Yep. Again With The Bad Ice.

1)" If it was an issue, the media would write something about it." Is Ted serious? So the media’s coverage on an issue is the determining factor to decide if a problem is real or not?
2) yes, it will likely take a major injury to Ovechkin to get anyone to do something to addreess this issue.

Once upon a time the Leafs had amazing ice. Now the ACC is in the top three most used facilities in North America and the ice is terrible.

Opposing players, the Leafs, the media, the fans, everyone complains about it but nothing is done because what option is there? Not using the facility as much?

The league should definitely step in and start doing some quality control.

Also, should you be badmouthing one of our investors? ;)

In a related story, the Caps don’t have a salary cap issue/problem because “The Media” isn’t writing about it.

Incidentally, I’m glad you’ve written about this. Anyone who has attended a Caps game at VC this year has noticed how intensely the ice quality has impacted the quality of play. Some nights it’s been barely watchable. I want to see world-class athletes play on a surface that enables their talents to shine through, not watch them play in a slush pit.

And, uh, Ted… you can see the ruts from the upper deck. I mean, c’mon.

Considering the roster that will take that ice sheet tonight, the Caps have somewhere in the neighborhood of $170 million committed in contracts to those players, about half of it to Alex Ovechkin, through the 2015-16 season. It’s like investing in a Lamborghini and fitting it with worn out brakes….oh, they’ll hold up. I can still remember in the latter stages of last season when the ice looked like the latticework of cracks you would see in a windshield that had a boulder dropped on it.

i will repeat what i said yesterday, until the cards are all on the table, this isn’t worth bitching about. what is the VC ice grade on a moth by month basis? what is the mean ice grade around the league? why are only refs evaluating the ice and not the teams? and finally – what was the ice graded on the nights in question by misters clark and morrissonn? i definitely recognize the importance of the ice, but until we have all the information, it’s just masturbation.

and failed miserably in the tricycle race (I still blame the under inflated tire) I can confirm the slushiness of the ice. Maybe it was a bad night, and it usually isn’t that bad. I don’t know. Am I an expert? Not at all, but what I saw was sloppier than the ice I skate on at the Laurel Ice Gardens.

There is no truth to the rumour that the Caps have hired a new spokesman named Bob.

Put a moustache on that man, and it’s Dennis Ververgeart…….

Guess who won’t be invited to spend an evening dining on shrimp and pate? Seriously, anyone with at least one good eye can see that the ice at VC is only a couple of steps above the C&O Canal in January. Ted’s a great owner, but he does have a very thin skin at times. Maybe he’s in a bad mmod because he had his money invested with Bernie Madoff.

My favorite part about this whole thing is that you went from writing ONE SENTENCE about the ice all the way at the end of the article. Ted saw it, commented, and basically forced you to write AN ENTIRE PAGE on the issue. Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill. (The debate that is, not the actual problem of the ice)

Why the ice is bad at Verizon and how to solve it seems like it’s approaching the point of a doctoral thesis. Theories abound, sources well cited and solutions proposed.

I of the first one.

I want to know who knows a lot about the Metro and its ventilation system for the Chinatown stop underneath the arena.

Because perhaps they can explain to me if I’m onto something or just contributing noise.

When the weather warms, so does the heat that you feel off of the Metrocars whizzing by, hoping to get home in a nicely sardined order. Plus you have the heat of the air conditioning/heating units trying to keep the station somewhat comfortable. Mind you that you have the red, green and yellow lines there.

Since hot air rises, is there enough heat thrown off from that station rising up to the floor of the Verizon Center, thus creating an insulation of warmth underneath the ice? Surely Verizon’s arena floor isn’t hot as coals if you’d walk barefoot, but perhaps enough to affect it. Or at least is it a contributing factor combined with the heavy use of the arena and other folks’ theories?

I know there’s vents on the sidewalk for utilities and Metro, but is that enough? So, could the Metro be ventilated better onto the sidewalk or the heat produce from the station be rerouted?

I don’t know. But if someone, you know, with first-hand knowledge does, do tell.

I wrote to Ted on this same topic during the series with the f’ing flyers last year. Here was his reply:

“With all due respect—we brought in dehumidifiers—we brought in Dr ice— and we get ranked for ice after every single game by on ice officials and the refs— we are 11th in NHL; we will never be as good as Calgary or Edmonton—where it is cold and they only play hockey. And— note how much the ice got better once we started to win:-). Ted”

I grew up playing hockey in and around DC, and the ice at the Verizon Center was the worst I’ve ever seen. FAR worse than the ice in Anacostia at Fort Dupont, worse even than the outdoor rink at Wheaton, and just about everywhere else.

If I had to try to diagnose why it’s so terrible, I think it might be because it’s so incredibly thin. It seemed like there was less than an inch of ice there, possibly to make the sub-ice paint clearer for ads or something.

It was inexcusable then and still is.

And having an NBA team is no excuse. You don’t hear these problems about Boston, Colorado, Philadelphia, the Rangers, Blackhawks, Kings, etc etc