Hockey players' body weight

[Bjornar Moxnes]

There's also a ton of hockey players with twink-esque bodies, which isn't something you see in other sports.

 

[Masked]

I'm 6'2 and weigh around 185-190 lbs. My body type is mesomorph as well and I'm toned. I recently filled in a web form for my ideal body weight and supposedly it's only 165-170 lbs.

A 6'2" man should be 200+ pounds. To weigh 165-170 would be emaciated.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Well, here is Kaprizov trying a tug of war against Kovalchuk (who is 6'2, 220-230 lbs). His size stats seem believable to me:



Remember that hypertrophy training isn't nearly as important for hockey players as it is for the gym bros. I still remember that guy from like 2012 who claimed that his cousin was in a better shape than Chara because of larger pecs

It may make some sense for prospects (I remember how concerned people were about Michkov's size before the draft, and the guy is pretty stocky), but I don't think pro teams pay much attention to height and weight of established players. We've discussed the other day that Malkin had been listed at the same height and weight for 15 years before growing taller and heavier at 38 lol.

Kovalchuk is such a beast

 

[LemonSauceD]

I don’t think it’s very accurate all the time.

I am 6’4, and I remember 2 years ago seeing Elias Pettersson in person and I was about 2 metres away from him but he only appeared to be barely half an inch shorter than me and he’s listed at 6’2. He’s closer to 6’4 (I assume 6’3.75) than he is 6’2.

For reference Demko is listed as 6’4 and Petey is 6’2:

2-3 years ago

Last year

Garland is 100% exaggerated and I believe he’s admitted it. He’s listed 5’10 but he’s very obviously 5’7, maybe 5’8 at most. He is tiny as hell.

Gaudreau (RIP) was also much shorter than the listed 5’9. He was 5’7 for a good while and I remember like in his rookie year or something he suddenly was listed at 5’9 which I always found it hard to believe.

 

[57special]

Heights tend to be inflated. Weight, not so much. Websites tend to list the higher weight(i.e. pre season weight), but many players tend to lose weight over the course of a long grueling season with less than ideal training, diet, and sleep schedules. Hockey players tend to have very strong legs and butts, and work on having thicker torsos. Those are big slabs of muscle, and account for a lot of weight. Biceps...ehh, not so much, though many will work on wrists and forearms for snapping off shots quickly and powerfully. You're not talking a lot of weight there, though, and in any event, with the sticks that they have nowadays having strong forearms and wrists is not as important is it was back in the wooden stick era.
Kaprizov, btw, is not very tall, but is an absolute truck in person.

 

[rsteen]

A 6'2" man should be 200+ pounds. To weigh 165-170 would be emaciated.

6'2" and 170lb is a BMI of 21.8. 200+ would be in the overweight category, which is fine if you're an NHL player and it's your job to add muscle, but not if you spend more time posting on here than in the rink or the weight room.

 

[1989]

A 6'2" man should be 200+ pounds. To weigh 165-170 would be emaciated.

I'm going to preface this with, "Americans have a really different idea of what a male body looks like than most other places, even places of majority Caucasian population." There's nothing wrong with being 6'2" and 170lbs. Your average adult human male, even with only light exercise and a moderately healthy diet, should only really weigh between 140-170lbs on average.

There's a few things in there - most Americans are likelier to have a mix of genetics from non-Eurasian gene pools, or inter-mixing between Eurasian gene pools. A 6'0 male from Estonia typically looks different in body composition than a comparable male from Minnesota because of genetic contributions to height, weight, and muscle/fat mass distributions.

Secondly, the American populace has a vastly different, and at many times, problematic daily diet compared to their European counterparts which, due to various factors, have long-lasting effects. We're talking processed foods, higher protein/sugar consumption, proteins raised with certain hormones, etc. This happens everywhere else too, but just in lesser quantities and different food health/safety regulations.

Athletes are, of course, an exception in many ways but otherwise for the rest of us exercise is only part of the health and fitness journey - as they say, "abs are made in the kitchen."

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Mass and density is not something that's as apparent as height is.

