Size in hockey

[leer2006 2]

How small is to small. How big is to big. Do we really need 6'5" and taller Dmen or 250lbs+ players? Will hockey eventually be the NBA on ice?

i'm curious to see what people have to say on this subject.

[TeamBlue96 3]

Age old myth as far as i'm concerned. It certainlly helps, but isn't vital especially since most leagues now a days penalize for different types of obstruction.

Size is easily counteracted by speed. It's especially evident in the evolving NHL. Plenty of good players that are short at all levels. Short guys who are doing well or have done well in the NHL: Arthurs Irbe, Theo Fleury, Martin St. Louis, Mike Cammalleri, Nathan Gerbe, Derek Roy, Toby Enstrom, Steve Sullivan, Brian Gionta.....list can go on...

I'm 5'5 and i play minor/pro roller hockey and i get by absolutely fine. Ice at the varsity level wasn't a problem either. Just get your feed moving, work hard, and keep your head up.

[black hills tj 5]

I don't think its too much of a concern. My fiance's little brother plays juniors and he's 6'4 or 6'5". I see a lot of smaller guys do just as well. each has their own niche.

[Chadd 916]

If you have two players with similar skill sets, every GM in the world will take the bigger guy every time. If you're smaller, you better have some skill or ability that sets you apart from other players or you will get overlooked.

As for the other part of the question; Yes, you will see the average size of professional players continue to get bigger for now. At some point that will stop, but hockey has become an option for more and more people and not just Canadians or kids that live in New England or the upper midwestern US. More people, means a larger pool of talent and that usually means a better chance that there will be more big players to pick from.

[Scotty 8]

As Chadd said, you either have to be very dynamic or very good at what you do to overcome a lack of size. The 6'3" guy that can score will likely be more sought after than the 5'8" guy that can score because he potentially has an element of power and/or durability to him, not to mention other intangibles like potentially be tougher to get off the puck, harder to move from the front of the net, or better reach.

With that being said, I think the NHL has come further than any other league in the past decade in terms of having smaller players do well. Theo Fleury was an anomaly back in his day. Now we have many more guys at and under the 5'10" mark, especially the guys listed above. Figure that most of those guys probably aren't even as tall as they're listed. Numerous accounts say that guys like Cammalleri and St. Louis aren't even at the 5'9" mark they're listed to be. They just know how to use their size to their advantage: speed, agility, and quickness obviously play huge roles here. And guys like Cammalleri use incredible strength to their advantage. He may be smaller, but he supposedly moves some pretty decent weight. I've always used that approach as well because I'm exactly the same size/weight as Cammalleri, but can move weight much more than bigger guys I know. It certainly helps in game situations, especially when combined with training that increases agility and explosiveness.

[Jason Harris 31]

I think teams would always go for the larger player if all things are equal; they would assume the larger player could play a grittier game, but they'd also assume the larger player would have better durability.

[wrangler 157]

Momentum and inertia being what they are, I think the smaller guys can change direction more quickly. If that quickness is enough to get them around an opposing player, or through traffic, it's a real advantage. Kane and Briere seem to do all right for small guys.

[BarDownGinos 3]

How small is to small. How big is to big. Do we really need 6'5" and taller Dmen or 250lbs+ players? Will hockey eventually be the NBA on ice?

i'm curious to see what people have to say on this subject.

What do you want them to do, put a cap on how big a guy can be? Since you asked this question I'm guessing you're on the smaller side of the scale. There's nothing you can do about the way you're born. I'm 6'2 and between HS and now I played at anywhere from 175-205lbs. I've been leveled by guys half my size, but that usually seems to take more out of them than me. You just have to figure out what your skill sets are and hone them for how you have to play.

[pbhockey4 0]

I think it only matter during the physical plays like body checking and battling for bosy position infront of the net.

[wrangler 157]

Taking up more space on the ice can be an advantage, too. And so can the longer reach that comes with larger size, until you get caught reaching the wrong way; then it may take longer to recover.

[Chadd 916]

I think it only matter during the physical plays like body checking and battling for bosy position infront of the net.

Reach makes a big difference when stickhandling and the taller you are, the easier it is to see the ice.

[Machinehead2k5 32]

Reach makes a big difference when stickhandling and the taller you are, the easier it is to see the ice.

I dunno. I'd have to disagree with you on this one. Gretzky, Forsberg, and Crosby were 5'11" and they saw/see the ice very well.

[LivHockey84 0]

While not being a superstar, Chris Conner of Detroit is around 5-8/5-9

[leer2006 2]

What do you want them to do, put a cap on how big a guy can be? Since you asked this question I'm guessing you're on the smaller side of the scale. There's nothing you can do about the way you're born. I'm 6'2 and between HS and now I played at anywhere from 175-205lbs. I've been leveled by guys half my size, but that usually seems to take more out of them than me. You just have to figure out what your skill sets are and hone them for how you have to play.

No , i'm average height 5'10". I was more interested to see what people think about what seems to be the increasing number of players 6'5 and larger. I personally don't want to see the NHL become a league of basketball sized players.

