The players of the NHL are the greatest hockey players in the world. Their fat contracts should be enough proof of that. However, being the greatest of your kind in the world doesn’t seem to mean you’re guaranteed top-notch working conditions. In a lot of NHL-arenas, the quality of the ice is far from good. Sometimes the ice can become so weak that the risk of players injuring themselves is several times bigger than normal. Even the quality of the game itself can suffer from bad ice conditions.

Many of the leagues greatest players keep complaining about this phenomenon. Philadelphia’s Eric Lindros is maybe the one that has been complaining the most. According to him, it’s strange that the clubs invest 200-300 million dollars in high-standard, luxury arenas, but it would be nice if the ice had the same standard as the fancy dressrooms. Lindros also says that the game would be much faster and harder if they just could give it all in a match, which the bad ice quality now prevents them from doing. Other star players stick to the same. Anaheim’s Teemu Selänne claims that this is one of the league’s major problems. Steve Yzerman, Detroit, means that if you want to raise the standard of the NHL hockey games, you have to begin with improving ice quality.

New York’s Madison Square Garden is said to be the arena with the worst ice quality. There the ice gets so weak in the end of the periods that it’s almost impossible to pass thoroughly. The ice surface becomes rough and soft. Other arenas with bad ice quality are Reunion Arena in Dallas, Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim and Staples Centre in Los Angeles. On the other hand, among the arenas with the best quality of ice are Skyreach Center in Edmonton (the cold and dry air keeps the ice in good condition - the best ice in the whole league), Joe Louis Arena in Detroit and Canadian Airlines Saddledome in Calgary.

The reasons to the bad quality of ice are many. For instance, New York’s Madison Square Garden is used for too many other events than hockey (basketball, boxing, tennis, conserts). These other events need a particular temporary floor on top of the ice, which of course only harms the ice underneath. Another reason are the "smoke-shows" during which the players are introduced. Even 30 seconds of smoke in the arena can ruin the whole ice. The smoke creates moisture in the air, which at least doesn’t improve the ice =). What kind of water you use to make the ice also plays an important role. Cleaner water makes better ice, and because there’s cleaner water outside than in the bigger cities, it’s often the smaller cities that has got better ice qualities in their arenas. Therefore, it’s logical that big towns like LA, Dallas, Detroit and New York suffers from problems like this.