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I'm a electrical (software) engineer and it's been a long time since my core statics and dynamics courses, so this really isn't my area of expertise, but I think what you are suggesting might not be 100% correct. The physics of a sliding object, and in particular a skate, would be very complex to model. It would be (and probably has been) a good thesis project for a mechanical engineering or physics graduate student. The general equation for sliding friction is F = uN, where u is the coefficient of friction and N is the normal (downward) force exhibited and F is the resulting frictional force. You can see that there is no component in the equation that has anything to do with the surface areas in contact. Now this equation holds true only for non-deformable objects and we all know that ice IS deformable. So as the ice becomes less accurately modeled as something that is hard and more as something that is deformable, the general equation becomes less true and the surface areas begin to come in to play. Now what would cause the ice to deform? Well the ice is able to melt at the point of blade contact due to the amount of pressure applied. The more pressure applied, the more it melts. The pressure applied IS a function of how much surface area there is in contact Think in terms of pressure in PSI, pounds per square inch, and it becomes obvious that the amount of pressure applied will be the amount you weigh divided by the surface area over which it is distributed. This means that as the surface area in contact is increased, the ice deforms less and the original equation once again becomes closer to being "correct". While this increased surface area does in fact increase the area over which you would have to calculate drag, the effect of drag becomes less and less significant. If I were going to try to push a car on ice, I would have much more success pushing a car that was sitting on a large hard flat platform than one that was sitting on four legs. That's why we put spikes on shoes for walking on ice. So the long and short of it is, you generally want to increase surface area in contact with the ice to increase glide (reduce drag). This of course decreases bite though. The current hockey skate blade width of .110 inches is what has been empirically over time settled on as the "sweet spot" in this trade off for hockey. This incidentally is why FBV works. The whole point of it is that the FBV will sink in to (deform) the ice less than a ROH will. I think what Blackstone is saying about "decreasing the flat width increases the glide", is due to the fact that as the flat is decreased in width the blade becomes less able to deform (sink into) the ice, therefore increasing the glide. As I said, not my area of expertise though... anyone with some real expertise in physics, please feel free to correct my amateurish mistakes in reasoning.

Man, I just having a tough time getting by "27" as an advanced age. Though I've skated for years, I played my first actual league game 1 year ago & am 45, so apparently near placement in senior living. Don't know who these cats are, who are telling you that being able to compete at a rookie league or D league, is going to be difficult to achieve, if not impossible. In a nutshell, they're asshats. There are variables, time spent practicing, being an athlete/athletic ability ect., but it's not exactly learning heart replacement surgery.

Sean Price Nocturnal will always been in my top 20 albums of all time.

Hockey players and referees should not have skin this thin. In the worlds of hockey lockerrooms and old friends hacking on each other is a way of life. If you can't laugh at yourself then you're missing half the fun.

That's bullshit. You're not going to end up in the NHL, you're not going to get a college scholarship, you're ineligible for Juniors, and probably not going to the Olympics. You're at or just barely past peak muscle development (not that hockey is a game of purely muscles), and yes, you are beyond the age 10-13 window of peak skill development. Beyond that, it's pretty much up to you. Not that NW Montana is a hockey hotbed, but we have 250+ adult skaters in four league divisions. The top A division is full of people who played pro, semipro, D1-D3, and Juniors. The "less skilled" guys in the division played significant HS hockey. The B+ division below that is mostly people who played through HS, smaller colleges, and generally started as kids--and a couple of very skilled women--plus a few people who started as adults and have pushed themselves really hard over the past 6-8 years. The B division below that is full of the old (55-65+) guys who used to play higher divisions, but are slowing down; and a lot of people who started 6-10 years ago as adults. C division is all people who started as adults, from never-evers who started last year like Caihlen above, to people who have played 10+ years but never progressed beyond that stage. Could you learn enough in 4-6 months to play in this lowest recreational league? Fuck yes. I started only two years ago, at 38. I push myself hard, probably 60-70 times on the ice every year, pond skating, dropins, league, helping coach kids, and running an adult beginner skills course. I hope to get the nod to play B division if not this year next year. The bottom tier beer league is FULL of people who learned as adults, and it's a blast. Don't let the naysayers keep you from playing this awesome sport. If you truly want to play, fully commit yourself and push yourself. If you get into a novice/beginner/learn to play group, don't only learn there. Go to open skate and practice the skating skills you learned in class. Watch YouTube videos. Play pond hockey (12 year olds can humble you). Watch youth hockey games. It's hard to watch the NHL and relate as a beginner adult, but if you watch a skilled 10 year-old, you can visualize yourself doing those things. If you get on a league team, be a good teammate, don't borrow shin tape, bring beer to share, don't take long shifts, laugh if you fall down, stop if you knock someone else over, be receptive and appreciative to constructive criticism, and bring beer to share.

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