CHAPTER 86 • ICE HOCKEY INJURIES 507- This may be at the cost of increased risk of wrist
and forearm injury.
b.Hockey pants have padding to protect from the hips
to the top of the knees (Official Rules of Ice
Hockey, 2001; Joyner and Snouse, 2002).
c. Shin pads should cover from the top of the knees to
the ankles (Joyner and Snouse, 2002).
•All protective equipment except helmets, facemasks,
padded hockey gloves, padded hockey pants, and
goalie leg pads are worn under the uniform (Official
Rules of Ice Hockey, 2001).
- Goalkeeper protective equipment (Official Rules of
Ice Hockey, 2001):
a. Blocker—worn on stick hand
b.Trapper glove worn on the nonstick hand. Looks
similar to a baseball mitt with protective padding
extending up the forearm.
c. Leg guards up to 12 in. in width on each leg.
d. Full masks are required. Form-fitting masks are not
recommended and are illegal except in adult
leagues. Use in adults requires signing a waiver.
e. Approved HECC helmets are required unless the
above formfitting mask includes a back skull plate.
f. Throat protector
g. Chest protector
h. Cup
i. Goalie skates - Stick (Official Rules of Ice Hockey, 2001):
a. Made of wood and may have tape covering any part.
b.The stick length is limited to 63.5 in. and the blade
length is limited to 12.5 in. Blade width is limited
to 3 in.
c. The goalkeeper’s stick has a wider (up to 3.5 in.)
and longer (up to 15.5 in.) blade.
d. Maximal curve on all sticks is 0.5 in. - Skates have a protective heel tip (not required for the
goalie) (Official Rules of Ice Hockey, 2001).
a. Probably the most important piece of equipment
used by the hockey player (Clanton and Wood,
2003).
b.Speed skates are prohibited (Official Rules of Ice
Hockey, 2001).
c. A 10- to 12-in. blade is attached to the base of the
boot (Official Rules of Ice Hockey, 2001; Joyner
and Snouse, 2002).
d. Many players prefer leather skates that have exter-
nal plastic shields for ankle support and protection
(Green et al, 1976).
e. Athletes usually prefer ice skates to be snugly fit
and may not wear socks so as to improve the feel
of the ice (Joyner and Snouse, 2002). - The puck is made of vulcanized rubber and weighs
between 5.5 and 6.0 oz. It is 1-in. thick and 3-in. in
diameter (Official Rules of Ice Hockey, 2001).
a. For midget league play, a 4.0-to 4.5-oz puck is
recommended (Official Rules of Ice Hockey,
2001).- Equipment that is in poor repair or that has been
altered for the purpose of causing harm to other play-
ers is prohibited. Use of such equipment results in
penalization of the offending player (Official Rules of
Ice Hockey, 2001).
PHYSIOLOGY OF ICE HOCKEY- Skating during a game involves repeated accelera-
tions, decelerations, turning, and stopping (Sim et al,
1988; Green et al, 1976). - The players skate forward, backward, and side to side,
often with sudden changes in direction (Sim et al,
1988; Green et al, 1976). - During competition, players will typically work at
70% of their VO2maxwith a substantial amount of play
at >90% VO2max(Sim et al, 1988; Ferguson, Marcotte,
and Montpetit, 1969).
a. However, with the frequent stoppage of play per
shift (on average 2–3) and with 3 to 4 min of rest
between shifts, the resulting mean VO 2 con-
sumed per game is 55–66% of maximum (Sim
et al, 1988; Ferguson, Marcotte, and Montpetit,
1969).
- Players can lose 4.5 to 6.5 lb via sweat per game (Sim
et al, 1988).
•If games are played in consecutive days, glycogen
stores are often not replenished (Sim et al, 1988). - Elite ice hockey players’ average 10% body fat (Sim
et al, 1988).
•Physiologic differences by position (Sim et al, 1988).
a. Energy expenditure- Playing time
i. Goalies have the least number of substitu-
tions and may play an entire game.
ii. Defensemen have more playing time than
forwards and typically have less rest time
between shifts.
2.Goaltending requires quick, short explosive
movements interspersed with periods of relative
rest.
i. High reliance on ATP phosphocreatine system. - Forwards and defensemen have a high reliance
on both glycolytic and aerobic metabolism.
i. During games, adult forwards and defense-
men skate greater than 4 mi.
ii. Energy expenditure is one-third aerobic and
two-thirds anaerobic.
a.Postgame lactate increases over eight
times the pregame level.
- Playing time