Nashville Predators Talk - 2024/2025 Season

[AtlantaWhaler]

For hockey, I'd want acceleration and agility over top speed. The ability to burst past a defender, stop and start on a dime, and move laterally better than others can give you a great advantage.

Agreed. The only time top speed is key is when racing after an iced puck or racing to get back on the backcheck. Otherwise, there's really no time to even hit that speed

 

[Armourboy]

If Josi was ever truly "fast" he isn't now. I don't know the last time he's actually recovered from being out of position defensively and broke up a play.

Rate of acceleration is more important in many ways than flat out speed. Having both is nice but if I had to pick one I'd choose acceleration.

Josi damn near beat McDavid at an allstar game once when they did the fastest lap competition. It's been a while ago but it was pretty dang tight.

 

[triggrman]

Josi damn near beat McDavid at an allstar game once when they did the fastest lap competition. It's been a while ago but it was pretty dang tight.

I think it was Karlson and Josi did win between those 2

 

[Armourboy]

I think it was Karlson and Josi did win

No Josi came in second, and everyone was shocked by it because no one had a clue he had that kind of umph.

 

[Armourboy]

Got the player wrong it was Dylan Larkin.

Team East	Time (sec)	Heat	Time (sec)	Team West
Dylan Larkin	12.894	1	13.527	Roman Josi
Brandon Saad	13.634	2	14.026	Matt Duchene
Erik Karlsson	14.630	3	13.654	Taylor Hall
Kris Letang	14.081	4	14.203	Dustin Byfuglien

BTW Larkin broke Gartner's record that year.

It was in 2016.

 

[wmupreds]

Josi has definitely lost a step. Last time I remember him really having the juice to get back and break stuff up from out of position, which used to be a hallmark of his game, was the 21-22 near Norris year. Still a great player, just having to adjust to time like everyone else.

But yeah, top line speed isn't everything. I think most people would agree McDavid is the best skater in the league, and while he's very fast, I think last I saw he was outside the top ten in the league in flat line speed according to the edge numbers. It's his ridiculous ability to change speed and direction more than anything.

 

[Legionnaire11]

I've always wondered how valuable top speed truly is given how rarely you actually get the chance to hit it.. I'd think acceleration is the more important thing but much more difficult to measure.

EDGE also has number of 20mph+ bursts, and I think that's a more telling stat then just top speed, because it shows players who are hitting the highest gears more consistently. Nathan MacKinnon pretty much lapped the field in that category last season, and most of the rest of the top performers are the ones who match the eye-test on "that's a fast player" and uses their speed effectively. There's always surprises and outliers, but it's a pretty good metric IMO

 

[triggrman]

No Josi came in second, and everyone was shocked by it because no one had a clue he had that kind of umph.

I menta between him and Karlson not overall