General
The synthetic ice rink blog is dedicated to providing useful information to anyone considering a synthetic ice rink. The content is full of posts for hockey parents, hockey players, figure skaters, event planners, those interested in community recreation options, or those thinking about operating a synthetic ice training facility.
Hockey Training Center
Synthetic Ice Hockey Training Center
Randy Robataille played hockey professionally both in the NHL and the KHL. Now he has turned his attention to his newest business interest – a synthetic ice hockey training center. The newly minted hockey training center is called RinkEye Development Center located in Kanata Ontario just down the street from where the Ottawa Senators play.
Randy is joined by former professional and NCAA goalie Dave Stathos. Jointly they can take an entire team in this world class center through a rigorous hour long training session with focus on individual puck skills, skating drills, and goal tender training.
Synthetic Ice Panels for Hockey Training
The centerpiece of this hockey training center is the center rink, which features SmartRink proFast1500-SG heavy-duty synthetic ice. Some of the comments we have heard so far:
“this product is amazing! and hardly any shavings come off the surface”
“after a single burst of speed I can glide around the entire rink!”
“The kids love it. They train in a t-shirt and shorts.”
SmartRink looked after the installation of the synthetic ice, the professional hockey boards, glass, perimeter netting and all the shooting lanes. It took three days to complete all the work.
How Much Does Synthetic Ice Cost?
People ask us this question the most. Comparing synthetic ice products is hard. Unless you know the material you are comparing it is almost meaningless. We’ve seen price per square foot as low as $8 and as high as $28. We’ve written about understanding the importance of molecular weight in the past and how that relates to panel thickness and pricing relationships.
For a true comparison send us a request and we’ll do our best to answer your questions directly with fact based information. You can click the following link to see our catalogue of synthetic ice panels.
The best raw material costs the most money and that directly translates into a higher cost panel – plain and simple. In the case of synthetic ice – paying less money is almost never a good thing.
For further information about this project or SmartRink please contact our office at info@smartrink.com
synthetic ice should never crack
First off let’s just say that synthetic ice should never crack!
Recently a homeowner called me about problems with his synthetic ice. He recently purchased from a company located in Ontario Canada – I’ll save them the embarrassment by not naming them.
Hey things can happen to products from time to time – but frankly not this. He told me that his product was purchased only recently. It was installed on a wooden base / deck in his backyard. A very typical installation for Ontario, Canada. Anyway I asked him about the how the platform was constructed and it seemed to me that it was reasonably well made and suited the application. I also asked him is there was anything holding down the product to keep it from contracting and expanding and he said it was floating free. So far, so good. The product he had was 3/8 inch thick and the sheets were approximately 4ft x 8ft – so basically machined from a 4ft x 8ft sheet. His surface was not large – maybe 12 ft x 24 ft.
He told me that their were cracks and broken pieces were the dovetail joints were together. I have never come across that. But then he also said that when he took some pieces apart he couldn’t fit them together again and that the material from one panel was now a different size than the panel beside it. So more clues.
Getting to the Bottom of the Problem
So to me a couple things are going on here. My educated guess was that he has a product that is on the lower scale of quality. As the molecular weight of polyethylene resin goes down the product becomes “harder” and more brittle. This is the only explanation. The cracks were either a result of poor machine tolerances when routered. It was partly damaged when initially installed. Then with forces of expansion and contraction and cold weather – the material didn’t hold up to the stress.
It’s also possible that part of his surface has sun (warmth) on it. Other areas are still in the shade
d). That places significant forces on an already weak system. One area of the synthetic ice could literally be expanding while another area is contracting or staying the same. On a weak connection system with inferior material – that spells PROBLEM.
Get What You Pay For
So what to do? Well unfortunately the poor client paid a lot of money for inferior material. At the very least he should get his money back. When confronted he said the supplier pushed back and told the guy that it should not be installed outside in a Canadian winter and should be covered over. Ummm. Hello? This is Canada! We have extreme winter weather! Wrong answer. Time to report him to the Better Business Bureau – and that was my next recommendation.
So once again I maintain that synthetic ice should never crack! Products made with high quality resin WILL NOT crack from cold, or expansion and contraction. Period.
