I must say that I agree with Mr. Fasel, I hate Olympic sheets of ice, first I think facilitate taking hitting out of the game of hockey. Second I think they look God-awful. I really liked seeing the Olympics on the regulation NHL size ice. Bravo!
NHL.COM - IIHF President Rene Fasel was bowled over by the Vancouver 2010 Olympics it seems.
Vancouver was best-ever tournament for me," Fasel said Tuesday during a formal Q and A session at the World Hockey Summit. "It was just incredible."
In fact, the best-on-best national team tournament, featuring NHL players for the third-straight Olympiad, was so good that it changed Fasel's opinion about the small ice surface, which was used in Vancouver.
Generally, Olympic hockey tournaments are contested on the larger ice surface prevalent throughout Europe, but the 2010 Games were played on the 200 by 85 sheet used by the NHL's Vancouver Canucks.
"After the Vancouver Games I will tell you I like the small ice very much," he said. "What I saw was that the intensity of the games, for the hockey fan, was just incredible."
Despite that, it is unlikely he will push too hard to unify the playing surfaces in North America and Europe. He admits the big ice question is a political one in Europe that will not be easily decided.
He also said that concerns about figure skating and speed skating, sports that use the same ice surfaces as hockey throughout Europe, will further muddy the issue.
