Tired of bad NHL ice? Think it could ever come a day where hockey is played on fake, flawless plastic ice?
Quote:
The technology was originally developed in Spain by Extraice S.L. and Astro Corp. is the company's exclusive agent in Japan. Ice skating surged in popularity following figure skater Shizuka Arakawa's gold medal triumph in the last Winter Olympics and the crowded country has not been able to meet the demand for rink space.
Iceless rinks not only can be set up in warmer parts of Japan, but are also much cheaper to operate: approximately $190,000 a year can be saved in electricity and water costs.
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I remember watching Domenik Hasek play a game on plastic in the middle of Prague. Apparently, a hockey game played on plastic is very much like playing on ice.
I don't know if this is the same surface, but Puckmasters in Calgary operates on a synthetic surface. My son's hockey team booked a half dozen or so sessions with them a couple of years ago. The ice is a third of the size of a normal rink, and there is a lot more friction involved. Most fall flat on their faces when they step on the ice because there is absolutely no glide. It is also a great workout for them because they have to work for everything. It produced great result when the hit the real ice later. It really opened up the strides of all the kids.
I always wondered about the durability of these things. Do you have to replace the plastic after every hockey game? You'd think the steel blades would just chew up anything plastic. Or maybe you spray hot water on the surface and the plastic fuses back together into a smooth surface...
Here's a product called Icepro, which shows some single person hockey drills on a tiny surface. There definitly seems to be a lot of friction. I'm not sure how well that would translate to a game.
Here's a product called Icepro, which shows some single person hockey drills on a tiny surface. There definitly seems to be a lot of friction. I'm not sure how well that would translate to a game.
Okay, checking this out, the puck slides about as well on this Icepro crap as it would across linoleum. You could skate on linoleum too if you wanted to and your parents werent home.
I get that they're advertising it as an in-home training area for your kid, but if you tried to apply it to a game it would end in certain tragedy.
Its really only a very short step away from the awesome reality of roller-hockey.
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The problem is that they are trying to come up with a new ice substitute, without altering the footwear. You have a plastic surface, but are trying to use traditional steel blades on it.
The ice is only 50% of the equation. They need to come up with a "polymer surface" skate blade that works on the plastic the same way that steel works on ice. Perhaps ditto for the puck. Rubber doesn't slide well on plastic. But a plastic puck probably would.
Roller hockey is ok. But it would be nice to have something that more closely mimics ice based hockey. Even if you have to buy specialized equipment.
The main thing I miss about Canada is playing on an outdoor rink. Lots of hockey in Dallas, but it is all indoors.
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Exp:
So when someone does a hard stop and throws up a bunch of snow by digging the blades sideways into the ice, instead you would totally destroy the plastic? Somehow I don't see how it would work, unless of course your blade wouldn't dig into the plastic because it is somehow harder than steel? In which case, I guess, you'd smash into whatever you were trying to stop for...
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So when someone does a hard stop and throws up a bunch of snow by digging the blades sideways into the ice, instead you would totally destroy the plastic? Somehow I don't see how it would work, unless of course your blade wouldn't dig into the plastic because it is somehow harder than steel? In which case, I guess, you'd smash into whatever you were trying to stop for...
That's what I was thinking too. in the event you do dig into the plastic, I can't see anything good coming out of that. You either A. rip up plastic, or B dig too deep and go flying towards the boards.
I could build a stupid rink in my yard and have it last year round instead of melting, freezing, melting, freezing 6 times per day when the dumb Chinooks come in.
I'd be interested in knowing how this works. My question is, skating on it is one thing, but will the puck slide across it?
Is it actually slippery like ice or is it the relationship between skate blade and surface?
This is critical to me too, as a goalie. Because if it's the latter, I'm not sure USA Hockey is going to like me installing skate blades on all the edges of my leg pads (though it would look SWEET!)
"Dude, what the F was that?"
"Um, you skated into me."
"I know, but your leg pads tore my jersey all up."
"No, the blades on my leg pads tore your jersey all up."
"Blades?! Are you kidding me?! What are you, the Freddy Krueger of hockey?"
"Actually, that's a good idea for my mask. How 'bout you don't skate into me again and it won't be a problem?"
"You're out of your mind!"
"Well, I am a goalie...and besides, you're the guy that skated into a goalie with blades sticking out of his pads!"
When you skate on ice you are actually skating on water because the blade is causing friction which generates heat and melts the ice. With Super-Glide™ the blade causes the same friction and heat, but this now causes a release of the lubricants integral in the chemical make-up of the core substance in the Super-Glide™ skating surface. This is what sets us apart from the competition. With silicone based products, like our competitors use, the blade cuts through the silicone and hits dry spots which cause the blade to give the skater a "chattering" feel. This also increases the friction, making skating more difficult. This problem is exactly what led to the scientific development of Super-Glide™ and it's unique formulation which eliminates the "chattering" and allows the blade to glide smoothly at all times.
I didn't realize you could actually buy the stuff here in North America.
According to their pricing, it would cost almost 170 grand to build a real hockey rink with that stuff.
Considering I can't get real ice here, at least not outdoor because of the chinooks, I wonder if I could get a extreme price reduction to build a real hockey rink. Seems like a great idea, but would it stand up to playing REAL hockey on it?
From what I've read, this stuff isn't meant for competitions. They're meant for drills and practicing moves that don't require huge amounts of space or ice, so that instead of having to book time at already packed rinks, you could do it at home. So the rinks are opened up for people who really do need the ice.
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this is the product I'm most interested in. They claim theirs is less-reliant on a viscosity-promoting spray or wash or something, that some of the competition requires. this is appealing to me from a "probably not good to weigh down your leg pads with oil" kind of perspective.
I shot the lady an email with some questions, and will pass along the fruit of my correspondence should anyone be interested.
Plastic Ice!