I hope this article can save someone else out there from a poor product. Read more about why you should choose SmartRink for your synthetic ice rink project.
When to use commercial grade ice
Full size synthetic ice rink, Northern Alberta Canada
We often get asked about when to use commercial synthetic ice verses residential synthetic ice. Probably a good place to start before we get into that is to explore the difference between the two.
The vast majority of panel systems sold today are residential – by our definition. At SmartRink we consider any panel that has little or no vertical sheer strength to be considered a residential panel. The panel thickness is NOT THE DETERMINING FACTOR. Ok so what is vertical sheer strength? There is a test that can be performed on panel connection systems that will indicate the force required to sheer apart two panel joints. So why is this important? This is important when determining the best product for your application. For example if you are considering an outdoor rink in any climate where there are wide temperature variations then you need to consider vertical sheer strength. Panel material WILL expand and contract with temperature changes. For example with a 20 degree Celsius (approx 36 degrees F) a 1 meter (about 39 inches) sheet of Pe will expand or contract about 2 mm (about 0.079 of an inch). This may not sound like much but if it was a 200 foot long rink then that would be almost 5 inches in movement. If the temperature variation was double that then the change is closer to 10 inches of movement! That is a realistic scenario in many North American climates.
Most companies claim to have commercial synthetic ice ice. They don’t. What they call a commercial panel is a thicker panel. So whether their panel is 3/8 inch thick or 3/4 inch thick the vertical sheer strength in most systems still amounts to almost zero.
This really shows up (in a bad way) when these systems attempt to put in goal creases and line markings in the rinks. Most use a “loose laid” colored panel (red line, blue line) and they are not positively connected to the surrounding panel system. It looks nice enough at first – but wait until the inevitable temperature change and voila – instant problem. Now you will see gaps and loose fitting lines where the puck can not even go over these areas. if water gets in there and then freezes – now the lines and panels are coming apart because there is no vertical sheer strength. The darker colored lines expand and contract at different rates verses the lighter colored panel material and this further causes problems.
We have seen this numerous times with competitive products. They are NOT well engineered for what we would consider a heavy duty commercial use system. This includes hockey training centers and larger inside or outside installations.
So in summary here are some scenarios for when you should use commercial synthetic ice:
– outside community synthetic ice rinks – any size
– most definitely in any climate where frost, ice, snow, are anticipated
– any location where there will be a significant change in seasonal or day to day temperature
– Hockey training centers or any application with directional weight shifts
– Any application where the substrate under the synthetic ice not perfect
Goalie Tests
Recently I travelled to Stockholm Sweden and spent a few days with SmartRink’s Scandinavian distributors. They organized a series of meetings and demonstrations to various organizations. They invited representatives from a hockey high school, a municipality, and several heavy hitters from the Swedish Hockey Federation.
We were using the new ProFast8000-SG with SmartGlide which is our panel with permanently infused glide enhancer.
Of course you would expect me to say that the demos were impressive – and guess what? They were!! The group of trainers from the hockey high school were familiar with a product called Nordic Ice. I’m not even certain who makes the product to be truthful – but it doesn’t really matter. When we asked them how it compared they did not hesitate to respond that the SmartRink synthetic ice material was superior.
There is one thing that unites all hockey players all over the world. They tell it straight up. There is no beating around the bush. They like something or they don’t – and they will tell you. And they did. All four of them were of the opinion that our product was superior. Obviously we were pretty happy about that!
Most importantly though was that our distributors saw first hand how users reacted right away and how pleasantly surprised they were that all those attending the demo were clearly impressed with this product.
Anyway – one of the demos that really stood out for me was when a young goalie tests synthetic ice and was delighted to learn how well the product worked for his lateral slides. He was effortlessly pushing side to side sliding on his pads. I was able to shoot just a few seconds of video but take a look and see for yourself. Unless you are fluent in Swedish you likely wont understand what they are saying…enjoy.
Learn more about synthetic ice for goalies.
Synthetic Ice Pilot
Sault Ste. Marie Synthetic Ice Pilot
A synthetic ice rink community pilot project is a great way for an interested community to try out synthetic ice and judge for themselves if it’s the right idea for them.
