What Are Dasher Boards?
If you have ever seen a hockey game, you've seen the boards around the rink that have decals and ads on them. Those are called the dasher boards.
Dasher Boards
While the word "boards" makes it sound like they are always made out of wood, dasher boards can be either metal or wood. They are usually set in place as one big panel at a time The panels may be straight or curved, depending on what part of the rink they are going in. The boards also make a great advertising space, so sponsors and other companies can buy space on the boards to make sure that plenty of people see their ads. The ads can be painted on or they be some kind of decal. The decal makes it easier to switch around ads periodically. But advertising and supporting the glass aren't the only things that the dasher boards do.
Part of Play
The dasher boards are also an integral part of any hockey player's equipment, even though the boards never move. That's because the players can use them to help get the puck where they want it to be. One way they can do that is to bounce the puck off of the boards so that the puck goes off in a different direction. That will allow the players to pass it on to another member of their team or to get it away from the opposing team. When the puck is hit into the board, it should go off at the same angle that it had when going into the board, just in the other direction. That can help get the puck from one place to another really quick.
Another way that the hockey players can use the dasher boards to help when they are playing is to hit the puck so that instead of bouncing back out, it runs along the base of the board, around the rink. Doing that can make it harder for the other team to steal the puck since they have fewer angles that they can come at it to try to get it.
The next time you watch a hockey game and see the puck bounce off the dasher boards, you will know that it wasn't an accident. The player likely purposely hit the puck into the boards so that they can use the boards to move the puck the way that they want.
To learn more about dasher boards, contact a company like All American Arena Products.
