Ice Hockey Skate, Stick Design and Performance Measures

Longitudinal Physiological and Fitness Evaluations in Elite Ice Hockey: A Systematic Review

“…Figure 1 summarizes the study selection process. The 23 articles included in this review spanned from 1956 to 2020, with more articles being published in the past 20 years compared with the previous 50 years, possibly signifying an increased interest in elite ice hockey research (1,6,(9)(10)(11)13,16,19,(21)(22)(23)28,29,31,41,44,46,47,50,51,55,56,58). Nine articles included solely physiologic responses, 5 included only body composition metrics, and 3 exclusively investigated histobiochemical changes.…”

“…In the early stages of sport science research, Thompson et al (1956) assessed the body composition of American college ice hockey players using skinfold calipers. This inaugural study found that body mass did not change across the season, but players lost 1.5% of body fat from preseason to postseason (statistical significance unreported) (56). In 1975, Green and Houston also reported no difference in body fat percentage using skinfold calipers in a group of Canadian university hockey players from preseason to postseason (22), whereas Laurent et al, in 2014, noted similar findings while assessing preseason to postseason body fat changes in NCAA Division I hockey players using air displacement plethysmography (31).…”

“…Collectively, these 3 studies suggest that body fat in collegiate hockey players does not significantly change throughout an ice hockey season, despite using different methodologies. Thompson et al (1956) used skinfold calipers at 3 separate sites (chest, upper arm, and abdomen) to determine a player's body fat percentage that requires experienced assessors for reliable measurements (56). Contrarily, air displacement plethysmography is more reliable than skinfold measurements but has been shown to underestimate body fat compared with dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in male collegiate athletes ( 14) and may not be as accurate as other body composition assessment tools.…”

Aerodynamic drag reduction in winter sports: The quest for “free speed”

“…Optimizing the drag of hockey sticks. Turcotte et al 87 noted that the main mechanical factors determining puck speed in a slap shot are stick speed prior to puck contact, pre-load bending of the stick and puck-blade contact time with increased stick blade tangential velocity and shaft bend prior to puck contact resulting in greater energy transfer to the puck. The fastest slapshots in hockey have been measured at approximately 161 km/h (44.72 m/s).…”

“…To investigate this topic, the aerodynamic drag of a hockey stick blade and partial shaft (total length of 60 cm) or a shaft alone (total length of 53 cm) were measured in a 0.7 3 0.9 m cross section wind tunnel. The combined length of the two test models (1.13 m) provides approximately 71% of a standard length adult hockey stick of 1.60 m. 87 The wooden stick was rectangular in cross section (width: 30 mm, depth: 25 mm) with beveled edges. Each model was orientated vertically in the tunnel, crosswise to the air flow, and anchored to a metric force balance located below the tunnel.…”