High ice rental costs

[LadyStanley]

As a cost reducing expenses, should there be a consideration of teams practicing on synthetic ice? (Gamea still on ice)

Also consider punishing teams by running stairs rather that bag skating during $$$ ice time.

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[Filthy Dangles]

Marek is clueless on the topic

There’s no such thing as a synthetic ice rink. You can make a little area in a backyard or shed with tiles to shoot on and skate around somewhat but synthetic ice cannot replace a real practice on a full rink.

Plus synthetic ice mostly sucks, doesn’t replicate ice well at all. Decent tiles are expensive and they have a shelf life

A hypothetical full blown synthetic life rink wouldn’t be cheaper than traditional ice

Hockey is a game for families that have money to burn

 

[Space umpire]

Marek is clueless on the topic

There’s no such thing as a synthetic ice rink. You can make a little area in a backyard or shed with tiles to shoot on and skate around somewhat but synthetic ice cannot replace a real practice on a full rink.

Plus synthetic ice mostly sucks, doesn’t replicate ice well at all. Decent tiles are expensive and they have a shelf life

A hypothetical full blown synthetic life rink wouldn’t be cheaper than traditional ice

Hockey is a game for families that have money to burn

I played in a league on “plastic” ice about 40 years ago in suburban Chicago.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I played in a league on “plastic” ice about 40 years ago in suburban Chicago.

I've never heard of or seen a full size synthetic ice rink and im pretty involved with the game. Even on Google, nothing really comes up as existing.

I can't imagine how bad the quality of tiles were way back then.

Was it more or less ball hockey and running on ice skates in a little area? Was it a full sized rink or smaller area?

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E: this was the only thing i found, they scrapped it shortly after for issues with the surface after spending $550,000 (in 2011, adjust for inflation today that's a lot of money)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/first-of-its-kind-synthetic-rink-put-on-ice-due-to-cracks-1.990657

The glide on even the best tiles suck, it's simply not a real solution for legitimate full fledged team practices and games on ice.

It's only useful for training purposes in small areas for shooting/stickhandling and very basic skating work.

 

[Space umpire]

I've never heard of or seen a full size synthetic ice rink and im pretty involved with the game. Even on Google, nothing really comes up as existing.

I can't imagine how bad the quality of tiles were way back then.

Was it more or less ball hockey and running on ice skates in a little area? Was it a full sized rink or smaller area?

------------

E: this was the only thing i found, they scrapped it shortly after for issues with the surface after spending $550,000 (in 2011, adjust for inflation today that's a lot of money)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/first-of-its-kind-synthetic-rink-put-on-ice-due-to-cracks-1.990657

The glide on even the best tiles suck, it's simply not a real solution for legitimate full fledged team practices and games on ice.

It's only useful for training purposes in small areas for shooting/stickhandling and very basic skating work.

We disagree. … is it ice? No, but the hockey was decent. … think of public arena bad ice.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

We disagree. … is it ice? No, but the hockey was decent. … think of public arena bad ice.

Sure, we can disagree about quality.

The larger point is the availability and viabiliy of it. I still can't seem to find the existance of a full sized synthetic rink with boards/glass suitable for a real hockey practice. And I've never heard of a team practicing on synthetic ice.

Just doesn't seem like an option really

 

[patnyrnyg]

I bring my daughter to 2 different synthetic ice places on occassion. Decent for training, but wouldnt play games on it. Part of the problem is it REALLY chews up the blades. Pretty much need a sharpening for every 30-60 minutes on synthetic.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Maybe synthetic could be an option for U7, maybe U9s learning how to play in warm climates where a real ice rink is cost prohibitive (let's say a small town in Mississippi). But in no world are pro players, or even junior/college players going use it even for practice, at least not without massive technological advances first.

 

[Golden_Jet]

We disagree. … is it ice? No, but the hockey was decent. … think of public arena bad ice.

No it sucks compared to real ice.