We have done a number of these pilots in various communities across Canada and the USA. Acceptance and approval numbers range from 60-85% of users in favor of installing a synthetic ice rink. Like a great many things within the public opinion world – many users are in that “maybe” category. Maybe is not a “no” however. Some people require further proof or convincing. That’s just the way it is – with a lot of things.
Some of what can alter pilot results as well is the venue or the information available at the pilot site. For example can questions be answered prior to filling out a survey? Another variable is sharp skates. I’ve literally seen people show up at these things with dull rusty skates that have not seen the light of day for 20 years. I wouldn’t want them to skate on real ice never mind synthetic!
Anyway – the bottom line when it comes to synthetic ice community pilot projects is that it’s a good idea to try it out at minimal cost. Often times businesses in the community will even sponsor of pay for the cost of the pilot.
Learn what it is like to skate on a synthetic ice rink!
Industry Testing
I’ve been fortunate to work closely with experts from this industry who have been working with engineered polymers for 35 years or more. There are a few other companies out there also claiming to have been in the industry that long as well. So it is really surprising when I read on their company websites complete and false untruths about products in our industry. Especially when their claims are without merit, and not based on any kind of synthetic ice industry testing
In the case of one company – published on their website is information about UHMW material which is shockingly erroneous and absolutely false. Credibility needs to be questioned when information is this wrong. For example one site indicates that “UHMW is much too hard to allow a skate blade to penetrate the surface sufficiently. Light weight skaters will not penetrate the surface to any degree”.
Various Synthetic Ice Materials Tested Using Weighted Skate Blade testing Method
When anyone indicates that UHMW is too hard for skating that is actually a sad statement. UHMW stands for Utra High Molecular Weight and should correctly be followed by Pe which stands for Polyethylene. The industry typically designates any molecular weight resin above 1 million grams per mol as UHMWPe and can be as high as 4 million or higher. Just as there are various molecular weights within HMWPe, HDPe and LDPe classifications. All of these products have been used for synthetic ice.
As the molecular weight of the material increases the product actually gets “softer” not harder as has been inaccurately written about on the site in question.
There are very standard test procedures in the plastic industry that measure the “hardness” of products. This particular company would be well advised to understand them and then compare their material to them.
This page also goes on to mention UHMW is used in the lining of truck beds. Well that is actually true, just as UHMWPe is used in literally thousands of other applications such as hip joint replacements, valve coatings, ski and snowboard bases and numerous other industry applications that require the very best abrasion resistant material combined with material with the best coefficient of friction ratings. But to say UHMWPe is used for truck beds as a general statement is akin to saying extruded HDPe is used for arena board or puck board, or cutting boards!
We do agree on one thing – UHMWPe is not the best material for skating – but we absolutely disagree on why. Their claim is because it is too hard for skating on, and there could be nothing further from accuracy than that! UHMWPe is in fact too “soft” for skating.Remember that as the molecular weight increases the material becomes softer, not harder!
In our weighted skate tests for example – we have proved over multiple tests and trials that UHMWPe is not the best choice for skating as the skate blades tend to sink in too much and therefore the product will feel “sluggish” and slower for skating. Perhaps a light child will not notice that but a 200 pound skater certainly will. Read more about our synthetic ice research.
So where does that leave us in terms of what to believe? It’s really very simple, when you are doing your research, ask the supplier company to supply you with all the following information which is the only way you can truly determine and compare numbers:
1) Weighted skate material trials
2) Shore-D (Shore Durometer) hardness tests
3) Abrasion resistance tests (sand slurry test for example)
Ideally all materials are submitted to a third party lab and subjected to identical tests and that would go a long way to clearing the air on various materials. Ultimately the market will dictate what is used for skating and what isn’t – but please consumers – be smart and do your research on synthetic ice rinks.
