New Skate-Sharpening Method Takes Hockey by Storm | Hacker News Reader

New Skate-Sharpening Method Takes Hockey by Storm

nytimes.com

31 pointsojbyrne16 comments

The submarine has surfaced.

http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

This article was written by the publicist for "BlackStone Sports, the Ontario manufacturer of skate maintenance equipment that developed the flat-bottom V method..."

Why do you think that? Besides fitting in with pg's general thesis.

http://smilinlikeabutchersdog.blogspot.com/2009/11/flat-bott... "A NEW METHOD, the Flat Bottom V, is beginning to TAKE HOCKEY BY STORM."

http://noicingsports.com/fbv.html "Folks, this type of sharpening has hit the market LIKE A STORM."

These are either the results of plagiarism or a publicist hiring some bloggers.

To me, the original NYT article reads like it's straight out of a press release and therefore has 0 credibility.

Ugh, I upvoted you by accident when I intended to downvote. What evidence do you have of that?

In case anybody is curious about how this is actually accomplished, do a web search for "diamond roller dresser."

Also, there's a huuuuge thread about "flat-bottom V" skate sharpening over at Mod Squad Hockey (a popular hockey-player forum): http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=423...

The pros won't be wrong about this, but I'm glad they've tried it out before I do.

The graphic actually makes me fearful of not being able to control the rate of stopping, as though I'd somehow lose the ability to modulate the depth of edge applied to/into the ice.

I am also worried about how long a sharpening like this would last (something the pros won't care about). I can go half a no-hit season with a traditional sharpening and higher end blades, so long as there is no blade-to-blade contact to flatten an edge.

With the new process, I bet any grit on the bench is going to nick up blades quickly.

I bet. If it makes a significant difference but requires more waiting at the pro shop, I won't complain too much. I've never decided on a hollow I like (5/8 is just a little too slippery), so the ability to customize a little more is very appealing.

I really like stories of competitive-edge entrepreneurs in professional sports. Products that provide a demonstrable advantage, whether in technology or salary analysis or ticket pricing, seem to become a hot commodity on their own merits.

I think it provides a mild but noticeable difference. More grip on turns mainly, and slightly more glide. I can't comment on durability as I've only used it twice so far.

This sentence is strangely amusing:

It’s a little more efficient, so you glide better — you’re not working quite as hard,” Martin said before he sustained a fractured arm that will sideline him for up to six weeks.

goes to show that even the simplest things (that usually make people yawn) are the ones where innovation can be most disruptive.

Anyone else remember that Rbk just recently fought (and won) a battle simply to provide a different, "more efficient" material and cut to the jerseys?

If it's better everyone will do it, and they're right back where they started.

That's sports for you.

Yes, but the sport might become more exciting if the players are able to perform better, and the participants might enjoy it more. It might also make the sport accessible to more people if it makes skating easier.

Pictures? Or it never happened ;-)

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/11/02/sports/hockey/0...

Being a hockey player, I definitely want to see what this would/does look like.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com