it goes both ways right? For instance, skaters who don't train on Olympic size rinks have to adjust to get decent ice coverage (especially ice dancers) when competing on a larger ice.
Of course, skating into the boards is more dangerous than losing points for poor ice coverage.
I remember Patrick Chan often hitting the boards, yet he was training in North America, most likely on smaller rinks... I think skaters need to get used to both possibilities.
As a swimmer, I had to adjust my timing between 25 and 50 meter pools.. .Of course, it may look easy to some and not as dangerous but it did make a difference with cardio, endurance, breathing, turns etc... missing a turn can be dramatic and painful