Community synthetic ice rink
Synthetic ice oval design using SmartRink’s ProFast1500 heavy duty panel system configured in a brick bond layout
Recently we had the opportunity to bid on a community synthetic ice rink in North Battleford, Saskatchewan Canada. I must admit I have never been there – but that will all change soon enough when the crew arrives to install this community synthetic ice rink. There were a number of significant factors that pushed our bid over the top. For one thing this is a seriously severe winter climate – not for the weak of heart – or more accurately for the weaker synthetic ice connection systems! For example the daily average temperature in the month of January is minus 17 degrees Celsius while the summer time temperatures have been known to be as high as 37 degrees Celsius. That is a massive temperature swing! Now combine that with snow, ice, rain, freezing, thawing and you start to imagine all kinds of possible issues a poor synthetic ice panel joint will suffer through. So we offered the client one of our Heavy Duty commercial synthetic ice panel joint systems called the ProFast1500-SG. This is a 15 mm thick panel made with our Ice-y-Blue700 material with infused glide enhancer. The perimeter joint is a continuously machined ridge and hollow that creates an extremely strong joint connection. Its an impressive display of German excellence in engineering and machining. This product will have no issues with the climate and therefore this community synthetic ice rink will remain safe for the skaters year round. The second significant factor that convinced the decision makers that SmartRink was the product to go with was that we could make an oval or ellipse shape (oval without a center). Like all SmartRink panels we are able to set our panels up in a brick bond or offset design. This means we can make circles, ovals, squares, skating paths or trails, whatever shape you desire for your community synthetic ice rink. The edges can be trimmed down to create a nice smooth finished perimeter. No other products can do this, where we can do it with ease, with a minimal amount of cutting and therefore very little waste – if any. Of course we could get into a lot of other reasons why we are the number one choice for any community synthetic ice rink. But on this job the strength of our connection systems and the brick bond layout clutched the deal. If you are considering a synthetic ice rink for your community then consider SmartRink. We might cost a little more, but we are safer, last longer, and can deal with any kind of weather or site conditions. In a nutshell, clients never have to worry about our products.
Read about synthetic ice rink reviews to make a more informed decision.
Hockey Drill – Excellent Passes…Every Time
Hockey Drill Series – Volume 1:Drill #2
Making Excellent Passes…Every Time
In last month’s hockey drill we wrote about making a pass, receiving a pass and then taking a shot. In today’s drill we are going to simply focus on making excellent passes – everytime. It’s important in hockey to make good strong accurate passes. Your team mates will certainly appreciate your ability to pass well, and certainly so will your coaches.
A couple of things we want to focus on is the accuracy and also the strength of the pass. First let’s consider accuracy. In order to be accurate you need to define the target. Generally the target is going to be the receivers stick – or more accurately, the blade of the stick. Start out with two players on with skates on the synthetic ice. If your rink is big enough then position yourselves about 20 feet apart to start. If the rink is smaller then go with whatever space you have. Player 1 makes a pass to player 2. The idea is to get the puck right on the stick such that the receiving players does not have to move the stick much or at all. If you can get used to doing this over and over then it just creates good life long passing habits. Just focus on the target not on the puck. If you focus on the target then your brain will know what to tell your body to do to get the puck there. It really does work! If you are having trouble with that then get closer together or slow it down a bit until you can control it accurately. Once you have it down then move further apart and keep going.
Once you are able to continuously get the puck on the tape then you can start to put some more force on the pass and make them progressively harder passes. But maintain your accuracy while passing with more zip. As the passes become harder it will become more important to develop “soft hands” and cradle the stick just as the puck gets to your blade. What you are trying to do here is pull back the stick just slightly to “absorb” the pass as its gets there. If you don’t cradle the puck then it will hit your blade and skip over. You want to develop those soft hands by rolling your top wrist back and forth to “cradle” or develop a rocking sensation.
So essentially that’s the drill. I know its super basic but if you never learn how to make an accurate pass you won’t go very far in hockey. Spend some time on this and before you know it you’ll be impressing your team mates and your coaches and becoming a more valuable player.
Until the next drill, keep practicing!
SmartRink Synthetic Ice Rink Hockey Drills
Hockey Drill – Pass and shoot
Hockey Drill Series – Volume 1: Drill #1
Give a pass, take a pass and shoot:
This one is pretty basic as hockey drills go but it’s one that almost anyone with a synthetic ice surface can work on. You don’t necessarily even need a second person, which I’ll explain in a minute.
