Speed Skater v. Hockey Skates

[RadioGaGa 162]

http://www2.tsn.ca/bardown/Story.aspx?Nathan%2BMacKinnon%2Braces%2BOlympic%2Bspeed%2Bskater%2BCharles%2BHamelin&id=464417

[chk hrd 164]

One thing I was watching was the strides. MacKinnon's looks to be much longer and powerful while Hamelin's looks shorter and choppier due to the blade length. I love MacKinnon's posture and arm movement. To do this in full gear is pretty impressive.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

It's such an apples to oranges comparison.

Shorter blade length and deeper radius will give MacKinnon the advantage every time. What would've been more interesting to me were to see Hamelin do it in hockey skates - look at that dude's quads...

[chippa13 1844]

I always figured speed skates were more about maintaining and increasing long stride speed and not so much about initial acceleration.

[RadioGaGa 162]

It's such an apples to oranges comparison.

Shorter blade length and deeper radius will give MacKinnon the advantage every time. What would've been more interesting to me were to see Hamelin do it in hockey skates - look at that dude's quads...

Yes, it's also essentially a CCM commercial...so take it for what it is worth. Cool to see the differences in stride and starting power though.

[mc88 160]

It's such an apples to oranges comparison.

Shorter blade length and deeper radius will give MacKinnon the advantage every time. What would've been more interesting to me were to see Hamelin do it in hockey skates - look at that dude's quads...

Won't be pretty. I watched a speed skater try to lead a Sharks practice. The guy kept falling and could barely stand up. Bending like crazy. Looked like an amateur skater at best (even though he was a world record long distance speed skater!)

[chippa13 1844]

Mess with most skaters' profiles to that degree and they are bound to have a hard time.

[Tailboard Jockey 25]

I wonder how MacKinnon would do in speed skates. Probably not so good.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Won't be pretty. I watched a speed skater try to lead a Sharks practice. The guy kept falling and could barely stand up. Bending like crazy. Looked like an amateur skater at best (even though he was a world record long distance speed skater!)

Don't get me wrong, I've seen an Olympic-class short track skater skate in hockey skates (Dave Cruikshank) so I know it's possible.

[MyBoxersSayJoe 132]

What happens after a lap or two? Hehe

[shooter27 116]

I always figured speed skates were more about maintaining and increasing long stride speed and not so much about initial acceleration.

This is dead on. Speed skating isn't about acceleration it's about getting to and maintaining top speed. A hockey player is always going to have an advantage over a short acceleration because of the skate differences and because hockey players train for quick acceleration, speed skaters don't train their acceleration to the same degree. If they did a distance where maintaining top speed is the priority, say a full lap, maybe a lap and a half, or more the speed skater will always win out.

[flip12 699]

Don't get me wrong, I've seen an Olympic-class short track skater skate in hockey skates (Dave Cruikshank) so I know it's possible.

And some of the world class speed skaters are would-be hockey players who recognize they don't have the other skills to play hockey at the level they can reach just skating: I read somewhere Eric Heiden said he would have preferred to be a hockey player and I heard Jeremy Wootherspoon say he got into speed skating to improve his speed in hockey. That's just two, but two of the best ever, and I'd wager there are others who were hockey players first, and probably still get out and play once in a while. And the opposite is also true. IIRC, David Tanabe and Brett Hedican were speed skaters in their youth/amateur days.

Re: the original topic. I thought it would be interesting to have MacKinnon just try for his best time in different skates. If Tacks were really made for helping on the initial strides, you would notice it in a comparison of MacKinnon with himself. Then, of course, to be fair, it would have to happen outside of a marketing scenario and would also have to be done blind, which in my head implies stripping down all the comparison skates to unrecognizably blank appearances and having someone else tie MacKinnon's skates for him with MacKinnon dictating the appropriate pressure at each eyelet level all the way up. It's a pretty absurd scenario, but if it's really about the boots, then that's what should be compared. If CCM wants to diminish the appeal of the speed skate hockey skates out there that would be a more direct way of showing what I think it is they're trying to show. In the end, I'd be surprised if it made any significant difference whatever boot he's in, but that's just reiterating what others have already said here, essentially.