Synthetic Ice/Iceless skating rinks?

I don't think NHL games will ever be played on fake ice. That said, I can imagine a lot of smaller rinks starting up using it, but I doubt many rinks will switch. The equipment is there for the real ice, and the established customers there might not like it. I know somebody who's played on it, and apparently the silicone dust takes weeks to get out of pads (he's a goalie) Silicone dust cased by that stuff can't be completely healthy either. It'll get a lot bigger as a practice surface though. Other thoughts: Great to put in a basement once I get my own house...

TSN had their own "rink" inside their studio a few years ago (don't know what happened to it). It was made out of wax and the commentators literally had hockey skates on to demonstrate some of the plays that were going on in the games. It looked like they were going up against the wind, so to say, because they had to make that extra effort just to go that extra half foot. I have a sneaking suspicion that this figure skater had a similar problem, but not by much. I beg to differ with Jeff. This will be the new ice surface for all things hockey once the technology is perfected. With the rising cost of energy, financially less-endowed organizations are drooling at how much this will save them. Back in the '03 Finals, CBC aired the giant hoses that were added on underneath the ice just to keep it cold. I remember thinking how much the energy bill must've been. If this'll save arenas a few million dollars in bills, they will jump at the opportunity.

couple things jumped out at me... 90% the speed of real ice. that means the fastest game on earth would get slowed down. I know it was just a promo video but i never saw her go for anything that sharp or sudden, more of a steady gentle glide with couple twist in. BIGGEST question, how will the puck react to it. would it cause sluggish pucks and increase in odd bounces. I mirror some of Jeff's comments on great for the small rinks and maybe some personal use, but I think it has long way to go before it is used for professional hockey games, at any level. also Wayne wont allow it, he has his new skates coming out and im sure the heat does nothing on a room temputure surface.

Hmmm, good Q. I've "skated" on it some. The rink I skate at has a small area covered with the stuff, maybe they don't keep it up well or sumthin, bc it doesn't seem anything like ice to me. when I've stepped on it with skates on, it's hard to stand on, you can't get your edges into it, and i can't move unless I just pick my feet up and walk. I've also heard that it wears your skate blades down much faster, and it's hard on the joints. As far as if the NHL might start using it for games, with Betteman running things, who knows. Another thought I have is that in the article you linked to, it mentions that it's only 90% as slippery as ice, which would seem to me it would slow the game down by 90%. Also, it mentions how there aren't all of the complicated moves in hockey as there are in figure skates, but, in order to move eficiently, the skating in hockey is not just forwards and backwards, there's some pretty complicated moves as well. I think since this fake ice service must be harder then real ice, (or else it would be cut away after a bit of skating on it) then it would be harder to find the edges of the skates blades. So, that's my two cents worth, very good Q.

I don't know if I like it.....eh, I like OUR good old fashion ice, Not this Japanese plastic stuff.

My thoughts are! UM HELLO it's called ICE HOCKEY! I just think they should leave it! It would change the game I think, Don't fix it if it ain't broken! But whatever!

Synthetic ice isn't new at all. I skated on it a few years ago at a hockey training facility. Basically all the stuff is, is a sheet of a special type of plastic with scattered silicone/wax dust all over it. It's a lot worse than they make it sound. Imagine (or if you have them than try it) skating on carpet with rollerblades. That's what it's like. It's really hard to move which might be good for conditioning except they don't really make them bigger than about 30 feet long by 12 feet wide. For those who wonder how the puck reacts, it's actually very close. Still a little slower like when real ice heavily used with a lot of snow on it. It's just the skating that is the most affected. i.e.: I practiced on it as a goalie which wasn't all that detrimental to it's effectiveness.

I am not sure if it is the same surface, but there is a place near the Trenton Devils (ECHL team) training facility that has a treadmill that you skate on. While my skates worked on it, it still felt different. Would I object to playing a game on it, nope, not at all. If it works and keeps cost down for kids trying to get into the game I am all for it. The article states that it saves nearly $200K per year on water and cooling systems my immediate question is towards the durability of the surface. Here in Philly, many sheets are used for a minimum of 12 hours per day. Can this artifical surface hold that up for the same amount of time? The only other issue I may have with it is temperature. The warmest building I ever skated in was the old Hersheypark Arena. I could see issues with rinks being too warm. It's probably something that everyone would get used to but it would still be an issue to open with.

I've skated on this stuff before. It really isn't that great, but if you need to fit ina a quick practice, then you've found the right stuff. Fortunately, it will never replace ice in the NHL because it dulls the skate blades too much, it is harder to fix (you can't just run over it with a zamboni), and, personally, I like the feeling of being hot and falling to the ice and being cooled off in a second.