The Regina Pats are taking a pink-themed hockey game, in support of breast cancer awareness, to a new level by installing a sheet of pink ice.

The game, set for Friday night, will see players skating on top of pink-coloured ice, a first for their home venue.

Every season for the past few years, the Pats have dedicated a game to breast cancer awareness.

Players have worn pink jerseys that are sold in a fund-raising auction at the end of the game.

Turning the ice surface pink will be a new twist and a challenge for the ice makers at the Brandt Centre.

Pink ice is installed at the Brandt Centre, home of the Regina Pats hockey club, in support of a special game to raise awareness for breast cancer. CBCAndrew Higgins, the head ice maker, told CBC News Wednesday that he has seen examples where adding pink has not worked out.

"We've seen a couple of videos where I know they didn't call and ask for directions," Higgins said. "They just dumped the whole pail of pink in and you could hardly see the lines."

Higgins said his team is being extra careful with the pink paint colour.

He said once the proper mix of pink paint is determined, the application process is the same as painting the ice its normal white.

Using special sprayers, crews add the pink-hued water to an initial layer of ice and let that new layer freeze.

"It looks really good," Cliff Mapes, from the Regina Pats, said Wednesday after seeing the first application of colour.

The colouring process takes about two hours to complete.

But, even before the pink water was frozen, Mapes was thinking ahead.

"I think St. Patrick's Day in the future might be something fun to tackle," he said.

When the final coat of pink is done, the entire ice surface will get another layer of clear ice.