Captain of the Edmonton Oilers, 25 years old Connor McDavid is the best hockey player in the world in many papers.
In addition to playing the game, McDavid has technical dexterity with the puck and one distinctive feature: skating speed.
When McDavid gets the puck on his shoulder at a fast pace, he captures the gaze on himself.
McDavid is still not the fastest in the bowl. In recent years, at the NHL All Stars, the title of fastest skater has been taken by someone other than McDavid.
– There may be speed skaters in the NHL. He is the fastest of the best players, according to the physics coach of the Finnish Champions League Risto Rosendahl.
Rosendahl is a former top speed skater and has been developing the skating skills of Finnish Championship league players since 2005.
McDavid stands out from the crowd when he takes a puck into hard skating.
– Some players have a big change in skating with a puck, which drops their speed and changes their skating technique. McDavid’s going doesn’t seem to be bothered when the puck is on stage, Rosendahl says.
This has also been noticed by the Finnish defender of Dallas Stars Jani Hakanpää.
– McDavid is clearly distinguished by how well he is able to make distractions and split feeds at the right pace with the right timings. That’s why he’s exceptional, the defender estimates.
McDavid, the nightmare of an NHL defender.
Finnish defender of Dallas Miro Heiskanen remembers well his first encounter against McDavid at the 2018 World Cup.
– He came across the field at full speed. I had a normal distance to him, but he just toured easily. McDavid will no longer be caught if he passes at a brisk pace.
Sports found out what makes McDavid such a superior skater.
Ice skating
Skating speed is affected by physical characteristics and especially how well a player is able to utilize their abilities on ice.
McDavid has two top qualities that hit Risto Rosendahl’s eye.
One of them is curving. There’s a familiar sight in the trough as McDavid retrieves the puck with an accelerated curve and shoots at a tremendous pace.
According to Rosendahl, McDavid uses figure skating more than normal.
– He also changes the curving steps in the middle of the skating. His arching technique is eye-catching.
Why does he use so much archery? Rosendahl takes the example of speed skating.
– Speed skating is done at a pace. If a person is injected with skating 300 meters in a straight line, he gets a harder top speed if there is a 100-meter curve in between. At 300 meters, the top speed is then stiffer compared to just 300 meters alone.
“Lesson to be learned”
Curved skating is easier to control at a slow pace.
When, for many other players, a fast-paced sharp turn goes to glide on ice with two blades, McDavid accelerates.
– As the pace increases and you have to make a sharp turn, McDavid will still be able to produce more speed by skating. Then there is hard centrifugal force. It takes a lot of strength to be able to work against it. Less often, McDavid slips two blades in the ice, Rosendahl analyzes.
McDavid is constantly taking advantage of curving.
– It’s quite a lesson to learn. He has made his strength a superpower and learned to capitalize on it in the game, Rosendahl says.
McDavid has been at the top of the NHL points market since the 2016-2017 season. The story continues after the statistics.
Relaxed and efficient
In addition to curving, McDavid has a particularly strong technique in straight skating: he gets up to speed at a fast pace.
According to Rosendahl, McDavid’s direction of kicking and power generation is a differentiating factor.
This is greatly influenced by the physical qualities that Rosendahl thinks McDavid has at the top of the NHL.
– The skating kick is directed perpendicular to the blade, it has optimal grip and all the power goes to the ice, Rosendahl says.
According to Rosendahl, McDavid is also able to keep his skating relaxed, which is key to the return on speed.
– If you once looked Teemu Selänteen skating, it was damn economical and relaxed. Even the outfit on top was seen as the leg stretched out and the thigh fluttered relaxed, Rosendahl throwing a tongue in his cheek.
Miro Heiskanen is also known in the trough as a skilled skater. Even Heiskan has noticed how effortless McDavid skating looks.
– There are a lot of good skaters in the NHL, but they go more by force. Skating McDavid looks really easy. He doesn’t have to consume a lot of energy to get to full speed. The pace of translation is maintained. He is at a different level than many other good skaters, Heiskanen ponders.
Can McDavid be caught?
Heiskanen says that before the Edmonton game, McDavid is thoroughly reviewed.
– Even in the middle of a match, you must always watch when he comes on the field.
Heiskane has clear tunes for how to play against the extremely fast-moving McDavid.
– You just have to try to stay as close as possible and keep a good distance so that he doesn’t get too fast. On the other hand, in corner situations, one cannot rush into McDavid, but must keep a suitable distance to prevent him from spinning. He’s not the easiest guy to defend. McDavid is so nimble and fast that you have to think carefully about where to hit.
Hakanpää says against Edmonton, the Packs need more help from the attackers in the midfield.
– He’s a nimble guy near the outskirts, in his own head and in the middle. The closer the puck defends, it helps when the puck snaps to him.
McDavid’s secret?
McDavid is the cutting edge product of modern hockey.
In the NHL, the pace of play has accelerated over the past 20 years, and skating skills play a big role in the league.
Risto Rosendahl thinks young players should take a model from McDavid. The physics coach calls for the importance of versatile skating.
– Facilitates many things in the game when you are about to be a good skater like McDavid. The danger is that one thing will be brought to the surface, clinging to a small detail, and someone else will be forgotten.
When you look at McDavid’s skating, you could imagine he had some secret trick in store that others don’t know.
Rosendahl simply considers McDavid a versatile, good skater.
Rosendahl thinks there’s no more special gimmick in a player’s skating.
– It would be great to say that I would have found some magic trick in his skating, but I don’t see that. He does things technically better than hockey in general. For me, there is nothing revolutionary about that. There is technically nothing miraculous about his skating.
On ’s NHL night on Sunday, McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers will face the Columbus Blue Jackets. The broadcast will start on TV2 at 8 p.m.