[interpathway 9]

Hell, I don't want to see the NHL become a league of anything NBA related.

[Jason Harris 31]

and the taller you are, the easier it is to see the ice.

Until last year, I would have disagreed with you and said I have the advantage, but I have to admit my near vision is starting to go.......

[Vulcan7905 88]

I play in a beer league beginner league (getting moved up next season to the plus league) and I'm 380 lbs at 6'. I can move quite well for my body mass and last a good minute and a half on the ice putting everything I have out there. Sure I might not be the fastest out there compared to other skaters out there, but my shot and positioning proves that I know what I'm doing with my goals and assists. I think any size any height, you go out there and just love the game like everybody else. I get so many looks when I'm coaching a team and people always have that smart remark "HE, plays hockey?". I think the world is just so messed up with sizes anymore that they don't expect a person of my weight to be as active as I am. Plus, when I go to dig a puck out of a corner, a lot of guys are intimated I might hurt them and stop just short. A lot have told me after the game, which I tell them "We all payed the same amount, I'm here to have fun, not hurt anybody."

[starsfan71 9]

Being a small player who had a decently good youth hockey career (playing AAA and Varsity) I would say being small is a very big disadvantage. Luckily I had a lot of speed to over come being pushed off the puck easily, but at 5 foot 6 my reach was God awful and a lot of people figured that out and used it to their advantage. Hitting is also a problem and I found myself to charge quite a bit or lose my temper when I got rocked multiple times in the same shift.

[Chadd 916]

I dunno. I'd have to disagree with you on this one. Gretzky, Forsberg, and Crosby were 5'11" and they saw/see the ice very well.

The first two were within an inch of average in their prime, not a significant variation from the norm. It's also not like height is the only contributor to on ice awareness, you may have noted that I never said that.

[BucksAway 16]

just because somebody is bigger doesn't mean they are better or stronger. Been larger would have its advantages but so would been smaller, i dont see it going the way of NBA at all.

As of now there are not teams who are all larger then 6"4 and lets be honest only black people have the ability to be so freakishly tall and yet still so athletic and at that height they would probably find it easier to play basketball then hockey.

As for been small and pushed around i really think that has to do with how strong YOU are, take Datysuk for example, 5"11 but 88kg (194lb), how often do you see him been manhandled? or flat on his ass?

Just because your big doesn't mean your strong

If you are small and feel your are just been tossed around i think its time to hit the gym and get stronger, i myself am pretty small and i will admit sometimes you do get man handled by the REALLY big people but i have no issues playing with people who are bigger then me. The bigger they are the harder they fall

[JoeyJ0506 192]

lets be honest only black people have the ability to be so freakishly tall and yet still so athletic and at that height they would probably find it easier to play basketball then hockey.

No

If you take two people of the same speed, strength, and skill-set the person with the size advantage will ALWAYS get the first look. Every pro scout, in ANY sport, that I've ever talked to like to use the phrase, "You cannot teach size." Like it or not in sports there is an advantage to being bigger than the people around you.

[Wallzy41 9]

I'm 5'9, 190lbs and played in High School. There was a kid who was 6'4, 250 who played against us and I was always knocking him over. I also took my fair share of bumps from guys smaller than me. I was a 2-way forward and played right wing though, so my view might be skewed here.

[wrangler 157]

just because somebody is bigger doesn't mean they are better or stronger. Been larger would have its advantages but so would been smaller, i dont see it going the way of NBA at all.

As of now there are not teams who are all larger then 6"4 and lets be honest only black people have the ability to be so freakishly tall and yet still so athletic and at that height they would probably find it easier to play basketball then hockey.

Lower center of gravity helps when bumping and banging into opposing players, but the shorter guy needs to have some weight to use against the bigger guy.

As to the race issue, that's obviously false, as there are plenty of white NBA players, and lots of them at the All-Star games.

[Jason Harris 31]

1) Some of you are ignoring the most important phrase in this thread: ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL. When you ask whether a smaller, more elusive player could make the NHL, all things aren't equal. But if the speed is the same, shot's the same, situational intelligence is the same, etc, team's would view a larger player as a sounder investment, unless their research made them leery of the durability of that player (perhaps due to weight or joint issues).

2) While it's a slippery slope when we start talking about physical differences between races -- one because we'd really just be talking averages, and because it gives a sliver of an opening to claim there are intelligence differences -- I recall reading something years ago explaining the differences between world class black athletes versus white. Without remembering exactly what they were (tendency for bigger glutes, thinner yet longer calves, plus some others), they actually were traits that led to more speed. This is somewhat borne out if we consider the composition of the last 50 years of Olympic sprinters.

There's nothing wrong in admitting there are differences between the races; there's only something wrong in using that information to claim superiority.

[Chadd 916]

There's nothing wrong in admitting there are differences between the races; there's only something wrong in using that information to claim superiority.

Given the comments in this topic (and others) I'm not sure this is the place where we can discuss the differences between racial and racist commentary.