What happened to Plexiglas boards?

Hockeynomad

Registered User
Sep 10, 2007
524
2
Toronto
I remember watching the 1972 winter olympics in Sapporo, Japan on TV and the hockey venue had clear plexiglass boards.

I know that the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA had an arena with plexiglass boards as well.

What was the benefit? None that I could see, maybe the box seat fans could see the action down low, or maybe the TV viewers got a better view of those revealing female legs.

I would assume hard plexiglass would be more costly.

Maybe it was just a novelty liek the red puck.
 

Bumjoo Wang*

Guest
I remember watching some old hockey video and seeing those. While I don't know the real reasoning behind the disappearance of those, I assume it might have something to do with the fact that the boards are pretty much the only places for ads in a hockey rink an also with them being expensive, therefore not really widely useable.

Edit: could be also tradition related.. or maybe the puck bounced off them awkwardly
 

dcinroc

Registered User
Jun 24, 2008
515
3
Taipei, Taiwan
My guess would be that clear plexiglass boards would get scratched up and start to look worn pretty quickly...much quicker than any loss of structural integrity would justify replacing them.

Regular boards could just be repainted...plexiglass has to be replaced at much higher cost.
 
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Bumjoo Wang*

Guest
I forgot with al the kids on this board, ancient history is pre 1990.....

Define "kids"! Because even I sometimes feel too old on these boards.

But yeah, I think dcinroc might be right, that could be an issue with those boards..
 
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Gulol

Registered User
Oct 4, 2007
95
0
Colorado
I would have to think cost would be a factor as the durability and wear on solid plexiglass boards would definitely start to add up. Also, I wonder if clear boards would have any effect on depth perception for the players on the ice? I mean, if you don't have the white boards to catch out of the corner of your eye and all you see is darkness and feet beyond the boards, are you going to do a double take going into the corner? I guess you can consider this like the batters eye part of a baseball stadium ... you don't have anything but a black background behind the center field wall so that the batter doesn't lose the ball in a sea of fans behind center field. Just a thought...
 

member 51464

Guest
anyone have pics or video showing it? ive never seen it
 

weaselsuit

Registered User
Sep 3, 2008
33
1
Minneapolis Mn.
They had the clear plexiglass boards here at the St. Paul Civic Center from 1972 up until the season when we had The Moose play there. What was that? maybe 94? They finally made the switch to standard boards in the Civic Center only then. So that means that the infamous clear boards were used for 20+ years, which is a testament to the fact that they DID last, albeit with VERY limited use post 1977.

My understanding is that they were just sort of a gimmick. I played in a game with the clear boards one time, and as a goalie, it wasn't great for being able to see the puck.

I still wonder where the old clear boards ended up after they stopped using them. I do know that the old boards from the Met Center are used at Braemar Arena here in Edina...
 

Hockeynomad

Registered User
Sep 10, 2007
524
2
Toronto
Here is a picture of George Morrison who recently passed on playing in the arena.

Note in the background the plexiglass boards:

Mmorrison.jpg
 

TonyTinglebone

Registered User
Oct 6, 2008
1,245
13
I remember playing on a rink with plexiglass boards. Terrible time. People sitting or moving near the boards were extremely distracting.
 
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Bougieman

Registered User
Nov 12, 2008
6,565
1,715
Vancouver
Crazy!! I have never heard of this before, and I've been following the game since 1985.

Someone please post some youtube or some more pics if you know of any.
 

rafterman

Registered User
Dec 1, 2010
678
19
Flyover country




Also, note that the seats on the sides of the rink weren't all the way to the glass, but rather in a circular shape matching the arena shape.
St._Paul_Civic_Center_Saints_Opening_Arena_Pic_large.jpg


The boards were replaced when the Moose started playing there in the 90's, but the seating remained the same. For a few Moose games I actually had seats that in that 'empty area', folding chairs at a folding table set up along the side boards.
 

BigBadBruins7708

Registered User
Dec 11, 2017
13,579
18,347
Las Vegas
#1 is the loss of ad space

#2 is would lead to a sloppy/crappy version of hockey as the puck would be significantly harder to track for the players (especially the goalies) and the movement of the fans would be distracting to say the least.

the more i think about the more it must be impossible as a goaltender. Any shot coming in must be impossible to track, nevermind trying to see and react to deflections
 

Prsut18

Registered User
Jul 30, 2018
466
586
CZ
I was playing a goalie when I was younger and I remember one tournament when I was like 12 years old... It was on a rink with black painted boards and tracking the puck was crazy... I can imagine it is similar with those boards...

also the ad space is probably the reason
 

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