Do we have bad ice?

[allan5oh]

Interesting, I always thought it was a bit warm in there. Also can't believe how much difference between the first few rows and my seats (last row in upper bowl). It's quite the difference. Top row is pure t-shirt weather, bottom isn't.

 

[Huffer]

Interesting article from the Jet's "ice guy".

http://jets.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=612032

From what I've heard, non-hockey events can create havoc with the ice, and the MTS Centre is one of the busiest in NA.

Yeah, switching to non hockey events, and humidity were two things that jumped to my mind as well.

Thinking about this some more, I wonder how big of a deal humidity control is for the MTS centre? How many other Arena's have the daily traffic flow that MTSC has? By that I mean, there are people every day that walk from Portage place to City place, people every day that are opening doors to the outside, etc. How many other arena's are "connected" to an area like MTSC is? I know that there are many arena's that are outside of major area's, and I would think that they don't have people walking around them every day. Would this be a noticable factor I wonder?

 

[Jet]

Lol. Of course it's soft. NHL rinks ALL are really soft. It's terrible if you are used to playing in better ice, but every single NHL rink is like that and NHLers are used to it.

The thing is, the ice is actually pretty good when the rink is empty. I've played hockey there 3 times (all winter) and every time the ice was some of the best I've skated on. This of course was while the team was on the road and the ice wasn't being skated on by 220lb pros and 15k warm bodies all around.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Not sure what you are saying here.

That the ice is going to be bad, and because other rinks in the NHL have bad ice that we should be ok with it?

The Oilers used to have great ice, but then changed their ice guy and now I think their ice has suffered. So there would be ways to make "better" ice I would think.

I would personnaly like to see TNSE commit to having the best ice they can. Especially since it looks like we are building a team with speed.

Turn off the heat and turn on the AC in December in the building if the have to.

He's talking about a AAA player comparing MTS Centre to other rinks around the city. Well DUH MTS Centre is soft. I used to hate to play and practice at Winnipeg Arena as well, since it was so soft.

Jets ice is no better or worse than anywhere else in the NHL. Whatever. I just found it funny that he compared the ice to other "normal" rinks, of course it's miles worse.

 

[Huffer]

He's talking about a AAA player comparing MTS Centre to other rinks around the city. Well DUH MTS Centre is soft. I used to hate to play and practice at Winnipeg Arena as well, since it was so soft.

Jets ice is no better or worse than anywhere else in the NHL. Whatever. I just found it funny that he compared the ice to other "normal" rinks, of course it's miles worse.

I can understand that I guess, the comparing it to other rinks in the city.

But I don't really get comparing the MTSC to other arena's in the NHL and just accepting bad ice if bad ice is the norm.

At least not without trying every imaginable (cost acceptable) way to improve it. As mentioned above, it was always accepted that the Oilers in the past had great ice. So it's "possible" to strive to be better than other rinks I would think.

 

[allan5oh]

Soft compared to outdoor ice or most rec rinks. Temperature and humidity needs to be closely controlled. Too cold the ice cracks and is slow. Too warm it starts shaving and water pools.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

I can understand that I guess, the comparing it to other rinks in the city.

But I don't really get comparing the MTSC to other arena's in the NHL and just accepting bad ice if bad ice is the norm.

At least not without trying every imaginable (cost acceptable) way to improve it. As mentioned above, it was always accepted that the Oilers in the past had great ice. So it's "possible" to strive to be better than other rinks I would think.

Because it doesn't matter? Both teams play on the same ice surface. Not too mention with all that talk of how "good" Edmonton's ice was, it was not a difference really at all. When you play in rinks packed with thousands of people designed for comfort it's what you get. It'll always be like that. Sure the ice people will do their best, but it's all that can be done. Fan comfort comes first, here and everywhere in the NHL. It's how it is. Meh.

 

[JetsHomer]

Because it doesn't matter? Both teams play on the same ice surface. Not too mention with all that talk of how "good" Edmonton's ice was, it was not a difference really at all. When you play in rinks packed with thousands of people designed for comfort it's what you get. It'll always be like that. Sure the ice people will do their best, but it's all that can be done. Fan comfort comes first, here and everywhere in the NHL. It's how it is. Meh.

Well it kind of does matter. One team plays on the surface 41 times a year, the other 5 times maximum. If we can have better ice that allows our team to skate better, then over the full season it will be an advantage.

 

[Johnny HFBOARDS]

It seems to me that for a handful of games this season, the ice has been soft. You can see the players struggling to skate and the pucks taking weird bounces on passes.

Would be nice to see this issue resolved.

Good I just thought the Jets were some of the worst passers in the League, not kidding, seeing so many bad passes it's good to know 1 or 2 might have been because of the ice.

 

[Huffer]

Because it doesn't matter? Both teams play on the same ice surface. Not too mention with all that talk of how "good" Edmonton's ice was, it was not a difference really at all. When you play in rinks packed with thousands of people designed for comfort it's what you get. It'll always be like that. Sure the ice people will do their best, but it's all that can be done. Fan comfort comes first, here and everywhere in the NHL. It's how it is. Meh.

I would argue that it does in fact matter. At least a little bit. Yes, you want the customers to be "comfortable", but you also want to put out a quality product.

If your ice is bad enough that there are pucks bouncing all over the place and guys are falling for no reason, that is not a quality product. I would bet that the vast majority of Winnipeg hockey fans would take the MTSC a few degrees colder if that's what it took to improve the product on the ice.

 

[ajmidd12]

Maybe the problem with the puck bouncing is the way they are freezing the pucks? Maybe the NHL needs to re-evaluate the way they store the pucks before and during each game, if the puck is harder it'll bounce different than when its at room temperature.

I noticed tons of Wings fans blaming the ice for the reason they lost on Monday, I don't buy that.

 

[wpgsilver]

Maybe the problem with the puck bouncing is the way they are freezing the pucks? Maybe the NHL needs to re-evaluate the way they store the pucks before and during each game, if the puck is harder it'll bounce different than when its at room temperature.

I noticed tons of Wings fans blaming the ice for the reason they lost on Monday, I don't buy that.

The pucks are kept frozen.
Before the game and during intermissions they are kept cold, and during the game they are kept in a cooler bag.

Linesmen also switch pucks out regularly. At every stoppage the time keepers assistant will open the opposing teams penalty box door and stick out a puck. Every couple whistles the linesman will exchange pucks with him.

 

[razorsedge]

Don't have much comment on the MTS centre ice quality...but I remember as a kid playing at the Max Bell arena at the UofM and dreading it cause it was like a swamp. Glad I got that off my chest 20 years later.