I'm 256. Granted, I could eat less ice cream, but I'm far from obese. You wouldn't see me from a distance and say "holy shit that guy's fat." You would never think I'm 256. People have guessed as low as 205.

I'm just really, really dense. I would imagine a disproportionate amount of successful athletes (not me, I'm worthless!) are also really dense.

Ice cream goggles.

 

[BlueDream]

I'm 256. Granted, I could eat less ice cream, but I'm far from obese. You wouldn't see me from a distance and say "holy shit that guy's fat." You would never think I'm 256. People have guessed as low as 205.

Actually I have said that.

I am 6-2 and 250 and unless you see up close and personal I do not look that fat

Agree to disagree. When you were crossing the street in front of me in my car, I couldn’t even see the intersection anymore.

 

[DarrylshutzSydor]

6'0" should be between 180-190
6'1" 190-200
6'2 200-210

 

[pi314]

Teams also pump height/weight up all the time. Give everyone like an extra inch and 10-15 pounds on paper.

Just like wrestling, it makes everyone sound a bit more impressive.

Like telling your wife you have 8 inches when it’s a solid 5 and 1/2.

 

[BlueDream]

A 6'2" man should be 200+ pounds. To weigh 165-170 would be emaciated.

This means that you’re probably fat. And maybe take a trip outside of the United States for once.

 

[DJN21]

OP you are fine the way you are.....is this a weird time to tell you this whole topic is kinda cringey?

 

[majormajor]

I think most of those numbers are believable for training camp. By the end of the season most guys have lost weight, and maybe that's part of why they sometimes look leaner.

I have seen some players where they tell you themselves that those numbers are wrong, or where reporting makes it obvious that it is wrong. For instance, when he first came over from the KHL, Dmitri Voronkov trained to get bigger and showed up 6'5 240 lbs. He was too slow. The club made him take time a year ago to drop weight. So he looked like he dropped 20 lbs fairly quickly, got quicker, and there were news reports about him doing so. But they kept listing him at 240 lbs, even this year, I think because that weigh in number carried some cache for him as a big enforcer.

 

[majormajor]

A 6'2" man should be 200+ pounds. To weigh 165-170 would be emaciated.

Unless you're carrying an above average amount of muscle, then 200+ lbs, even at 6'2, means that you're carrying dozens of lbs of extra fat. Fat that is slowing you down and not helping your health.

6'0" should be between 180-190
6'1" 190-200
6'2 200-210

Coming back to hockey players, those are some very narrow ranges. Hockey players have more diversity of body types than that. Some of them can't go up to those weights without losing speed on the ice.

 

[DarrylshutzSydor]

Unless you're carrying an above average amount of muscle, then 200+ lbs, even at 6'2, means that you're carrying dozens of lbs of extra fat. Fat that is slowing you down and not helping your health.



Coming back to hockey players, those are some very narrow ranges. Hockey players have more diversity of body types than that. Some of them can't go up to those weights without losing speed on the ice.

by that reasoning, Crosby would be considered fat.

 

[BLNY]

Are hockey players' weights generally exaggerated similarly as NBA players' height? Typically pro hockey players aren't built like tanks and their body types are probably mostly mesomorph ie. not the most muscular type. Where they have a lot of muscle and weight compared to an average Joe is legs, as some players are often described to have thighs like tree trunks.

I'm 6'2 and weigh around 185-190 lbs. My body type is mesomorph as well and I'm toned. I recently filled in a web form for my ideal body weight and supposedly it's only 165-170 lbs. This is why looking at some players' weight my eyebrows raise up.

Then I see players like Kiril Kaprizov with claimed weight of 202 lbs at 5'10, Teuvo Teräväinen at 191/5'11 and Jeff Skinner at 200/5'11. None of these guys seem that big. I guess some examples to the contrary exist as well, such as Nikolai Ehlers at 172 lbs and 6'0.

Does the body weight get exaggerated or do big thigh muscles explain most of it? Other than the legs, how does a hockey player's body typically differ from the average joe who's reasonably fit and goes jogging and hits the gym twice a week?

