Bad Ice/ Good Ice

[kosydar 0]

Best Ice- Forget the name of it, but its the arena where the Tri-Cities Americans play. Good ice, and most importantly, good locker rooms. For me, if the rink has shitty locker rooms, the ice could be great but I'd still hate it.

Worst- the now defunct Clackamas Mall Ice Arena. Obviously inside of a mall, its where Tonya Harding learned to skate.

[Eagles39 0]

Bomba, I second you, the Pavillion is terrible since they started playing football on it. On a sidenote the worst NHL ice I have skated is Madison Square Garden.

[biff44 0]

And why is it ok to resurface dry with a failed compressor, but not ok if the compressor is working? I still say, if it has been 25 minutes since the zamboni doors have closed and there is still slush in the corners, a dry cut makes a lot of sense the next time around.

[BoMbA17 0]

Has anyone ever played at the worlds fair rink in flushing? the ice is ok but the rink is a square. You can dump the puck from your own blueline and not be called for icing. I play all of my league high school games there.

[Guest 2048]

Has anyone ever played at the worlds fair rink in flushing? the ice is ok but the rink is a square. You can dump the puck from your own blueline and not be called for icing. I play all of my league high school games there.

I used to skate there all the time and went to a clinic there when i was really young (10 or so, I think). The rink is so amazingly small, I can't believe that they actually make people play high school league games there. Though the alternatives are chelsea piers (expensive) and abe stark (far/sketchy...).

[steve66 45]

With all of the good ice mentioned on here i'm interested to see what goes into making the better ice surfaces. Do any of you know the specifics i.e. what type of water(hard or soft), any other minerals or chemicals in the freezing agent...?

[thejackal 46]

It has to be cold enough. 1 reason why my summer rink sucks ass is because the ice temp is a bit higher since there is also figure skating going on there.

[MDE3 0]

Anyone observe the difference in the ice between a sand floor and a concrete floor?

Some of the sand based floors had problems with losing the subfloor contour over time...where the ice then slopes inwards from the boards to the middle...have seen this happen at two or three sand floor facilities.

[Chadd 916]

I haven't seen that here. In the one rink they have one of each and while the ice sucks at times I haven't seen the base shift yet.

[BoMbA17 0]

Has anyone ever played at the worlds fair rink in flushing? the ice is ok but the rink is a square. You can dump the puck from your own blueline and not be called for icing. I play all of my league high school games there.

I used to skate there all the time and went to a clinic there when i was really young (10 or so, I think). The rink is so amazingly small, I can't believe that they actually make people play high school league games there. Though the alternatives are chelsea piers (expensive) and abe stark (far/sketchy...).

Varsity gets to play their games at abe stark.....why they dont let jv play their i dont know.....well anyway i dont care ill be playing varsity next year :)

[Northy 0]

The worst ice in the world has to be in Grimsby. I swear its about not even 1/2 the length of a normal sized rink.

And the Zamboni looks like its a converted ride on mower!!!!!!!!

[BackhandTopShelf 0]

I agree with earlier posts...Korpi Rink at Bayonne HS has incredible ice. I also agree that the ice at MSG is awful, I was amazed. Chelsea Piers has pretty good ice on most nights.

[freq019 0]

I'll second JR's recommendation of cabin john, MD. I work down the street and go to public sessions and stick time there. The ice and the facility are really nice. Wheaton is as nice but not as big and they only have one sheet but its a good sheet. Reston is nice as well, but I've only been there once so I can't really say if its best or not. Worst ice in DC has to be at Fairfax, but it's also one of the better run leagues so what can you do?

[Crazy Otto 0]

I've also skated a couple times at Cabin John. That's home ice for my daughter's U-19 team, the Washington Pride.

Like Chadd I really like the Hersheypark Arena, hope they don't tear it down. Fast ice, lively boards, makes for a great game. Plus it's an old barn and just says "old time hockey" to me.

[Sid 3]

Best Ice Maple leaf Gardens. It was really weird the ice was soft but very fast.

Sid.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

I'm lucky enough to have 13 rinks in my city, Hamilton. But if you take the new city of Hamilton, there's even more, all within 20 minutes of me. We just had a quad pad made, which has probably the best ice right now. But then there's inch park, my second favourite, Copps, which I've only played on once, barton double rinks has the quickest ice, but the crappiest arena, then there's 8 more or whatever which all have respectable ice(except scott park is really small). Also, to back up radiogaga on his comment, market street arena is nice, I had tryouts there recently. Even though we get lots of ice time, our teams usually suck(our AAA teams atleast)! DON"T MOVE TO HAMILTON. ;)

[hockeypunk3 0]

Best ice ive ever been on is hands down Rexall Place/Skyreach Center.

The best ice i play on regularily is Clairview.

[hockechamp14 0]

Some of the best/worst ice surfaces I've played on in my memory:

Worst Ice Surfaces:

Last summer at ISCC in Simsbury, CT the humidity was so bad, the ice didn't freeze all the way, the pucks could barely move and it was skating on slush!

January 2004 at my school, our new zamboni driver (Canned now!) broke the zam. They didn't run it for 3/4 practices before our night game.

Newington, CT has a pretty crappy ice surface

When I played on the hartford civic center, that ice was pretty awful

Simsbury farms, an outdoor rink, just brutal

Greenwhich, CT skating club ice, it feels like skating on plastic

Good Ice:

I love my rink (AOF), I've been skating on it for 10+ years

Cushing has some good ice

Westminster normally has pretty good ice

Clifton Park or Troy New York, had a tourney there a couple years back, some nice ice

Syracuse, NY, had another tourney there, with the Star's youth hockey team. Loved that ice.

[ladystorm3 0]

i hate the ice at my local rink (lexington ice center)

i also went to a sk8 and shot at a rink in illinois and the rink was rippled!

i allso hate the rink in owensboro ky, its literally a big barn with crap ice.

i have skated on 2 good rinks--

louisville ice arena

seven bridges ice arena

[stickler012 0]

Worst ice- Moorestown, out in the boonies near Bluewater Sharks

Best Ice- JLA and Great Lakes Sports Center (Superior Arena)

[this guy 0]

Best ice I ever skated on was Shattuck St. Mary's (very fast and in an old barn).

[QandA 0]

WHen I play, I don't notice I'm good on ice, I only know when it's bad ice. Our arena is over floweds with water so at the beginning of periods the puck sticks and it's a bitch.

[LkptTiger 1]

When you say "Bad Ice" there are alot of places that come to mind. Hyde Park in Niagara Falls. Holiday in Cheektowaga. Leisure in West Seneca. The old rink in Jamestown. Brighton in North Tonawanda. It's hit or miss around here, but the absolute worst I have ever skated on would probably have been in a tournament in the Detroit area. I don't remember the name of the rink, but I do remeber feeling as though I had to lift my knees to my chin every stride in order to keep from sinking in to the bottoms of my holders.

Best ice around here would probably have to be Depew. The rink doesn't look too great, and it's about 20 degrees below zero in there during the winter, but the ice is hard and fast and doesn't get beat up too easily. It's a shitty rink, but I always kinda look forward to playing there a few times each season. There are a few in the Fort Erie, Ontario area that aren't too bad either.

[peterhockey 0]

most of the prep school outdoor rinks have awesome ice its just damn cold in the winter

[hockechamp14 0]

most of the prep school outdoor rinks have awesome ice its just damn cold in the winter

Most of the prep schools have enclosed thier stuff. I think the gunnery is the only one local to connecticut that is still outdoor.