duck pond

[ultrapail 0]

I noticed in game 3 that lots of guys were losing an edge and stops seemed like they were difficult for a lot of guys.

I know very little about maintaining ice, but in a professional arena, with all the money and resources to be had, is it really that difficult to produce a decent slab of ice?

A while back there was an article asking NHL players what the best and worst ice was. Anaheim got worst hands down. Don't tell me it's the weather either because Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Phoenix do just fine.

Do you guys remember this article??

[pavyaz19 1]

i'm no ice-pro either, but i've played on some very bad ice and what some call, one of the best ice srfaces in the world. I looked at it close up (4 feet away or so) before warm-ups tonight and I specifically told my girlfriend that the ice looked pretty damn good. But that's just by sight and i'm sure JLA is much better no matter what. also, we sat in the upper bowl for the game, and it was unusually cold in there. Another positive that may mean the ice wasn't so bad. again, i'm no Al Sabotka.

[BAFGA 0]

I'm surprised that this gets the worst ice award. They don't transition this arena to basketball like a lot of the arenas around the league, so it should stay pretty fresh except for perhaps the occasional concert or trade show. I thought an arena like Carolina or Washington would get the worst ice surface since they have a lot of business other than hockey in their arenas which might lead to deteriorating ice.

[#19forPresident! 1]

I'm no expert on maintaining a nice sheet of ice myself either, but from my understanding it takes a relatively experienced and knowledgeable staff to keep one top notch, and location helps alot. Humidity levels in relation to teperature is a big factor, but to what extent or how they control it to perfection I have no idea. I do know every team in the league fills out forms assessing conditions of the hosting arena on everything from locker rooms to the ice surface.

Having said that I would imagine if it was a big problem they would know and have taken some appropriate steps to adjust it before playoffs came around. Then again it may be somethinig they can't control to an extent, like Dallas' terrible ice, when people say you have home "slush" advantage its not too good .

If I had to guess using common sense, I'd say the problem might be the overall ground temperature there being so high which may cause some challenges in keeping perfect ice, along with how well Honda Center may or may not seal in / keep out moisture and heat. It really didn't look to bad on television, the boards seemed pretty crisp too, but then again seeing it on TV and skating on it are two completely different things. Would be cool if they asked players stuff like that in postgame, but its probably the last thing on anyone's mind after a game like the one they played.

[Zion 93]

Worst ice:

1) MSG

2) Honda Center

3) BankAtlantic Center

[#19forPresident! 1]

Worst ice:

1) MSG

2) Honda Center

3) BankAtlantic Center

Wow, I didn't realize Honda Center was that high up there, and I couldn't believe MSG was no.1, must be from all the different events they host, because their geographical location seems pretty good for strong ice.

[Duckette 0]

My reply to the title: Duh.

It's in freaking SoCal. It's too hot to keep the surface good. But, you forgot the St. Pete Times Forum. I watch that ice melt while I'm at the game, before the guys even get on the ice.

[justheducks 0]

well if tyeh nhl went into summertime honda center would have the best ice

[akustyk 84]

I remember players bitching about Staples. and the fact that certain Kronwall injured himself for half a year (last season I guess) right there is definitely a point to this case

Edited May 17, 2007 by akustyk

[WingNut199 0]

I realize that location is huge factor in ice quality/maintanance (especially humity), but other teams in bad locations seem to do much better

EDIT: Does anyone know first hand how cold they keep JLA compared places like Anaheim, san jose, dallas, tampa, etc?? Because JLA is always real cold, not uncomfortably cold.. well, atleast for we hockey fans

Edited May 17, 2007 by WingNut199

[FUUFNF 1]

the ponda is just a crappy arena no matter how you slice it.

[Yemack 1]

I don't know about ice surface but I do know that Ducks fans' display of poor sportsmanship last night was really something.

IMO there were very very few ducks fan who knew hockey and what the word 'class' means.

Edited May 17, 2007 by Yemack

[Duckette 0]

I don't know about ice surface but I do know that Ducks fans' display of poor sportsmanship last night was really something.

IMO there were very very few ducks fan who knew hockey and what the word 'class' means.

