NHL Skate Hollows: Great Info

[DarkStar50 679]

The current issue of Hockey Business News has a great 2 page ad for Blademaster. The ad is written by Barrie Stafford, equipment manager for the Edmonton Oilers. He gives a ton of info on sharpening. The gem in the article comes at the end when he lists player hollow breakdowns for the Oilers and the Canadian Olympic Team. Check these stats

Oilers / Team Canada

3/8" - 3 players / 2 players

1/2" - 9 / 12

5/8" - 1 / 1

3/4" - 3 / 3

7/8" - 5 / 5

1" - 1 / 1

He states these players hollows:

Messier 1"

Laraque 1"

Pronger 7/8"

Sakic 5/8"

Iginla 1/2"

On game day 12-14 players always have their skates done on the Oilers.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Good find.

Also keep in mind it's Edmonton - generally recognized for having the hardest, fastest ice in the league. That's why I think you see mostly 1/2" hollows. Do the same thing in FL and you'll see more 5/8 and 3/4"s.

[killthepoodle 0]

I've been experimenting with my hollows here in FL and have found myself going back to 1/2".......from 3/8th's most recently. Again I am 215lbs and 6'. I seem to recall when livign in Tampa I was going 3/8th consistently.......

[Reaper 0]

Good find.

Also keep in mind it's Edmonton - generally recognized for having the hardest, fastest ice in the league. That's why I think you see mostly 1/2" hollows. Do the same thing in FL and you'll see more 5/8 and 3/4"s.

Actually, it was reported on TSN that the Oilers currently rank 26th when it comes to ice quality in the NHL. The ranking was from a player survey conducted by the NHL. I guess the ice quality went downhill after Edmonton's ice guru left to become the league's ice guru where he supervises the ice of all NHL arenas.

[Fletch 219]

How would you guys describe a 7/16 cut? That cut seems to feel the best to me lately...

[Project_2501 0]

Between 1/2" and 3/8".

[ryno 0]

Good find.

Also keep in mind it's Edmonton - generally recognized for having the hardest, fastest ice in the league.  That's why I think you see mostly 1/2" hollows.  Do the same thing in FL and you'll see more 5/8 and 3/4"s.

Actually, it was reported on TSN that the Oilers currently rank 26th when it comes to ice quality in the NHL. The ranking was from a player survey conducted by the NHL. I guess the ice quality went downhill after Edmonton's ice guru left to become the league's ice guru where he supervises the ice of all NHL arenas.

That's odd, I was watching the Flyers game last night and they were talking about Detroit and Montreal being tied for first, and Philadelphia and Edmonton tied for second according to those surveys.

[Reaper 0]

Perhaps there was another survey done at the halfway point and Edmonton has regained some of their old form. It was within the first 10 games of the season that I recall hearing the report on TSN.

[tuzzifan44 0]

I wonder what Bertuzzi's cut is?

[seanmccann 3]

Good find.

Also keep in mind it's Edmonton - generally recognized for having the hardest, fastest ice in the league.  That's why I think you see mostly 1/2" hollows.  Do the same thing in FL and you'll see more 5/8 and 3/4"s.

Actually, it was reported on TSN that the Oilers currently rank 26th when it comes to ice quality in the NHL. The ranking was from a player survey conducted by the NHL. I guess the ice quality went downhill after Edmonton's ice guru left to become the league's ice guru where he supervises the ice of all NHL arenas.

I do not agree with that at all. Just with the southern US teams there are more than 4 teams with worse ice. Rexall Place has great ice everytime I have been there. I also saw an interview with some players from other teams where they say that the ice was the best ever.

[DarkStar50 679]

Pat Dapuzzo tells me Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver sheets are always fastest in the league.

[Reaper 0]

Pat Dapuzzo tells me Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver sheets are always fastest in the league.

Wierd. Calgary has had terrible ice this season.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Cold conditions and little changeover is the reason why their ice is harder than the other teams.

[Dougie8 0]

I'm kind of confused right now. I'm skating on 1/2" right now, our ice is right in the middle of soft and hard, I feel comfertable with it. but if I wanted to go just a little bit flatter(shallower?) or a little bit deeper, what would I get?

Thanks ahead

doug

[hitz14 0]

17/32 or 9/16, they are both small increments below 1/2

[Overtime 0]

Stupid question but what is the difference between and hollow and Radius.

And is hard or soft ice better.

Thanks :P

[XeF4 0]

hard ice is faster.

[jimmy 194]

Stupid question but what is the difference between and hollow and Radius.

And is hard or soft ice better.

Thanks :P

Not a stupid question, often confused. Actually there are two radius on skates, radius of hollow (ROH), and rocker radius. The ROH is what you get for your regular sharpening, also called the grove, cut, etc. It is measured in inches, e.g. 1/2" radius of hollow. Rocker radius is the shape fo your skates rocker, think of a rocking chair. They are measured in feet.

[Overtime 0]

In other words skate faster and shoot Harder rite?

Thanks again

[XeF4 0]

yeah, hard ice is typically on a concrete foundation, and soft ice is on sand.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

yeah, hard ice is typically on a concrete foundation, and soft ice is on sand.

Um...no...

The foundation has nothing to do with it...I have skated on really hard ice that was sand-based, and slush on concrete slabs. Temperatures and humidity are the factors. The better that you can remove heat (that's right, you aren't making it colder, you're removing heat) and reduce humidity, the better your sheet will be, regardless of the foundation.

[XeF4 0]

didn't know that but from what i've seen, what i just said holds true. Ice surfaces with sand foundations are usually in warmer rinks that are used for figure skating and ice hockey. the rinks that i've been to on concrete, have been colder and dryer places strictly for hockey.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

The difference between sand and concrete slabs is cost.

It is cheaper to have a sand-based rink.

Regardless, just because it is sand-based, doesn't mean that it will automatically be bad ice.

[DarkStar50 679]

All four rinks in my building are sand based. The coldest rink in the building is at one end while the dedicated figure rink(with softer ice) is at the other end. Our rinks are lined up next to each other. Our ice is good enough for Olympic figure skaters to train on.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

My rink does that as well. Rink 1 is the dedicated figure skating rink - much softer than rink 2 and 3. Todd Eldridge trains there as well as Olympic-level skaters.