Last night I watched a girls hockey high school game here in Boston, and there was one thing that jumped out at me immediately as soon as the players stepped out on the ice.
The 3 best players on both teams were all under 5 feet tall and probably weighed less than 120 pounds. This obviously isn’t always the case when it comes to elite female hockey players (take Angela Ruggerio and Hayley Wickenheiser as examples) but it does point to a really interesting phenomenon that has been happening in the women’s game over the last decade.
Elite female hockey players are getting smaller. And with the rule changes a few years back that took even more physical contact out of the game, I think we’ll see players get even smaller still.
In women’s hockey, it is all about speed, not size. In fact, being 6 feet tall and over 160 pounds can actually be a big disadvantage. When you are a bigger player competing with other girls who are 8 inches shorter and 40 pounds lighter, it is inevitable that you are going to be at risk for taking more penalties. I remember being frustrated by some of the penalty calls that were called against me as a result of small players practically “bouncing” off me as I skated down the ice with the puck. In today’s game, being big may give you an advantage when battling for pucks in the corners, but it might also increase the amount of time you spend in the penalty box.
Unlike the men’s game, where being 6 foot 2 and 220 pounds is the norm, the average size of an elite female hockey player is about 5 foot 6 and 135 pounds. Since the female game does not rely on brute strength in the same way the men’s game does, smaller, faster players can have a significant advantage over bigger players both physically and psychologically.
From a physical standpoint, smaller players don’t need to worry about getting crushed in the corners. They can skate through the neutral zone without worrying about getting run over. They can draw penalties by going in to fight with a bigger player and getting knocked down. This is also of great benefit from a psychological perspective as smaller players know that their size actually gives them advantage in a game where speed kills.
Keeping the game more about speed than size gives far more girls hockey players the opportunity to play the game without having to worry about being run over in the corner or getting hurt. I don’t think we are going to see girls hockey players getting super-sized anytime soon.
Work Hard. Dream BIG.
~ Coach Kim
