Will the use of synthetic ice change hockey?

January 20, 2011

Michael Long, fifth-year honours student, double major in economics and business administration

More effort is required to skate, and the skates wear out faster.
Oliver Love, fifth-year student, English major

If you change any variable, then you’ll get some kind of change in how the sport is played. You could compare it to indoor versus outdoor soccer.
Pohyang Lim, second-year student, business administration

I think that it is better to use synthetic ice. It means we will not waste as much water. I don’t know if it will change the sport though.
Jordan Earl, national recruiter, Genesis Marketing

I’d say that if water ice is something we can use, then it’s a better option. It’s always better to use natural substances.
Kolby Blundell, fifth-year student, double major, rhetoric/communications and sociology

Every time something changes in hockey there’s a huge effect because people are so conservative in that sport. I think that as long as the people overseeing the shift to synthetic ice are well informed then it will improve the sport, since they obviously have good intentions.
Alex Kyle, fourth-year student, politics major

Whatever effect it does have would depend on the kind of chemicals they are using in the synthesis. Perhaps it may affect the safety of the sport ... for example, what if the chemicals produce toxins and the players breathe them in?