Ok, I didn't get to watch the game last night and I am no longer in Anaheim so what exactly went on? I have never known Ducks fans to show poor sportsmanship.

I do know hockey, I assure you and I do my best to show some class. Whatever it is they did, it already sounds like I'll be very disappointed in my fellow Ducks fans.

And the Ponda is a very nice arena. That's coming from Kings fans as well, not just me

[ZAMBONI 0]

I don't know about ice surface but I do know that Ducks fans' display of poor sportsmanship last night was really something.

IMO there were very very few ducks fan who knew hockey and what the word 'class' means.

The reason they were cheering was it was a hard hit. They clapped for Holmstrom when he left the ice ok i should know i was a couple rows back off the ice. The ice surface absolutely sucks no argument from me,but both teams have to play on it,so its a moot point.

[oilandwingsfan 3]

half of it has to do with the people who make the ice and the other half is the relative temperature inside and outside of the rink.

our ice in Edmonton used to be pretty top notch however in the past year the quality has gone down considering one of our top ice makers decided to do the ice for international tournaments or something now. however, it still provides good ice considering that our weather is like below zero for like 8 months of the year (lol) and that the rink temperature is significantly cooler than others too because of the effect of the outside climate.

but i guess our ice also "sucks" when other players from the opposing team screw up big time (*coughPatrikStefanJan4Dallasgamecough*) lol.

[BlueMonk 102]

Don't tell me it's the weather either because Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Phoenix do just fine.

I've never heard anyone say these arenas do just fine. Dallas, in particular, has slush for ice. Weather is a huge part of it, from what I've heard.

[#19forPresident! 1]

Ok, I didn't get to watch the game last night and I am no longer in Anaheim so what exactly went on? I have never known Ducks fans to show poor sportsmanship.

I do know hockey, I assure you and I do my best to show some class. Whatever it is they did, it already sounds like I'll be very disappointed in my fellow Ducks fans.

And the Ponda is a very nice arena. That's coming from Kings fans as well, not just me

Well I would say the Ducks as a whole just lost their composure after a point, but really Pronger was the only one who showed poor sportsmanship, for everyone else it was just built frustration leading to stupid penalties in my opinion.

What happned that aggrivated everyone, pretty much in the hockey community, but obviously in the Detroit community was Pronger's arms up high hit to the back of Holmstrom's head. I think Neidermayer (who hit him from the front at the same time as Pronger did from behind in case you didn't see the play) was trying to hit him clean, he had a shouler high which is fine, at that point Homer sees him coming and it's his responsibility to try and keep his head in his helmet. The only responsibility I think Neidermayer deserved is that while Holmstrom didn't see Prongs coming, he did, but to be fair to him I also don't think Robby knew Prongs was gonna run him high and hard with his arms up on his head like that.

What Pronger did, as one sportscaster put it well, was "preditory in nature". By coming hard from behind with his arms up high to the back of Holmstrom's head / neck area when he knew that there was no chance of him seeing the hit. Also Pronger had not recorded a single hit the entire game up to that point, and suddenly he goes high and hard from behind on a guy who he had noted verbal and physical battles with in front of the net earlier in the game, which implies intent and premeditation.

Listen I don't think the Ducks are truly a bunch of goons, I do think Pronger doesn't know how to handle himself when he's frustrated to the point of endangering other people. I believe that for the most part the Anaheim organization puts a solid line of hard nosed quality guys on the ice shift in and shift out.

Now having said that they might want to take a look in the mirror and remember that themselves because there is a difference between hard nosed hockey and head hunting, Chris Pronger for one forgot that last night and disrespected himself, the game, as well as our teammates and his own. They are better than that as a team and they know it, we're all just fortunate Holmstrom is still in good health and was able to get back on the ice after getting stitched up.

All in all I think Pronger is giving your boys a worse name than they deserve, but anybody thats followed his career knows this is typical stuff for him when he's behind the eight ball in a game. I can remember a game we played against St.Louis where they were behind and Pronger tried to head hunt Yzerman, who sidestepped him only to see Pronger injure himself on the play. So he has a history of making poor decisions, its just unfortunate that something like that even happens in a game where people can fight face to face if they really want to and only simply face matching penalties. He knew Homer wasn't going to play that game so he didn't give him an option, now his team will have to suffer for his mistake.

