Bad ice kills the entertainment value.

[OysterForever]

It requires one ice-related top level injury, until that management couldn't care less

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Brutal ice ... excess water ... sure it was a spring day in winter in TO but common boys ... is COVID so bad on financial resources that da ice is suffering ... turn on da damn air and fix it pregame .. we look like a poor COVID team when we can't even do that

 

[RogerR]

Watching hockey on bad ice is not great - impossible to make a skill play, passing difficult, very little flow.

It’s bullshit that a top market team has the worst ice in the NHL. Opposing fan GDTs confirm it.

#FixTheIce

I agree. Their should be more outrage on this. Especially given no Raptors tio share the arena with and no fans inceeasing the temperature.

 

[TMLeafer]

It looked particularly bad yesterday, especially in the first half of the game.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

It looked particularly bad yesterday, especially in the first half of the game.

I bet they turned on air in 1st period ... i heard it costs them around 50-75K for air each game ... i bet with cold weather they don't need to bother and can save $$$ but with 10 degree day in TO someone likely forgot and by time a corrective action was taken it was too late

 

[JayfromNB1219]

How the hell would you know the condition of the ice unless a player said something. And no, opposing fans don't confirm anything as they know as little as you do.

Wow you took that personally...and when the puck bounces all over the ice it’s pretty easy to see that the ice is in rough shape...simple passes look like they hit a small ramp mid pass...these things aren’t hard to see...probably not the worst ice in the league but even you have to admit it certainly doesn’t look very good

 

[unitedstars87]

MLSE is filthy rich, yet can’t figure out how ice works. Dumb dumbs

 

[justashadowof]

Big organizations often get so bloated with superfluous staff and especially managers that eventually nothing can get done right in some departments due to company initiatives and mini-empires within the bureaucracy.

Purely speculation but say if there's some sort of environmental/energy consumption initiative at MLSE, this department could coerce the facility management to use less energy with the operation of the refrigeration system. The nature of these types of initiatives is that they're based on metrics. Metrics mean the lone driver would be lowering the energy usage meaning that each year it's expected that the energy usage is less than the previous year. Eventually the energy usage is going to drop below the threshold that decent ice can't be maintained in an empty building in the middle of the winter with no other usage.

 

[Bluelines]

This thread makes me think maybe the players losing an edge and falling is not so much they need their skates sharpened but the ice is garbage?

Probably every game this year there is a player going for a fall because he loses his edge or toe picks or heal picks. This is the richest team in the hockey world, hell ice cost's $0.99 a bag , I'm sure we can figure out a way to make the ice as good as Edmonton's, often considered the gold standard for ice.

 

[Bluelines]

Big organizations often get so bloated with superfluous staff and especially managers that eventually nothing can get done right in some departments due to company initiatives and mini-empires within the bureaucracy.

Purely speculation but say if there's some sort of environmental/energy consumption initiative at MLSE, this department could coerce the facility management to use less energy with the operation of the refrigeration system. The nature of these types of initiatives is that they're based on metrics. Metrics mean the lone driver would be lowering the energy usage meaning that each year it's expected that the energy usage is less than the previous year. Eventually the energy usage is going to drop below the threshold that decent ice can't be maintained in an empty building in the middle of the winter with no other usage.

Good theory but they could just put a couple of sun catchers on the roof of the bank and poof... free electricity.

 

[Bluelines]

Wow you took that personally...and when the puck bounces all over the ice it’s pretty easy to see that the ice is in rough shape...simple passes look like they hit a small ramp mid pass...these things aren’t hard to see...probably not the worst ice in the league but even you have to admit it certainly doesn’t look very good

Could it be the type of rubber they are using in the puck? In the old days room temp pucks would bounce like a tennis ball on the ice.

Baseball had its live ball era, maybe the NHL juiced the pucks to create more goals?

 

[ottomaddox]

Why don't they move the Raptors to a new arena and improve the ice. There's enough interest and corporate/fan dollars to pay for this.

 

[Critical13]

Big organizations often get so bloated with superfluous staff and especially managers that eventually nothing can get done right in some departments due to company initiatives and mini-empires within the bureaucracy.

Purely speculation but say if there's some sort of environmental/energy consumption initiative at MLSE, this department could coerce the facility management to use less energy with the operation of the refrigeration system. The nature of these types of initiatives is that they're based on metrics. Metrics mean the lone driver would be lowering the energy usage meaning that each year it's expected that the energy usage is less than the previous year. Eventually the energy usage is going to drop below the threshold that decent ice can't be maintained in an empty building in the middle of the winter with no other usage.

I have a strong inclination towards saying there is no way this is happening. Our ice is almost at the "players getting injured" stage, and is definitely a competitive disadvantage. Some corporate building manager isn't going to have enough sway to affect the on ice product to this degree.

As for people commenting on it being Spring - well, the ice was awful all season long, no matter the temperature. I am guessing there is a bigger issue that machines just cannot counter.

 

[hoglund]

I'm not sure what's wrong with me because I haven't noticed any problems.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Speed and skill on display once again on road ice.

It's nice when you're not fighting a bouncing puck the whole game.

 

[Randy Randerson]

Honest question, are the ice scraping crews still going during Covid, and if so are they going at every TV timeout like usual? There has definitely been instances late in games where you can see snow piled up.

I could see that being a Covid precaution, keep the 20ish people on that crew off the ice to minimize the chances of spread.

 

[Critical13]

Speed and skill on display once again on road ice.

It's nice when you're not fighting a bouncing puck the whole game.

Yep, the ice was noticeably better in Edmonton and was a big boost for our skilled team.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Alright this thread needs to be bumped

That first period was painful to watch. Both teams fighting a bouncing puck and players falling all over the ice.

Something needs to be done. This is a joke lol

 

[pucksakes666]

The way the leafs luck is one of their star players will probably hit a rut and get a high ankle sprain and be out rest of the year.

 

[Leaftors]

Why don't they move the Raptors to a new arena and improve the ice. There's enough interest and corporate/fan dollars to pay for this.

The raptors haven’t played in Toronto at all this year, and all other arenas get used for things other than hockey when the home team is away.

Is it the ice or are the pucks softer? Does anybody know? The ice has looked the same on the road.

 

[HomerJLeafs]

especially in the 1st the ice was sooooo f***ing bad
and it's not even just the passes or the game flow
somebody gonna get injured on the shitty ice

 

[hoglund]

If it's so bad, which I haven't noticed then why haven't the players complained?

 

[Captain14]

Watching hockey on bad ice is not great - impossible to make a skill play, passing difficult, very little flow.

It’s bullshit that a top market team has the worst ice in the NHL. Opposing fan GDTs confirm it.

#FixTheIce

Could not agree more, it’s detrimental to our fast paced offense. I mean, Shanny and Dubas have to realize this as much as we do! It will only get worse in the warmer temps of spring hockey.
This needs Toronto media attention.

 

[Captain14]

I bet they turned on air in 1st period ... i heard it costs them around 50-75K for air each game ... i bet with cold weather they don't need to bother and can save $$$ but with 10 degree day in TO someone likely forgot and by time a corrective action was taken it was too late

That cost of AC has to be lower with no fans in the stands.

 

[ACC1224]

If it's so bad, which I haven't noticed then why haven't the players complained?

How would you know if the players complained?