Abstract

A championship professional hockey team was evaluated with regard to three systems: cardiovascular, muscular, and visual. The cardiovascular system was tested three times during the season, revealing little significant variation in fitness parameters from the preseason to the late-season periods. The visual and muscular testings were performed only during the preseason. Visual functions, especially eye speed and span, were positively correlated to faceoff ability, shot accuracy, and goal-tending capability. Muscular testing demonstrated the importance of hip strength in power skating; a rationale for the use of knee extension hip flexion and knee extension hip abduction ratios is clearly established. The most striking correlations were found in relating skating skills to muscle testing performances of the left lower extremity as opposed to the right. Regression analysis of the data made it possible to predict super-star capability with 100 correlation to only three simple tests. Verf.-Referat