A small town in Northeastern Alberta, Canada has opened the first full sized rink with a synthetic surface. How is it supposed to be called ICE hockey, without the ice?! However, it sounds so cool that I couldn't help but be intrigued. A rink with real ice is extremely expensive, not only to make but also to maintain.
The community of Fort Chipewyan before the rink opened only had a three month long hockey season because of weather conditions. And it was only accessible by a 100 mile road made of ice, and during the summer, by boat. And the price of flooding a rink and freezing it, proved to be too pricey for the town.
I love ice skating, and although I was initially skeptical about the idea of a synthetic surface, after reading the article, it almost sounds beneficial to players. The article says that if proper mechanics aren't practiced, it is nearly impossible to skate. So if parents want their children to learn to skate well, and correctly, this would be a great way to get them started.
Something that I thought was really awesome is that real skates can be used on the synthetic surface. And it saves time during clean-up because instead of having to zamboni, all that needs to be done is vacuuming. But something that isn't helpful is that skates need to be sharpened more often, which can get a little pricey.
I really liked this article because it was extremely informative and there were a lot of quotes. The lead also grabbed me which, of course, is a must in journalism.
Another thing that I find very interesting about the information in this article is that through the quotes and content, it was made clear that it's a little bit more tiring to skate on. And I think that if teams were to use synthetic surfaces during practices, the teams would be a lot more fit, bringing more agility, speed and strength to the game.
But I would only want to see these surfaces in practice. To me, hockey just would not be hockey without the ice. I don't even like roller hockey. It would also slow down the game and make it less exciting because the synthetic surface isn't as fluid (pardon the pun) as real ice.
Although the article was in the sports section, this to me is more of a news article, because of the content. The content was mostly covering the advances made by Fort Chipewyan and the pros and cons of the synthetic surfaces. And not so much the sport itself.
Overall, I though this was a great article that flowed well and was extremely informative. It grabs you with the first sentence and keeps you interested throughout and also contains quotes from NHL players, coaches and businessmen involved with the synthetic surface industry. I really loved this article. Take a look!
"Who Needs Ice? Synthetic Surface Extends Season" Brett Zarda- The New York Times
You are so passionate about the sport.
ReplyDeleteI've been skimming through articles from classmates and when I started to read yours I thought, "Meh. Sports article. Might as well have a look, though..." But this was actually very interesting to me. I appreciate you sharing it and I think it's a good example of hoe good journalism can even draw in people who don't usually like the topic the piece is about.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty interesting, the polymers they are working with are cutting edge, and who knew that they'd be used for a ice rink?
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