Puck Talk
March 19, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
(the following are excerpts from the linked headers)
The modern hockey puck is made of an elastomeric rubber polymer (vulcanized rubber), is 1-inch thick and 3-inches in diameter.
Elastomeric polymer chains can be crosslinked, or connected by covalent bonds. This process is sometimes called vulcanization. Crosslinking is initiated by heat, light, or the addition of chemicals.
Hockey pucks are flat, solid, black disk-shaped objects made of vulcanized rubber. Regulation National Hockey League (NHL) pucks are black, 3 in (7.6 cm) in diameter, 1 in (2.54 cm) thick, and weighing 5.5-6 oz (154-168 g). The edge has a series of “diamonds,” slightly raised bumps or grooves. The diamonds give a taped hockey stick something to grip when the puck is shot. The blue pucks used in junior hockey are sometimes only 4 oz (143 g).
During a game, each team keeps a supply of pucks in a freezer at all times. When a professional hockey team receives their supply of pucks for a season, they are rotated so that the older pucks are used first. During games, pucks are kept frozen in an icepacked cooler, which usually sits on the officials’ bench. All pucks are frozen to reduce the amount of bounce.
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