Review of 3 years with the dasher board FlexBoard PPS

The ice arena of Davos gives positive feedback

David Solèr, operations manager of the Davos sports facilities, had already implemented the conversion to a load-reducing dasher board in 2016. This new generation of dasher boards became mandatory in Switzerland with the season of 2018/19.

In an interview with the Swiss association magazine "VHF-GSK BULLETIN" (issue 02/20 June 2020) he draws a positive balance with our FlexBoard PPS after 3 years.

 

Image: Keystone-SDA/Fotograph

Read an extract from the interview:

Which dasher board system was chosen and why?

David Solèr: We had decided on the engo FlexBoard PPS in acrylic version. It is equipped with an acrylic upright and a flexible handrail and is therefore flexible in itself. It is also the only dasher board that can be covered with acrylic or glass. It is therefore possible to convert to glass at a later date.

The new dasher board was now in use for the third season. Are you satisfied?

David Solèr: The question can be answered briefly and concisely: We are very satisfied. Just because of the handrail, the conversion was worthwhile. The players give consistently positive feedback. The impact is felt less hard. The players feel safer and a different duel behavior can be observed.

Does this mean that there is an incentive to play more aggressively?

David Solèr: I would not say that. But the higher feeling of security has a positive effect on the psyche. The players are less inhibited and therefore less tense when checking.

Isn't acrylic more maintenance-intensive?

David Solèr: Acrylic is not as maintenance-intensive as originally assumed. The important thing is that it is high quality material. Then small scratches can be easily polished away. (...) Furthermore, our dasher board is of a screwed system, which requires less maintenance than a quick release system. Which system is used naturally depends on the needs of the stadium in question. Davos has an annual major event with "Art on Ice", for which a modification of the board is necessary. We then have to remove 12 elements for the installation of the grandstand. A screwed system is fast enough for this.

The dasher boards are constantly being improved. From today's point of view, was the conversion not too early?

David Solèr: No, we are still very satisfied. If in a few years it should turn out that glass is the better solution, after all, we could easily replace the acrylic dasher boards.

 

Source: VHF-GSK BULLETIN" issue 02/20 June 2020

https://www.vhf-gsk.ch/data/index.php/component/jdownloads/send/2-vhf-gsk-bulletin-archiv/3-vhf-gsk-bulletin-2020-2