In the game of female hockey, speed kills.
With the absence of full body checking, the girls and women with great speed have always been at a serious advantage. Even the smallest players could fly down the ice at full speed without worrying about getting drilled through the boards.
Since the rules changed a few years back, when every possible type of obstruction became illegal, those speedy forwards have become every defenseman’s nightmare. At least in the men’s game, defensemen can slow down the forwards (who are carrying the puck of course) with a well-timed body check. However, in the women’s game, the defensemen have to be as quick (if not quicker) than the forwards in order to gain and maintain proper positioning throughout the neutral and defensive zones.
And although the female game has never really been about size, traditionally some of the world’s best players have also been some of the game’s biggest (Ruggeiro and Wickenheiser). Both ‘Ruggers’ and ‘Wick’ used their size extremely effectively at both ends of the rink to gain and maintain puck possession and body position.
As of late, it seems that the next generation of up-and-comers on the international stage are getting smaller and faster. A player like Erica Lawler (from Team USA - seen above) may not have been able to withstand the physical demands of the female game at its most elite levels a few years back before the rules changed. In today’s game, Lawler’s 5 foot frame and amazing foot speed gives her a serious advantage at the international level. The formerly dominant ‘bigger’ players are now at a serious disadvantage, as it is very difficult to match the speed and agility of a player with a much lower center of gravity and less weight to move around the ice.
Now, more than ever, in the world of female hockey, speed and agility are what separate the ‘best’ from the ‘rest’.
Every young female hockey player - big or small - must focus on developing these qualities if they want to take their game to the next level. Sure, having a big slap-shot or great one-on-one moves are great skills, but they will mean very little in the female game unless they are coupled with great speed and agility.
These critical athletic abilities are best learned at a young age - both on and off the ice. When it comes to teaching proper speed mechanics and agility principles to young female players, the earlier, the better. The female game is only getting faster and it looks like it will be the ’speedier’ players that will dominate the game for years to come.
Until next time,
Kim