Really its just a shame, I would rather play our best lines against Anaheim's,and when Pronger is playing smart he's a big big part of the Ducks best hockey, but what he did was unexcuseable and he and earned himself the suspension.

Edited May 17, 2007 by #19forPresident!

[Yemack 1]

I know few ducks fans here are knowledgeable

On TV, majority of what I've heard/seen were

- cheering when it was shown that holmstrom was laying down on ice bleeding

- big boos when Nied got 5 min and game misconduct

- no cheer or whatsoever when holmstrom was helped to dressing room

- and of course thrown objects on ice

maybe 'some' fans did show class ... I woudln't know I wasn't there

anyway I don't want to dwell on what happened last night too much. Idiot was handed suspension and the revenge is best served on ice.

[Jedi 1,865]

TSN talked about it last night, that the early start kinda hurt in that regard too. They kept the doors open throughout most of the game, since fans were late in arriving (and early in leaving).

I wouldn't expect much different for game 4 (late arriving fans, that is). With those games starting relatively early in SoCal, many of the 9-to-5 fans can't get through all the traffic until the first is mostly over.

[Duckette 0]

TSN talked about it last night, that the early start kinda hurt in that regard too. They kept the doors open throughout most of the game, since fans were late in arriving (and early in leaving).

I wouldn't expect much different for game 4 (late arriving fans, that is). With those games starting relatively early in SoCal, many of the 9-to-5 fans can't get through all the traffic until the first is mostly over.

Let me put it into terms for people who are unfamiliar with SoCal traffic (I don't mean that in a derogatory fashion)

I lived 45 minutes from Anaheim with no traffic. To get there at 6:00 PM (and I mean getting in my seat at 6PM) I would have to leave my house....around 3:00PM, maybe earlier, maybe later. It's bad. Trust me. Now, consider that and that most SoCal schools don't get out till around 3:15PM and other work It's crazy.

[Elshupacabra 0]

Let me put it into terms for people who are unfamiliar with SoCal traffic (I don't mean that in a derogatory fashion)

I lived 45 minutes from Anaheim with no traffic. To get there at 6:00 PM (and I mean getting in my seat at 6PM) I would have to leave my house....around 3:00PM, maybe earlier, maybe later. It's bad. Trust me. Now, consider that and that most SoCal schools don't get out till around 3:15PM and other work It's crazy.

wow thats pretty bad!

[YoungGuns1340 1]

half of it has to do with the people who make the ice and the other half is the relative temperature inside and outside of the rink.

our ice in Edmonton used to be pretty top notch however in the past year the quality has gone down considering one of our top ice makers decided to do the ice for international tournaments or something now. however, it still provides good ice considering that our weather is like below zero for like 8 months of the year (lol) and that the rink temperature is significantly cooler than others too because of the effect of the outside climate.

but i guess our ice also "sucks" when other players from the opposing team screw up big time (*coughPatrikStefanJan4Dallasgamecough*) lol.

Haha, poor Patrik Stefan. Hell never live that down.

As for Edmonton, it was ranked #1 for a while up until this year. Now I know why. Detroit was #1 in that same article this year. I think Edmonton was still right up there though.

[Yemack 1]

I heard about LA area being worst in traffic jam because of its joke transit system. Read an article about people who has been living in LA for 10 years and never knew subway existed, its that bad?

They said because noone uses it, they are horribly under funded which in turns create worse service and so on so forth.

[CAredwingsfan91 28]

yeah its not the greatest surface...i played there once before a sharks/ducks game, for a pick up game, great experience. I actually heard that the new owners wanted to keep the arena a lot colder to make the ice a lot faster but when i played on it it just seemed really chippy and a lot of build up, i still had fun so i dont care.

[texdude2006 0]

Sports Illustrated had an article a few years back on the best and worst things in the NHL. In the ice category, MSG got the worst ice...apparently there are dime sized holes in the ice for fastening things down for other events.