse Crunch's War Memorial rink will be about seven feet longer next season.

(Scott Thomas | The Syracuse Crunch)

Syracuse, N.Y. — By measurement, it's just a mere 79 inches of ice.

In terms of implementation, it's a lot of planning, restructuring and, most of all, money.

In the next few days, work will begin on the lengthening of the Syracuse Crunch's War Memorial rink. It will be expanded from its current length of just over 193 feet to the NHL standard of 200 feet.

The extra ice will be added in the neutral zones, a shade under 3.5 feet on each side. The work is being done at the request of parent club Tampa Bay, which wants its players skating on a home rink in Syracuse similar to the ones they will traverse in the NHL.

The rink work will cost $687,440, which comes out of capital project funding for the Oncenter. As of now, the expansion is the only project planned for the building this offseason:

Here's 8 tidbits to know about the work:

Workers first had to assess the stability of the floor to make sure it could support the expansion.

The concrete will be replaced all the way down to the ice-making system. Hundreds of pipes in that system have to be uncapped and then extended to make the extra ice.

The cement must harden for at least eight weeks before ice can be made. The Crunch's home opener is Oct. 17.

The War Memorial will lose about 100 seats in the process, roughly between Sections 7-17. Fans who have season tickets in lost seats will be relocated.

The Crunch will insert a pair of custom-made dasher boards on each side of the rink to fill out the extra room.

Both the home and away team's benches will be longer, allowing for the backup goalies to sit there. Previously, each goalie sat on a chair in the aisle leading to their team's locker room.

The penalty box side will not be adjusted, meaning that it will not line up directly with the benches. The AHL had to give its OK to this quirk.

The scoreboard will not be moved and will hang above the rink slightly off-center.

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