Friday, January 29, 2010

Hockey Weekend across America

This weekend is Hockey weekend across America. Here is your chance to grow the sport that you love. Bring a friend to the rink, or come to our training center to try out the equipment. It is up to everyone who loves hockey to get new people to try the sport.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Does a goalie get better with more shots faced

An article by Alain Haché, Ph.D and Pierre P. Ferguson, M.Sc from the physics of hockey website discussed how a goalie does when faced with a lot of shots.

For a 20-30 shot game a goalie does not get weaker as he faces more shots, in fact the goalie's save percentage goes up the more shots he faces up to a certain number. So the question then becomes is it better for a team to let its goalie face more shots in order to have a higher save percentage? Well even though a goalie's save percentage from 20 shots to 30 shots increases by 0.007 percent; from their charting of the data 10 more shots means one more goal per game. So even though the percentage goes up so does the number of goals.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Science of Hockey

Here are some interesting facts about hockey from

The Physics of Hockey. Johns Hopkins University Press. (2002)



  • ... down to temperatures as low as -250 degrees Celsius, the ice surface contains a thin semi-wet layer and that's why pucks and skaters can slide on it so well? Without this layer, the friction of ice would be as large as most other materials, like concrete and asphalt.

  • ... when a player the size of Eric Lindros (240 lbs) skates at half his top speed and comes to a stop after having checked someone against the boards, the energy dissipated is enough to power an average household lightbulb for one minute?

  • ... when two average-size players collide in mid-ice, the impact can produce several thousand pounds of force?

  • ... a team that is on a losing streak tends to have a better chance of winning its next game than a team of similar strength that is on a winning streak?

  • ... while today's NHL best shooters can send the the puck no faster than 100 to 105 mph, Bobby Hull's slapshot was measured at 120 mph and his wristshot was clocked at 105 mph? Although he used heavier sticks than now permitted, Hull's ability was largely due to his strength and technique.

  • ... when a hockey player suffers a concussion, he becomes more sensitive to injuries from damage from subsequent blows to the head? And the effect is cumulative: the more hits, the greater the risk of permanent injuries.

  • ... a puck shot from the blue line at 100 mph will reach the net in 0.34 seconds? Although most people have reflexes slighlty faster than that, very few have the ability to anticipate the trajectory and move fast enough to make the save.

  • ... when a hockey player shoots from the blue line and score between the pad of the goaltender, the margin of error is only about 1 degrees of angle?

  • ... the fastest players in the NHL can skate at speed over 45 km/h?

  • ... more than 60% of the net can be sealed by a goalie's equipment that meets the NHL maximum size requirement?

  • ...the odds of a young hockey player to ever make it to the NHL is one in several thousands?

  • ... during a slapshot, the bending of the stick shaft and the contact with the ice allows for significantly greater speeds than otherwise possible?

Friday, January 22, 2010

Hockey Players Brains

Hockey players, when you die, do you mind donating your brain? Scientists are trying to determine the long term effects of multiple concussions suffered by hockey players during their years of playing. One of the questions scientists hope to answer is why female hockey players suffer more concussions that male players. Another concern is if repeated brain trauma increases the risk of dementia later in players lives. Young players have began wearing helmets with sensors so that scientists can gather data. It is estimated that players suffer up to 50 collisions in one game


The full article by Christie Nicholson can be found on scientific american. http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=hockey-and-concussions-09-12-08

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Key to Success for a Goalie

Live Science did an article about Canadian scientists finding the exact spots a goalie needs to watch to block a shot. Since a puck in flight moves too fast for the eye to track, where the goalie focuses his eye before taking action is crucial. Using headgear and cameras the scientists had the best goalies from Calgary schools face the best shooters on their team. 75% of the time elite goalies focused on the puck a full second before the shot. 25% of the time they focused on the ice in front of the stick, only 2% focused on the body of the shooter. Novice goalies tend to be looking all over the place and have a much lower save percentage. So focus training as well as technique can be incorporated into a goalie's training to improve their game. Here is a link to the full article.

http://www.livescience.com/health/061026_hockey_goalie.html

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Goalie top draft picks not so successful

Nice article on Hockey or Die on the lack of success when picking a goalie as a top draft pick.

success rate low



For the 9 top ten picks of goalie only 3 have played more than 500 games at the NHL level. So that makes the success rate only 33%. It does seem that hockey is not unique in this respect, as of the 43 first round quarterback picks by NFL teams only 13 have been successful for a rate of 30%.

What is weirder is even though the Canadian Major Jr league is heavily scouted, the success rate has not been that great, here is the chart from Hockey or Die

League# of Pickslt 100 100GP500+GPSuccess Rate
Major Jr.6611163959.1%
Everywhere Else34272573.5%

Monday, January 18, 2010

Birthdates and Hockey teams

There is a great article about how players with early birthdates in the year make up the majority of players on upper level hockey teams. This was also discussed in the American Developmental Model, how players who are late bloomers are not getting the chance to play on teams due to late in the year birthdates. So unless the system is fixed, if you have a late in the year birthday, you will not be playing higher level hockey.

Here is Rand Simons blog from Hockey News

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/30842-Rand-Simons-Blog-Canadas-age-system-must-be-fixed.html

Friday, January 15, 2010

What makes a great hockey instructor

Hi

During this blog I hope to interview various instructors in the hockey industry for tips and comments, and to find out what makes them a great hockey instructor. Whether they do dry land, ice, strength and conditioning, or a combination. Each coach strives to make a better hockey player, and to grow the sport of hockey. Using the new American Development Model http://www.admkids.com, the hockey player of the 21st century will help grow the success of hockey to unprecedented levels. Come check out our website http://www.lagunahockeyacademy.com, or become a fan of us on facebook.