How fast?

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

How fast can a hockey player skate? What is their top speed? Thanks for any info.

[stafford_rules]

How fast can a hockey player skate? What is their top speed? Thanks for any info.

nice question! ive never been timed with a speed gun thingy so i wouldnt know. that would be kind of interesting to know.

[morley]

I believe in the all star competition, back when Gaborik had won it he had a time of 13.xx seconds. Starting at the centerline, staying outside all the faceoff dots and skating behind both nets. So if you know the distance between the dots and the length of the ice, you could get a fairly decent estimate speed.

[Northcountry]

I'm an old timer with a failing memory, but it seems to me that back in the late 1960's or early 1970's one of the "Flying Frenchmen" from Montreal, Yvan Cournoyer was timed at 50+ mph. Don't take this as Gospel, but as a memory from a long-time hockey fan of one of his favorite players.

[crosby_87]

I'm an old timer with a failing memory, but it seems to me that back in the late 1960's or early 1970's one of the "Flying Frenchmen" from Montreal, Yvan Cournoyer was timed at 50+ mph. Don't take this as Gospel, but as a memory from a long-time hockey fan of one of his favorite players.

No way can that be right. He would have to skate 2 laps around the ice in about 15 seconds(rough estimate....i took a lap to be 550 feet x2 is about a quarter mile). The fastest skaters do 1 lap in about 13 seconds these days. I think the fastest skaters go about 35 mph.

[Siouxdonyms]

No way can that be right. He would have to skate 2 laps around the ice in about 15 seconds(rough estimate....i took a lap to be 550 feet x2 is about a quarter mile). The fastest skaters do 1 lap in about 13 seconds these days. I think the fastest skaters go about 35 mph.

I would estimate that it's between 35 and 40 mph. Back in my youth (about the age of the average college hockey player), I was able to rollerblade 28mph, as per my buddies spedometer on his bike. I was in pretty good shape, though nothing compared to college and pro athletes. I feel that you can get better grip on ice than roller blades on pavement, as the blade of a skate will grip ice. It would be interesting to see an accurate mph on this.

[BIGSIOUX]

not exactly hockey, but just look for the speed skating world record, and convert the time and distance to mph and you have the fastest men on ice.

not that i will do the work. but a little less estimation

[Sioux-cia]

At the age of 12, my son was checked with a speed gun at 19mph. I would think that after a few more years, stronger muscles and more testosterone that speed would be doubled plus for a really strong athlete such as our WCHA boys.

[HockeyMom]

At the age of 12, my son was checked with a speed gun at 19mph. I would think that after a few more years, stronger muscles and more testosterone that speed would be doubled plus for a really strong athlete such as our WCHA boys.

Somebody buy a laser and go measure speed. We could make a day of it, see who skates the fastest. You can get a speed on someone riding a bicycle doing 13 mph or less.

[yepdude]

I thoguht I remember from this winter olympics that skaters were in the upper 30's. So a good estimate for a fully padded player would be low 30's.

[Northcountry]

I am not a physicist (but I have stayed at a Holiday Inn), so if there are holes in my logic feel free to drive a truck through them. The world record for the 500 meter sprint is 0:34.30, and for the 1500 meter it is 1:42.68. By my calculations, either converts to an AVERAGE speed of 30-33 mph. Now I digress to baseball, where radar guns are used to track the speed of a pitched baseball. There are two types of these in use - one measures the speed as the ball leaves the pitcher's hand, the other measures the speed of the ball at the halfway point to the plate. The difference between the two is usually about 2-3 mph so the actual speed depends upon where the ball is at any given instant, not on the average time it takes to cover the 60 feet 6 inches. Digression over - back to our skater. 30-33 mph is a measure of the average time (or speed) for a given distance, not for any singular burst of speed or any attained speed at a given instant. I still want to believe that "The Roadrunner", Yvan Cournoyer, did indeed hit a maximum of 50+ mph at one point in his career. Cournoyer's skates had longer than usual blades which limited his lateral mobility, but I have never seen a hockey player skate faster than him (apologies to Kevin Spiewak).

[ScottM]

I think the fastest human runner can hit approximately 21 mph or so, based on the latest record. I recall reading, some time ago and some place, that a human can skate at about 30-35 MPH. Factor in a hockey player's gear, and the fact they've already put in some shifts, and I would "guess" the "average" is probably closer to 20 MPH in most instances.

Fun offseason thread though.

[siouxrunner]

Top speed for a human is probably closer to 25 mph. I have run 20 before and I am nowhere near a world class sprinter. 100m runners only hit top speed about 70m into the race. I would guess that once a high level hockey player got going he could get up above 30 mph, and probably close to 35 on a consistent basis

[airmail]

I believe in the all star competition, back when Gaborik had won it he had a time of 13.xx seconds. Starting at the centerline, staying outside all the faceoff dots and skating behind both nets. So if you know the distance between the dots and the length of the ice, you could get a fairly decent estimate speed.

Okay... nerdophobes beware:

Using 13.00 seconds;

and a 435.99 foot linear path around the nets and dots; (using a 2.50 foot offset from the dots and the back of the net, and consistent 22.50 foot tangential radius for the turns)

he got an average speed of 22.866 mph.

While I didn't see it, I'm guessing this was from a dead stop. So... the 30-35 speeds, IMO sound pretty reasonable... especially on a straight stretch.

[HockeyMom]

Top speed for a human is probably closer to 25 mph. I have run 20 before and I am nowhere near a world class sprinter. 100m runners only hit top speed about 70m into the race. I would guess that once a high level hockey player got going he could get up above 30 mph, and probably close to 35 on a consistent basis

So HockeyMom's top speed while all geared up is about 5-6mph.

I think I may slide across the ice faster.

[siouxrunner]

I think the real question here should be:

If a hockey player (sans pads) were to race a speed skater, who would win?

What distance would they race?

[Diggler]

The speed skater would whoop some serious arse. They've got legs like tree trunks and their skates are made for speed.

[ScottM]

I think the real question here should be:

If a hockey player (sans pads) were to race a speed skater, who would win?

If the hockey player can check the speed skater through the ice, he has the edge.

[The Sicatoka]

If the hockey player can check the speed skater through the ice, he has the edge.

Yeah, but the timer would probably be a WCHA official which would mean any contact would add two minutes to the hockey player.

[airmail]

How fast can a hockey player skate? What is their top speed? Thanks for any info.

Top speed in excess of 45km/h. Google rules.

[farce poobah]

Last time I got measured for speed, they had to use a calendar.

[stafford_rules]

Last time I got measured for speed, they had to use a calendar.

[waldo]

My son was at hockey camp today and they used a radar gun on them, the fastest was 39 mph. By the way this was the squirt group (9 & 10 yrs old)

[Siouxmama]

My son was at hockey camp today and they used a radar gun on them, the fastest was 39 mph. By the way this was the squirt group (9 & 10 yrs old)

So Northcountry probably isnt far off with his post saying Cournoyer may have been going about 50.

[Redneksioux]

Shani Davis, (probably one of the world's fastest skaters), did 1500 meters (1.0729 miles) in 1 minute and 42.68 seconds back in March. Do the math and he averaged close to 37.6 mph for the entire mile. I would say for a 9-10 year old to do 39 mph for any period of time would be quite phenomenal. We'll have to have Hakstol keep an eye on him!