Aside from speed, what attributes do players lose as they age?

[joestevens29]

Interest.

It must be hard to stay motivated for regular season games when you've played a thousand games, world championships, cups, olympics, etc...

I think a lot of it depends on the player. I look at a guy like Gagner who has really won anything other than a WJC gold and a WC silver back in the late 2000's. Never really played in the playoffs either.

Yet the guy is consistently working out and training even on family vacations.

A guy like him I have to think still has the drive as he clearly wants to have something added to a resume that is lacking team success.

 

[westc2]

As far as NHL'ers go, I think the only thing that really gets worse is their speed and explosiveness. This is what causes most guys to retire. They never stay in the league long enough for other aspects of their game to be affected. And like many have said, hockey IQ and decision making usually improves and offsets the decline in speed in the top players like Crosby.

 

[Mr. Fancy Pants]

Recovery ability

If the NHL reduced the number of games and eliminated back to backs, I think you'd see more older players stick around longer.

 

[Mr. Fancy Pants]

Did you see Gretzky when he was in the Olympics. He was sucking for air and wash up.

He still led the team in assists and tied for 2nd in points

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

Relentlessness, Durability, Flexibility.

 

[Jeremy Hronek]

Players hockey IQ might go up but if they can't do the things they once we're able to, it doesn't really help.

 

[Ryuji Yamazaki]

I’m sure someone’s already mentioned it but stamina, strength, drive, compete level, etc.

 

[NYR94]

rizz
hair

 

[ZiGOODejad]

The will to go into the corners.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Aside from speed/explosiveness, I’d say agility/flexibility goes next.

A younger player can get his body into positions that might cause an older player to pull a muscle.

This decline is most evident in goaltenders, they become less flexible with age.

 

[Jack Straw]

I feel like a big one would be being less competitive. Like if you've got two kids and a dog or whatever, they're probably your main priority and hockey second

It may be more than just “competitiveness”…

https://www.science.org/content/art...study shows that,it comes to raising children.

 

[karltonian]

That's an interesting take. This reminds me of the first post-lockout season. Crosby and Ovechkin were elite right away. But I thought they benefited from the drastic change in officiating.
Since the game was ruled differently, veterans lost part of the advantage they had of knowing how the game is played in the NHL. And some didn't have a suitable skillet to even play in the NHL anymore.

Yup. One example I have is the development of goaltending and defensive systems that shifted the game away from zone possession and playmaking off the cycle, toward rush chances and playmaking off of transition. It made large physical playmakers less valuable than shifty, fast transition players.

 

[Sol]

Dexterity 100%