ECAC Playoffs

[Jim Hyla]

To be fair, there are some slum-ish places in Albany as well.
Its just a lot harder to find them there than it is in AC.

I lived there and trust me, they aint that hard to find.

AC was a much better venue than I expected.  I don't mind it at all, and frankly "I don't mind it" has been my reaction to every ECAC site except Lake Placid, which was ideal.

On that last point, you and I will disagree.

Pointless to argue matters of taste.  We'll agree you're a Philistine and leave it at that.  

So, who was arguing?::bolt::

[Roy 82]

The warmer the ice, the slipperier the surface (right, people who stayed awake in physics?) but that probably also meant more ice shavings that slowed the puck down in real life, but regardless there's always a lot of ice shavings around the cage.

Only up to a point, Bill. Agreed, small amount of water in just the right temp range makes it slipperier but a larger amount that accumulates when it's warmer impedes the forward motion of the puck and you get the dead stops mentioned by other posters.  Thank God the crowd was so small - all those 98.6 degree heat generators would really  mess up the ice.**]

As somebody who actually plays hockey, I can tell you that the colder the ice, the faster the puck and the skaters both move. In the case of the puck, colder means harder rubber, which means it skids across the dry surface without bouncing and does not succumb to friction from water surface tension. In the case of skaters, colder ice means the blades don't sink in as far, so it requires less effort to glide.

Edit: this was intended as a reply to Bill, not you, Tim.

Yes, the weight of the skater causes a high pressure on the ice surface and a solid to liquid transition that allows a skater to skate.  Cold ice surfaces are fast and warm ice surfaces are slushy and slow.  Extremely cold ice (e.g. -40 C) is not good for skating, but rinks are not kept that cold.  

Unfortunately, the ice temperature doesn't seem to be helping Cornell tonight.

Although the reason why ice is slippery is still a matter of some debate, the explanation based on the pressure from the blade causing a solid to liquid transition is generally not considered to be correct.

It's the off season and time to offer some serious thread drift.

[BigRedHockeyFan]

Yes, the weight of the skater causes a high pressure on the ice surface and a solid to liquid transition that allows a skater to skate.  Cold ice surfaces are fast and warm ice surfaces are slushy and slow.  Extremely cold ice (e.g. -40 C) is not good for skating, but rinks are not kept that cold.  

Unfortunately, the ice temperature doesn't seem to be helping Cornell tonight.

Although the reason why ice is slippery is still a matter of some debate, the explanation based on the pressure from the blade causing a solid to liquid transition is generally not considered to be correct.

I stand corrected.

New views on the physics of ice skating:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/hockey/ice2.html

[jtwcornell91]

The warmer the ice, the slipperier the surface (right, people who stayed awake in physics?) but that probably also meant more ice shavings that slowed the puck down in real life, but regardless there's always a lot of ice shavings around the cage.

Only up to a point, Bill. Agreed, small amount of water in just the right temp range makes it slipperier but a larger amount that accumulates when it's warmer impedes the forward motion of the puck and you get the dead stops mentioned by other posters.  Thank God the crowd was so small - all those 98.6 degree heat generators would really  mess up the ice.**]

As somebody who actually plays hockey, I can tell you that the colder the ice, the faster the puck and the skaters both move. In the case of the puck, colder means harder rubber, which means it skids across the dry surface without bouncing and does not succumb to friction from water surface tension. In the case of skaters, colder ice means the blades don't sink in as far, so it requires less effort to glide.

Edit: this was intended as a reply to Bill, not you, Tim.

Yes, the weight of the skater causes a high pressure on the ice surface and a solid to liquid transition that allows a skater to skate.  Cold ice surfaces are fast and warm ice surfaces are slushy and slow.  Extremely cold ice (e.g. -40 C) is not good for skating, but rinks are not kept that cold.  

Unfortunately, the ice temperature doesn't seem to be helping Cornell tonight.

Although the reason why ice is slippery is still a matter of some debate, the explanation based on the pressure from the blade causing a solid to liquid transition is generally not considered to be correct.

It's the off season and time to offer some serious thread drift.

I was meaning to chime in about that.  When I taught Thermal Physics, I gave my students a homework problem to calculate the change in the melting point of ice due to the pressure from a skate, and it's a small fraction of a degree.

[RatushnyFan]

So how come those blades that heat up never took off (ThermaBlade)?  The extra weight offset the advantage from the heat? Not per this article:  ThermaBlade

A failure in marketing?

[Edit: Nope, not with the Great One behind.  Turns out the blades suck. Even if the sample size was small......  Try Again]

[Edit 2:  A more balanced article from ESPN.  Interesting story about a passionate entrepreneur.  ESPN - Thermablade]

[billhoward]

True fact: Lord Stanley of Preston never once saw a Stanley Cup championship game, nor did he ever present the Cup that bears his name.

http://www.ecachockey.com/men/2010-11/News/20111903_Whitelaw_Returns

Nor did he ever pee in it when drunk. That's probably a few times since it was first hoisted.