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.

 

[dj4aces]

If the use of synthetic ice on practice rinks helps reduce costs, and there's no additional risk of injury to the players as a result of using the synthetic surface, I say go for it. From everyone I've talked to, one of the biggest barriers to entry for kids who want to play is the costs associated with it. If costs can be safely lowered, perhaps we see more kids getting the opportunity to play.

 

[Yukon Joe]

My kid did a session on synthetic ice last season.

It was - okay.

Private facility, definitely smaller than a regulation ice rink. The session my kid did focused on shooting (although the kids were all wearing skates). Price was less than an ice rental, but not insignificant either.

The kids all had to get their skates sharpened afterwards. What I most remember if the staff came around afterwards with a portable vacuum to suck up all the plastic shavings and dust from the kids skates.