Dollar bill predicting Everblades 3-Peat hidden in Hertz Arena ice

Before the Florida Everblades started the season, the crew had to get the ice ready inside Hertz Arena. They painted the circles and the lines, but the ice had something special hidden underneath: a dollar bill. It was put in by Craig Buehler, the conversion and housekeeping manager at Hertz Arena. He put a simple message on it.

“I said to the guys I’m writing threepeat on a dollar bill,” Buehler recalled. “They’re like you’re crazy, you’re crazy. No they’re not going to like that. They’re not going to know about it.”

That’s because they hid the bill with a piece of paper and painted over it.

“You literally just wet the dollar bill, stick it on there, spray it with water, and you just build up ice on top of it,” Buehler said.

It stayed in the ice all season, including the team’s postseason push.

“Every single person on that team skated over on top of that dollar and they never knew,” Buehler said. “They had no clue it was happening. Honestly, we forgot about it during the season.”

Then, history was made in Game 5 of the Kelly Cup Finals and Buehler’s prediction came true. The celebration began on the ice with the Kelly Cup being passed around, all while Buehler’s dollar was underneath their skates.

Buehler said, “we’re all standing around and so many people are happy. And then I realized we have the dollar in the ice you know.”

It was time to take the dollar out and frame it, along with a piece of the top goal net and part of the center ice logo.

“It actually got chopped up as you can see,” Buehler said. “It got chopped up in a couple different pieces. You can still see the whole entire thing, which was for me fantastic. “

It may have a small monetary value, but it’s sentimental value is priceless.

Buehler said, “I look at it this way it’s for all of us. It’s for every single person here, not just me.”