Saying that the caps have the advantage just because it’s their home ice and they should be used to it only shows that you don’t have any experience playing hockey!

I’m up in the 400’s and I can see the puddles and have all year. We have a great thing started here again; hopefully the ice gets some attention.

I don’t care that the circus is in town, or that the Wizards had a game the night before. When a team that relies on talent and puck movement isn’t getting the job done because of the ice, why not just play Devils or Flyers hockey?

Dude, it wasn’t like he had time to take notes. And perhaps the news reports (not blogs) were wrong, but he admits the ice contributed to his injury.

Don’t let this issue die. It’s a wonder why someone like Comcast hasn’t run this story.

I don’t know if it’s something political, something out of Ted’s control or what the issue is exactly, but it’s a real one.

It should be as important to fans as the Caps tightening their defense over the Summer months.

The rut was him changing his mind, not in the ice.

Hah. So now next year when the place is only 2/3rds full again, are you guys going to be saying it’s because of the ice boycott? ***

I wish I could say my boycott would be noticed. I live too far away to attend but one game… A DECADE now.

What I’m saying is that the NHL is such a clownishly run organization it doesn’t surprise me that the ice is allowed to be so treacherous to the point of effecting game 7’s AND players careers. Notice the NFL and NCAA got rid of astroturf, why can’t the NHL mandate a proper ice surface?

But, instead the NHL is too busy worrying about octopi in Detroit. Why do I even bother is beyond me. But each year, with the utmost excitement I’ll spend two solid months watching the playoffs, even with teams like Calgary and Tampa playing. I’m a true sucker.

Well sir, that is a trick question, playing on a better sheet will result in less injuries, so no they won’t get hurt

Seriously though, you could make that argument in any sport. Would the Redskins execute a play differently on their practice field than at FedEx field?

You will probably never be able to always execute a set play the way its designed every time due to a lot of other factors, such as ice conditions, the opponent, how they are playing defense, etc. However, you can apply the same basic patterns, knowledge, and positioning on any field and use that to your advantage.

The ice surface/condition would affect how well you could execute a play certainly, but that would be true for both teams, not just the Caps. The only differences that I could see would be how the puck plays off the glass/boards. There may be funny angles or different caroms the puck takes and you could use this to your own advantage in the VC as opposed to Kettler where they practice.

I wonder how much worse this ice was from the ‘decent’ stuff of February and March. Its been the worst surface in the league all season. I saw the pools, and the frantic technicians, but we’ve seen that sort of thing all year.

http://www.fannation.com/tags/show_tag/4876

“Knuble, who scored the winner in double overtime of Game 4, appeared to catch his skate in a rut while attempting to block a shot late in the second period. He had 29 goals and 26 assists during the regular season, and two goals and three assists against the Capitals.”

It was also pretty clear on replays on the original broadcast.

1: http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=234697&lid=sublink02&lpos=topRelated_main

3: That’s true; however, if a member of the opposing team says a certain factor helped contribute to their win, that factor needs to be taken away from them.

Hah. So now next year when the place is only 2/3rds full again, are you guys going to be saying it’s because of the ice boycott?

Blame Abe for allowing the Circus to come to town during the final weeks of the season.

Blaming Abe for trying to ruin the Caps is a bit of a stretch.

Blaming Abe for not holding up his end of the deal in providing a TOP NOTCH STATE OF THE ART MULTI-USE VENUE IS VALID.

Why would Chris Clark, Briere, and Semin ALL say the stuff about the ice if the ice had no effect on the game, and not just game 7 either, but all Caps games? This is insane.
I feel like boycotting until this gets fixed. How many Caps fans knew they were shelling out good money to see a professionals play on a high school rink?

OFB, please keep the pressure on. This IS a travesty.

I used to be an ‘ice technician’ and drove an Olympia previously at a rink. IMO the ice staff here in DC is dumping too much water during the resurfacing. I have noticed this problem not just during the playoffs, but all year long. The staff is squeegeeing excess water waaay too much as was pointed out.

Ideally during games, you want to do more of a cold cut with more cold water than warm at half to quarter open and drop the blade a notch lower to cut more ice off. This achieves two goals, first it eliminates the depth of the ruts and secondly it doesn’t heat up the surface of the ice too much during game time. After the game is over, then you lay down a lot of hot water to fill in all the ruts and build up the height of the surface to allow for what you scraped off during game time.

I’m not sure what the problem is or where to start, but these are my ideas. It could be due to the equipment, or it could be due to how the staff has decided to care for the ice sheet. If it’s the equipment & ice refrigerant system the coils under the ice may not be doing their job very well, or the ambient air temp of the building way too warm. If it’s the staff they may want to reconsider different ways to resurface the ice before next season, with different Olympia settings such as blade height, cold/hot water mix, and how far open/closed each is.

1. Show me any media report that says Knuble hit a rut. I did not see this and it is wrong for you you to speculate. He said he was trying to pull up from a slide and things went wrong. Was Gordon injury ice related? Who knows.

2. Philly has the Spectrum, which hosted the circus last week, so Wachovia does host less events. Just saying.

3. You don’t know if the Caps would have won on good ice. The ice could have been Calgary-caliber and they still could have lost.

4. The Boston analogy, albeit understood, is a poor one. It it not comparable, which has already been pointed out.