The Best Seats
In The House

As much as it pains us all to say it, summer is winding down and officially will end on the 23^rd of September this year. As we roll into the fall season, sports fans begin to shift their focus from the golf-filled days of summer to the return of professional football and hockey.

The same is true for many recreational departments, facility operators and participants as they begin to ready themselves and their facilities for the upcoming hockey season. Hockey is a way of life in Canada, and has experienced tremendous growth in the United States as well, as both countries now have over 500 000 amateur participants each year respectively.

With such a large number of participants ready to take to the ice, it’s never a bad idea to check on your facility’s hockey nets and goals to make sure they are ready for the upcoming season. While checking your hockey nets, it is important to ensure there are no tears or noticeable wearing in the nylon, and to measure the inside of the netting from each knot to each diagonal knot when fully stretched. When completely stretched, the size of the mesh should be 2 ½ “. If your netting is measuring any bigger than that, it might be a good time to consider a replacement net.

Most of us have accepted it; winter is officially on its way and before we know it, the snow will start flying. With professional hockey season now underway, along with thousands of other recreational leagues across North America, arena facility operators are evaluating the condition of their hockey nets.

While most might assume it best to upgrade existing hockey goals, nets and fenders before the hockey seasons begin, sometimes that just is not possible. With so many arenas hosting hockey leagues and other events all year round, it is getting harder and harder to find a facility that actually experiences a great deal of downtime on the ice.

Whether it is a psychological cue due to the changing weather, the fact is this time of year is when we typically see an increase in requests from our ice-loving hockey and arena facility operators. This is also a time when many new builds are finally completed before the frost and newly founded arenas are in search of officially sized and professional-quality hockey goals and nets.

The 2014 Winter Olympics are fast approaching! Opening day is February 7th, and athletes and sports fans alike are counting down the days to the Sochi games. For hockey fans, the winter games bring fond memories of the the US victory over the Soviet Union during the 1980 games. A true underdog story: the game that will be forever known as the Miracle on Ice led the US national hockey team to win legendary Olympic gold that year.

The Soviet Union national hockey team had a reputation. They were the biggest and the best team of players in the world, winning nearly every Olympic gold and world championship since 1954. Everyone expected the same at the 1980 games.

The ragtag assemblage of amateur and collegiate players that comprised the United States national team supplemented their lack of experience with an abundance of spirit. But still, by the time they reached Lake Placid in 1980, it had been 20 years since team USA had last won hockey gold.

The great Bobby Hull's reputation precedes him when it comes to his legendary hockey slapshot.The NHL superstar, widely known as the "Golden Jet," raised the bar for the future of hockey during his career half a century ago. In his time on the ice, before face masks and curved sticks, his rifle of a shot was a rare and dangerous weapon. Today, a killer slapshot is a the kingpin of every hockey player's artillery.

In 2012, Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins fired a puck at 108.8 mph, the NHL's fastest recorded slapshot. The world record for the hardest shot in the game is currently held by the KHL's Alexander Ryazantsev, clocked at 113.2 mph. Legend has it that Hull's were even faster than that, his hardest estimated to have been a 119.5 mph rocket. These guys are tough acts to follow, but the newest batch of future hockey stars are training hard to compete with these epic puck speeds.