Remembering Dave Nulle, Big Red Hockey’s Beloved ‘Zamboni Guy’

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A Lynah fixture for decades—famed for the elaborate costumes he wore while resurfacing the ice—has passed away at 84

Editor’s note: This tribute includes text from a 2009 story on Nulle in Cornell Alumni Magazine by Molly O’Toole ’09, a then-intern who’d go on to win a Pulitzer for audio journalism. Longtime Lynah Faithful member Mark Anbinder ’89 also contributed content.

By Cornellians staff

Photography by Mark Anbinder ’89

For the past few years, Dave Nulle was a quiet presence at Big Red men’s ice hockey games—watching through the boards of Lynah Rink, the gleam in his eye just a hint of his legacy.

For some four decades, he’d been one of Lynah’s most visible fixtures, a veritable celebrity. Nulle was the Zamboni Guy.

Nulle—who passed away in mid-October 2025 at age 84, after a long illness—would have been the first to point out that it was not in fact a Zamboni, the brand name of a particular company’s ice resurfacer.

(He actually drove an Olympia; Lynah retired its Zamboni in 1982 when replacement parts became unavailable.)

While Nulle was an expert at resurfacing the ice between periods in one pass—rarely needing to circle back to hit a spot he’d missed—he caught fans’ imagination with his attire: an ever-changing array of costumes, from George Washington to Elvis to a circus clown.

For some four decades, Nulle was one of Lynah’s most visible fixtures—a veritable celebrity.

Despite his flamboyant on-ice persona, though, Nulle described himself as a private sort.

“Dave has quietly gone about his business at the rink for many years,” Mike Schafer ’86, then head coach of the men’s hockey team, observed back in 2009. “With his outfits, he has added to the game-night atmosphere in his own way.”

Nulle traced his family’s Cornell connections to the 1920s, when his grandfather sold athletic equipment to teams from his Collegetown sporting goods store under the motto “On the Hill—But on the Level.”

At a dance in the Straight, Nulle’s mother, Claire Denise Couch ’32, met Richard Nulle ’33, a hockey player at a time when whole seasons could be cancelled if Beebe Lake didn’t freeze solid.

Nulle traced his family’s Cornell connections to the 1920s, when his grandfather sold athletic equipment to teams from his Collegetown sporting goods store under the motto 'On the Hill—But on the Level.'

Nulle was born in NYC, but when his father died in 1949, he and his mother returned to Ithaca.

“I began not as a Zamboni guy,” Nulle told Cornell Alumni Magazine a decade and a half ago, “but just as a guy who moved nets around.”

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When his predecessor retired in the ’80s, Nulle and another staffer got behind the wheel. “We already knew how,” Nulle said, “but it’s different when you drive for the big games.”

A Lynah Legend

The daring dress-up that made Nulle the stuff of Lynah legend began, he said, with a hat—“a sort of Russian babushka.”

A student reached over and grabbed it off his head as he drove by, Nulle recalled, and “the whole rink began to shout, ‘Give it back!’”

The daring dress-up that made Nulle the stuff of Lynah legend began, he said, with a hat—'a sort of Russian babushka.'

That inspired a student to ask Nulle to wear a tuxedo for the Harvard game, infamous for its intense rivalry and flying fish.

Nulle agreed, eventually amassing a collection of more than 250 hats, coats, boots, swords, and other accessories and attire. With Nulle at the wheel, Lynah fans cheered him as everything from Napoleon to an Egyptian pharaoh to a medieval knight.

“I’ve created a very sophisticated fan base,” Nulle once observed with a laugh. "Their demand is high.”

But as his obituary notes, his passion for performance extended beyond Lynah:

“He was a juggler. He was an accomplished dancer who taught ballroom dancing and ice skating. Who will forget his a cappella performances of Irish folk songs? He was a beloved member of Ithaca’s international and Israeli folk dance community, where he both taught and participated. He was a sought-after dance partner.”

Nulle eventually amassed a collection of more than 250 hats, coats, boots, swords, and other accessories and attire.

The current head coach of the Big Red men’s team, Casey Jones ’90, is no Lynah newcomer—having been both a player and an assistant coach—and remembers Nulle fondly.

“He was part of the lore of Lynah,” he says, “another one of the characters, a big piece of the atmosphere, with his fancy hats and extravagant dress.”

As Nulle once explained, while some of his getups were gifts, he bought many himself—scouring vintage shops, second-hand stores, even Renaissance fairs.

“It’s like being a local celebrity—people shake your hand, shout ‘Hey Dave!’ on the street, buy you a drink, want to get a photograph with you,” he reflected. “It’s a fun job driving that machine.”

Published November 17, 2025

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Comments

1. 

   Jeff Gebhardt

   17 Nov, 2025

   So sad, but JOYOUS at the same time. What a character! RIP Dave. 😎

   Reply
2. 

   Erik Johnson (JGSM), Class of 1994

   17 Nov, 2025

   A life well lived. My condolences to Dave’s family and friends

   Reply
3. 

   Warren Kurtzman, Class of 1987

   17 Nov, 2025

   A great legacy of joy! May his memory be a blessing to his family, friends, and the entire Cornell community.

   Reply
4. 

   Bill Schutt, Class of 1995

   17 Nov, 2025

   Thanks for posting this outstanding tribute to a true Cornell legend.

   Reply

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