from Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

"I hate [complaining] about stuff, so it's not on the top of my concerns," Player B said. "But it's unfortunate."

Nearly every player interviewed -- and a few who declined to be -- agreed that the ice-maintenance staff and the front office are receptive when informed of complaints or problems with the playing surface.

"We try to treat our players better than any other team," said David Morehouse, the team's president and chief executive officer. "We're not 'capped' on how well we treat the players, so if the players have a problem with the ice, we'll do everything we can to fix it."

There's nothing new about that. Management has been responding to players' concerns about the ice since the building opened its doors just over three years ago and summoned NHL ice guru Dan Craig as recently as a few weeks ago after receiving negative feedback from players.

"When the ice guy from the NHL gets to town, it usually gets a little bit better," Player A said.

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