(The quoted data is from NHL.com)

That website is f***ed. 165 for 6'2? Turn sideways and you'll disappear. That's a beanpole.

I'm 6'3.5. I left high school at 190. As an adult, never lighter than 210, and I wasn't fat.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

6'2" and 170lb is a BMI of 21.8. 200+ would be in the overweight category, which is fine if you're an NHL player and it's your job to add muscle, but not if you spend more time posting on here than in the rink or the weight room.

This is true. According to BMI charts, a person with a lean body type at 6'2" is in the healthy category between 150-190 lbs. I actually am 6'2" 170 and am certainly not emaciated as a previous poster suggested someone at that size would look. If I had Crosby size legs and butt I probably would weigh 200+. BMI charts are useless when it comes to world class athletes, but are useful for normal people.

 

[EdJovanovski]

I play hockey and am fit, 5’9 180lb I have a coworker who’s same height and 150 and he’s quite fat. Everyone was shocked to learn I weigh more than him. Muscle is more dense than fat

 

[Fatass]

Are hockey players' weights generally exaggerated similarly as NBA players' height? Typically pro hockey players aren't built like tanks and their body types are probably mostly mesomorph ie. not the most muscular type. Where they have a lot of muscle and weight compared to an average Joe is legs, as some players are often described to have thighs like tree trunks.

I'm 6'2 and weigh around 185-190 lbs. My body type is mesomorph as well and I'm toned. I recently filled in a web form for my ideal body weight and supposedly it's only 165-170 lbs. This is why looking at some players' weight my eyebrows raise up.

Then I see players like Kiril Kaprizov with claimed weight of 202 lbs at 5'10, Teuvo Teräväinen at 191/5'11 and Jeff Skinner at 200/5'11. None of these guys seem that big. I guess some examples to the contrary exist as well, such as Nikolai Ehlers at 172 lbs and 6'0.

Does the body weight get exaggerated or do big thigh muscles explain most of it? Other than the legs, how does a hockey player's body typically differ from the average joe who's reasonably fit and goes jogging and hits the gym twice a week?

(The quoted data is from NHL.com)

NHL players typically have enormous lower bodies.

 

[1989]

by that reasoning, Crosby would be considered fat.

It's clear that you are looking only at raw numbers and not what the numbers mean; or you have little health or fitness education. Or, just being purposefully obtuse, which is why the internet is always a fun place to be.

 

[Machinehead]

Ice cream goggles.

I f***in love ice cream!

Actually I have said that.

Most of HFNYR has met me. Ask them if I'm fat!

This means that you’re probably fat. And maybe take a trip outside of the United States for once.

I'm probably about 6'2" (ok I probably have my shoes on in this scenario) and when I was 165 pounds, I was terribly sick. Under care for a good few months (long story). I looked like an absolute zombie until I was back over 210. Everyone's body is different.

 

[1989]

I f***in love ice cream!

Most of HFNYR has met me. Ask them if I'm fat!

I'm probably about 6'2" (ok I probably have my shoes on in this scenario) and when I was 165 pounds, I was terribly sick. Under care for a good few months (long story). I looked like an absolute zombie until I was back over 210. Everyone's body is different.

Sorry to hear you were ill, but I would state setting realistic fitness goals for healthy weight loss is a lot different than, "I got sick and lost a lot of weight that way." Apologies if I misinterpreted what you meant here.

I experienced severe muscle atrophy due to a prolonged illness and stay in hospital, and I entered the hospital at a healthy weight and lost 35% of my weight at its lowest point and at no point did I feel or look healthy or would be considered to be in good health.

Nobody with cancer says "I always wanted to be thin like this." Just as everyone's bodies are different, there are healthy or unhealthy weight loss methods.

 

[CarolinaBlueJacket]

Nathan Gerber
5'4" 180lbs

I didn't think it's exaggerated

 

[majormajor]

by that reasoning, Crosby would be considered fat.

I was talking diversity of body types. Do you know what that means? Some players can't go up to those weights without getting slow. Crosby can, because he has a different body type. Not that complicated.