On Mon, 2 Dec 1996, Adam Wodon-Around the Rinks wrote:
 
>     For those who don't know -- Commack to Montauk is about 120 miles. - And it
> has about 1 million people.  So 1 million people were serviced by 1 rink.
>     Currently, there are 6 rinks in that radius, and it is growing.  I've done
> story after story about this topic in the Philly area, and there is definitely
> a correalation between available ice time and the amount of players an area
> produces.  Certainly there are many other factors, but this is a major one.
>
This is where the cultural difference (influenced by weather) between the
US and Canada comes in.  Here in Edmonton each neighbourhood has a
community league.  Virtually every one of them has one (or more) OUTDOOR
rinks.  By this time of year it is cold enough to flood them and hockey is
played under the lights hour after hour.  And I agree, the number of
players produced has everything to do with ice time.
 
>      I am willing to guarantee that the hockey skill level (shooting, passing,
> etc...) of many of the people I grew up with was as good as comparable kids in
> the Boston area.  The difference:  Few of us knew how to skate.  It just wasn't
> a convenient thing to go do.  I knew some guys who would try to play pickup
> games on a Frozen Pond, but that pond would stay frozen for about 10 total days
> per year.
>
With normal conditions there should not be 10 days from now until April
when one *can't* skate.
 
Arthur Berman [log in to unmask]
GO BU!!! GO ICE!!! GO GOLDEN BEARS (2-0 vs. WCHA)!!!
 
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