helax
General Hockey Fan
- Apr 2, 2013
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- 164
He looks like a wounded gazell in them skates. Very funny clip!
Coyotes star Oliver Ekman Larsson tries on 80's equipment
Coyotes star Oliver Ekman Larsson tries on 80's equipment
I've always wanted to see current NHL stars play an exhibition game with old gear. It would probably look quite horrible. Of course a big part of that is that they aren't accustomed to that kind of equipment, but it makes you respect the old stars more.
Confirms a lot of the talking points in our standard “how good were 80s players” threads.
Ankle support in older skates was a fraction of what it is today. People didn’t magically become better ice skaters in the past 20 years. They didn’t grow an extra ice skating muscle in their leg. Put a modern player in that equipment and *poof* suddenly you see the exact same posture, speed, edgework, etc that you see in “terrible” players from yesteryear.
Same with the stick. It’s a different game when the shot velocity depends entirely on your ability to bend wood. No multi-layer synthetics generating flex to actively accelerate the puck off your stick. Just your body and a piece of wood. 90mph —> 70mph just by changing the stick.
It would be fascinating to see a goalie try a complete set of 80s equipment, but my guess is we’ll never see it due to insurance liability.
He's also never played with, or in, any of that equipment. Makes a huge difference... I would imagine if he skated a few months with it, you're seeing different results.
Confirms a lot of the talking points in our standard “how good were 80s players” threads.
Ankle support in older skates was a fraction of what it is today. People didn’t magically become better ice skaters in the past 20 years. They didn’t grow an extra ice skating muscle in their leg. Put a modern player in that equipment and *poof* suddenly you see the exact same posture, speed, edgework, etc that you see in “terrible” players from yesteryear.
Same with the stick. It’s a different game when the shot velocity depends entirely on your ability to bend wood. No multi-layer synthetics generating flex to actively accelerate the puck off your stick. Just your body and a piece of wood. 90mph —> 70mph just by changing the stick.
It would be fascinating to see a goalie try a complete set of 80s equipment, but my guess is we’ll never see it due to insurance liability.
He’d adjust to it, of course. His ankles would get stronger and he’d learn the limitations of what’s possible in those old skates. I doubt the shot would get much better, considering he’s already an all star caliber NHL defenseman who knows how to shoot with the best of them.
The point is, he’d never get to the level of taking 106 mph slapshots, or skating like a modern pro player. The equipment makes a true difference. This stuff puts guys like Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux in perspective.
I thought the Canes were already using goalies from the 80s...?I think the could get goalies to try out the older equipment if the shooters were using sticks from the same era. It would be fun, maybe something they could do at the ASG.
Confirms a lot of the talking points in our standard “how good were 80s players” threads.
Ankle support in older skates was a fraction of what it is today. People didn’t magically become better ice skaters in the past 20 years. They didn’t grow an extra ice skating muscle in their leg. Put a modern player in that equipment and *poof* suddenly you see the exact same posture, speed, edgework, etc that you see in “terrible” players from yesteryear.
Same with the stick. It’s a different game when the shot velocity depends entirely on your ability to bend wood. No multi-layer synthetics generating flex to actively accelerate the puck off your stick. Just your body and a piece of wood. 90mph —> 70mph just by changing the stick.
It would be fascinating to see a goalie try a complete set of 80s equipment, but my guess is we’ll never see it due to insurance liability.
No, but he would get his shot a lot closer to the 90 or whatever it is with a composite stick after using the wood stick for a while. Totally different shooting with wood. He was still shooting like he had a composite in his hand.
Look at guys in the early 90s. Most of them were still using wood sticks, and shooting 90-105. Iafrate, MacInnis...
here come all the old 'back in my day' guys
No phrase for "back swing" in Swedish?!
Funny - the example that immediately popped into my head was Bobby Hull. The sheer power he had to unleash a 100mph bullet 50 years ago would be amplified to a scary degree with today's composites.This is all absolutely right. Technology and advancements in sports is the same as other walks of life and professions. Give Michael Bay the same special effects limitations and props that George Lucas had in the 70's when he made the original Star Wars, and his movies would look just as "hokey." Advancements in CGI doesn't make Bay a better storyteller and director than Lucas. Give Babe Ruth today's bats and pitching machines to practice on every day and see how much greater he would be, which is scary.
Sporting equipment, vehicles, computers, etc. have all improved drastically over the years. These are tools that professionals use - it helps the professional but doesn't make them more talented - just aides and maximizes their talent. Could you imagine Bobby Hull shooting with a 1-piece composite of today?
This is a good article on the impact of stick technology, particularly the rise of composite sticks:
Stick shift: hockey stick technology is ‘great equalizer' | The Star
Here's the upshot:
For years, being proficient at shooting quickly and hard immediately made any player stand out on the ice. But because of the quickness of the strike, those types of shots either had to be practiced incessantly, the shooter had to have God-given ability or the shooter's arms and core needed to be considerably stronger than his counterparts in order for a shot to stand out.
The composite stick changed that forever. New sticks haven't made the top level shooter better. It has given everyone a chance to “unload” a powerful shot.
Now, again, OEL is one of the best goal-scoring defensemen in the world. It's absolutely possible he could work his way up to a 100mph slap shot with enough practice on a wood stick. But it's also very much a possibility that he doesn't have the god-given talent and strength of guys like MacInnis and Iafrate, who were able to do things with a stick that nobody else in the world could do over a very long period of time. Simply working a lot on his shot wasn't enough to make, say, Paul Coffey as hard a shooter as Al MacInnis.