EDMONTON- With ice time being a hot commodity for many organizations in the Capital Region, one association in St. Albert is hoping a less-than-traditional surface may help alleviate the problem.
For the next week and a half, hockey players, figure skaters and recreational skaters alike will have the opportunity to test synthetic ice at Servus Place. The artificial surface is put together, piece-by-piece, almost like a puzzle. Two synthetic ice manufacturers have set up surfaces at Servus Place for testing.
“Having the ability to compare two different technologies, two different manufacturing ways of producing or extruding the sheets. So this is a great head-to-head competition to see who’s better and it’s going to be the skaters, the kids, the parents that are going to tell us which one works the best,” said Dave Bell, president of St. Albert Minor Hockey.
Eclipse Sports, one of the manufacturers represented in St. Albert this week, says it’s obviously not the same as real ice, but there are many benefits of the synthetic surface.
“It’s a little more, in a sense, tacky than real ice to skate on. It’s 80 per cent glide ability I’d say. You’re not going to get the long stretches of gliding, but I mean with a couple strides you’ll be fine. When you use it make sure your knees are bent and you use strong, powerful strides and you’ll be okay,” said Adam Boyd, a sales representative with Eclipse Sports.
“There is a specific density to this product which is great for turning, crossovers, skating.”
And unlike real ice, Boyd says the more it’s skated on, the better the conditions become.
“The more blade marks, more rips, tears, stuff like that, you get in the surface, the faster you’ll go, the easier it is to skate.”
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Nine-year-old Aidan Taylor, who plays hockey with the St. Albert Attack, laced up his skates Saturday afternoon to give the synthetic ice a test run.
“It felt like concrete,” he said, recalling his first few steps on the ice.
But after giving both surfaces a fair test, he started to come around.
“The stick handling was the same and the shot was the same.”
Taylor thinks it would be a great surface to practice on, and Bell agrees. He would like to see two full-sized rinks of synthetic ice in St. Albert, which would be used for practices only, not games.
“Maybe one operated by St. Albert Minor Hockey, one operated by the City of St. Albert,” Bell said. “Bring it on.”
The cost of an NHL-sized sheet of synthetic ice would run between $250,000 and $300,000.
The synthetic ice will be available for the public to test at Servus Place until September 11. For the full schedule and online survey visit the St. Albert Minor Hockey Association’s website.
With files from Dean Millard, Global Sports.
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