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Canada is a hockey nation. The U.S.A. is certainly becoming one. This game is our culture. As long as I can remember my kids have played hockey. As the typical hockey dad I was very involved in minor hockey, and even to this day still love going to the rink to watch my kids play. Throughout this time I have seen hockey change dramatically. It has become a year round sport with spring leagues, summer camps, personal trainers, sport specific equipment, and even synthetic ice to train on at home year round.
People have all sorts of opinions around synthetic ice. Certainly there are those who really like it and cannot get enough of it. Still there are those who will hate it, can't skate on it and will never want to try it again. Admittedly it can be difficult for one to get their head around skating on plastic - in particular for both adults and skating purists. The questions are endless. "Do you use regular skates"? "Can you stop on it?" "Is it close to real ice?" "What is the maintenance?" "How do you compare company X with Company Y?" "What makes your product better?" 'Why is yours so expensive?" "Why is yours so cheap?" And on and on it goes. The debate will go on. I can tell you this much. My two children grew up training at home on synthetic ice and they are two of the nicest, strongest skaters you will ever see. So yes I'm biased, but it certainly helped my kids and they love it.
In the mind of the consumer, no matter what brand you buy, none of it is "cheap". You are taking your hard earned money and putting it toward your kids skating future - it doesn't matter if they are figure skaters, sledge hockey players, or ringette players. You are likely going to drop thousands of dollars whether you buy the very best product or the very worst. Frankly, it is worthwhile to do some research and understand a few things that will make or break the purchase and user experience. Hey its fine to buy a cheaper product or conversely the most expensive one so long as it meets your particular application and expectation.
Based on survey research we've completed, one of the major reasons people hesitate or simply don't buy the product is because they simply cannot get what they feel is credible information from the supplier. For example when a consumer asks "why should I buy from you verses your competitor?" and the answer is "well I've been in the industry for 30 years". Well that's not really an answer is it? Think about it. GM has been in the car business for a long time too, but that didn't stop them from filing for bankruptcy and needing to completely overhaul the company. Its just one barometer, not the only one.
The consumer expects good information. The problem is that they may not always know what good information is. They don't know what they don't know. So what do they do? They will often default to price. One thing the consumer does understand is price, and that is something easily compared. The concern with that is the consumer may never get the product quality and skating experience that they expect. So what's a consumer to do?
Well let's think this through logically. The buyer should know that they will almost never get the best product for the lowest price. Then there is the low end of the market when we are discussing price and material qaulity? And for the lowest price what would they get? At worst you can stand on your skates and shoot a puck and stickhandle. At best they will get a product that can be skated on and might actually be pretty well suited for the small home rink. Here again, consumers need to be realistic and manage their own expectations. Meanwhile the sellers of product have to do so with integrity and reliable information that is backed up by fact...not just ego and opinions. There is a market at the low end of the product scale. The reality is however that these products will never be the best nor should they ever be marketed as such. That would just be irresponsible. The likely price range for this category will be between $6.00 and $8.00 per square foot - and frankly there will be a significant difference even between $6 and $8 per square foot product, so just use this as a guide.
The next level - for simplicity - for simplicity sake just call this one the mid-level performer and it will likely be the most common type of product available in the market. Here we are talking about typically massed produced sheet material such as HMWPe (High Molecular Weight Pe) and HDPe (High Density Pe) that is simply machined into a suitable panel and can be used for skating. The results will vary widely of course because there are a wide range of product materials within these categories. There are also differences in how the materials are made from injection molded and extrusion on the lower to mid-range of this category to sinter pressed material on the higher end of this category. We can debate the differences and it would be a lengthy debate - and it is here where you start to lose the consumer with technical talk about molecular weight and coefficient of friction etc.. The key thing for the consumer to know here is to buy a mid grade product you want to have a 500,000 molecular weight specification. If you just do that one thing then your skate experience will be a good one for the long term. Expect to pay between $9.00 and $12.00 per square foot. This will be the majority of sales to home rink buyers who just want a good product to skate on for their kids at home, and in all likelihood they will become satisfied consumers. Once again however, don't assume that a $9.00 product material is the same as a $12.00 product. One might be extruded, one might be sinter pressed so the durability,quality and skating perofrmance can still vary widely. If you want to really separate the quality material from something that might be "suspect" then ask to see a copy of their certificate of material authenticity. Companies with ridged quality systems in place understand this. Companies that say they are the best but can not produce such a document will quickly fade from the conversation. I'm always suspicious of that.
Now, onward and upward. The last category of product to consider is the high end products. There really may only be three or four products truly worthy of being in this category - sorry for the sellers, manufacturers and distributors that think theirs is the only product worth talking about in the marketplace - but it just ain't so. If a homeowner is planning on a 200 square foot rink then they really should not worry about buying a product with the best glide. Save your money and go with low or medium end product as already described. You can't truly appreciate a better skating product if the surface is so small you will never get to full stride. On the other hand larger home rinks like 1000 square feet and up or certainly commercially operated synthetic ice surfaces really need to pay attention to only this category. When your business income is dependant on the quality of the skating and long term product durability then you really need not bother considering anything but a product within this category! In this category there are essentially two types of material. One is classified as VHMWPe (Very High Molecular Weight Pe) and the other is UHMWPe (Ultra High Molecular Weight Pe). Products within this category are typically sinter pressed simply because it the only reliable manufacturing process when the molecular weight is so high. As a buyer, if you are unsure of what you are getting simply ask the seller for the material specification sheet, and also ask to see the manufacturing quality certificate, such as ISO 14001 or ISO 9000 or similar. This will at least ensure you are most likely getting what you should be getting in terms of consistent high quality material within these classifications. The debate can continue about the superior skating material for the long term but these are the most expensive materials and you can expect to pay between $18.00 and $24.00 per square foot for these materials. Even in the high end category prices can vary. The material will be different but so will the joint connection system. There are at least five vastly different, but effective in their own way, systems out there. It is important that the joint connection system is based on the proper understanding of the project application. Suffice to say, there is no one synthetic ice panel connection system that is the best at every application - so just ignore those companies that make this claim.
So there you have it. Three categories of product somewhat simplified as a way for buyers to better understand what they are getting into. Hopefully this can help you at least zone in on one of these categories to help make better, more informed decisions and set buyer expectations. It might be worthwhile to find and talk to companies that actually sell all three categories; at least then all your information can come from one (hopefully) reliable source.
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