Sabres get NHL’s attention with blue ice (Globe & Mail login: fritopie, password: fritopie)
Sabres experiment with blue ice surface
Icy hot? Light shade of blue impressive
Since the dawn of (hockey) time, hockey has been played on a white ice surface. Blue lines are (surprise!) blue, and the red is, in fact, red. Now that the NHL season has been sacrificed on the altar of greed, avarice, and testosterone poisoning, the Lords of the Game are trying to figure out what they can do to draw the fans back if and when the NHL once again opens for business.
There is nothing sacred about the color of the ice surface, of course…if you’re willing to ignore hockey tradition. Hey, if Boise State can play football on a blue field, if the old XFL can use a black football, if golfers can use orange or yellow balls…well, truly, no tradition may be safe.
So, what’s next? Are we going to see the Fab Five from Queer Eye redesigning NHL uniforms? Will players be going through pre-season training with the World Boxing Federation?
Buffalo- Things may look quite different once the NHL opens its doors for business some time next season, and a new ice-surface colour could be one of the most eye-catching changes.
The Buffalo Sabres debuted a new, light-blue ice surface Sunday as their farm team, the Rochester Americans, hosted the Cleveland Barons in an American Hockey League game.
“When you start out, you have to sit and watch the subtle differences, but then you tune it out and all of a sudden a hockey game sneaks up on you,” said Rochester goaltender Ryan Miller, describing his first game on the blue-hued surface. “I think if the fans like it, then we have to start catering to them.”
The blue ice is part of an experiment that was approved by both the NHL and AHL after officials discussed changing the ice colour from white to enhance how the game is viewed by both live and television audiences.
Though no NHL executives were in attendance, the league will be receiving a video copy of the game. What they’ll be seeing is quite different from what they’re used to.
The traditional blue line was a bright, almost fluorescent orange, and the centre red line was dark blue instead. The orange colour was also used for all the face-off circles and dots, while the goal lines remained their traditional red.
Still, players weren’t phased all that much by the new, colourful surroundings.
“I didn’t notice it too much from a player’s standpoint,” Rochester defenceman Rory Fitzpatrick said. “It was hardly noticeable at all.”
But from afar there was a distinct difference, as the black puck seemed to stand out well on its powder-blue backdrop, especially when it slid along the orange “blue” lines.
Granted, the NHL has some HUGE fences to mend. Being that it is the first major North American sports league to lose an entire season to a work stoppage, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA President Bob Goodenow have a major reclamation project ahead of them. Cosmetic changes will qualify as little more than tinkering around the margins. It’s going to take a lot more than blue ice to bring back the casual fan.
Those of us who are life-long committed hockey fans would likely come back if the NHL game was played on a surface made of frozen daiquiris (watch out for those pineapple wedges, though….). It’s going to be interesting to see what November of this year will bring. Will the NHL return? Will the players? Will we be stuck with replacement players? What will the game look like?
Too many questions. Too few answers….
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