Can Ice Be Slow Or Fast?

The short answer is, yes. Most hockey fans have heard about this phenomenon. Slow ice is softer and rough, while fast ice is colder and harder with a much smoother surface. As a hockey game goes on, the ice gets softer and it becomes harder to handle the puck.

Chemists at Berkeley actually discovered that all ice has a “quasi-fluid” layer at its surface. This layer can be thicker or thinner based on temperature. At about -157 centigrade (250 degrees below zero Fahrenheit), ice has a slippery layer one molecule thick. As the ice is warmed, the number of these slippery layers increases, which may explain the difference between fast ice and slow ice.

Do Hockey Pucks Need To Be Refrigerated?

When hockey pucks were first introduced around 1860 they were made of mostly rubber-like material. While today's pucks aren't entirely rubber, they are synthesized with materials that give them elasticity. Because of this, pucks must be kept in a freezer, even between periods, because any heat added also adds energy to the puck, making it bounce higher and harder to stick-handle.