So what you are working on in this drill is a combination of your passing and receiving a pass skills, plus shooting. There are several objectives with this hockey drill. The first is to work on the accuracy and timing of giving a pass. You want to get the puck right on the tape of the other player in the drill and ideally they are providing a pass to you with the same objective in mind. If you find that your passes are not very accurate then you can work on that by slowing it down a notch and making sure that you follow through on your pass by pointing at the intended target – which is the other stick.
Before you worry about part two of this “hockey drill”, make sure you are first really comfortable and accurate on making and receiving a pass. Once you have that mastered you can move on to the second part of the drill which is receiving a pass and then shooting the puck at a net or target.
So you make a pass and then receive a pass back, and then shoot. Again, keep it simple to start with. Start out with a wrist shot at your target. Pick various targets, upper right, upper left of the net and so on until you are consistently hitting your target. Call out your target before you shoot and try to mentally keep track of your success.
If you are young and just starting out, don’t worry about using a puck just yet, Use a tennis or hockey ball and work your way up to a puck.
If you are practising by yourself and wish to work on this hockey drill you still can! There is a product out there called Perfect Passer and you can buy it online. These triangular metal frames use a rubber band to send the puck back to you for passes and one-timers. They work quite well and are designed to be used with pucks.
Again, this is a basic hockey drill you can do with skates on using your home synthetic ice surface. Master this drill and you will be on your way to filling the net at will.
Check out part 2 of passing hockey drills.
Until next time.
SmartRink Synthetic Ice Rink Hockey Drills
Synthetic ice sheets
Synthetic ice sheet options are many
Synthetic ice sheets
Synthetic ice sheets come in all shapes, size and in a variety of different materials. Every seller of synthetic ice sheets has their particular thought around why theirs is better or faster or cheaper or what have you. To the average consumer it can be just super confusing. There are now dozens of companies selling into the market, and some are fly by night operations and some make it their full time business. How is a consumer supposed to navigate through all the synthetic ice sheet options?
Set a realistic synthetic ice sheet budget
Most people honestly just don’t have any clue what to expect when they are looking for pricing. And then when they get it they often think “it’s too expensive”. Well you aren’t buying tupperware here folks. Synthetic ice sheets can become a significant investment and good products cost some money. I wouldn’t say any company is out there making a killing on their product margins – there is just too much competition – and we all keep each other pretty honest – or simply we lose sales. For a home based skills practice surface you should expect to invest between $1,000 and $5,000 on average. Now this is going to depend of course on the size of the surface and the type of material. Comparing what synthetic ice product is best for you all depends on what you need the product for.
What is the best synthetic ice sheet material?
Everyone thinks their particular brand is the best. The mis-information that is out there in this industry should almost be a crime! The industry players don’t even understand their own material, and yet they are selling it! Your best protection as a consumer or buyer is to ask lots of questions and stick with the companies that can provide good solid answers. When it comes to synthetic ice sheet material – do your homework, because the differences are vast. Always, Always, Always, higher priced material is better material!! Ignore the industry idiots that claim they have the best skating material for less money. If that were true then they truly are dumb. That’s like saying ‘I sell Porsche’s for the same price as Chevrolet’s”. It just doesn’t happen. Ignore those companies…scratch them off your list of legitimate synthetic ice sheet suppliers.
So what synthetic ice sheet should I buy?
Do you buy a car without driving it first? Do you buy a pair of skates without trying them on? Well SmartRink continues to be THE ONLY company in the world – as far as we know – that offers a FREE TRIAL of our synthetic ice. You pay the shipping, we send product. You like, you buy. You don’t like. you send it back. Simple, simple, simple. To date we have actually taken back 3 trials. People try it and for whatever reason they didn’t keep it. Could be a case of buyer remorse, or second “sober” thoughts, or “the boss” thought it was too much money, or it took up too much space in the apartment, or my two year old couldn’t really skate on it….anyway – we take it back. So there you have it. We have sent out literally hundreds of FREE TRIALS and 3 came back. So the smart money goes to the smart consumer who reduces their risk by taking advantage of a FREE TRIAL of SmartRink synthetic ice sheets. Even if you don’t want to work with SmartRink, at least challenge the other suppliers to offer a free trial as well. Read about our synthetic ice research to help you with your decision.