Maximal Oxygen Consumption Requirements in Professional North American Ice Hockey

• Ferland, Pierre-Marc ^[1] ; Marcotte-L'Heureux, Viviane ^[1] ; Roy, Philippe ^[1] ; Carey, Vincent D. ^[1] ; Charron, Jeremie ^[1] ; Lagrange, Sebastien ^[1] ; Leone, Mario ^[2] ; Comtois, Alain Steve ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Quebec in Montreal
  2. [2] University of Quebec in Chicoutimi
• Localización: Journal of strength and conditioning research: the research journal of the NSCA, ISSN 1064-8011, Vol. 35, Nº. 6, 2021, págs. 1586-1592
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This study was designed to measure preseason on-ice relative V[Combining Dot Above]O2max of professional ice-hockey players (n = 101 National Hockey League [NHL], 42 American Hockey League [AHL], 4 East Coast Hockey League [ECHL], and 15 Canadian Hockey League [CHL]) throughout 17 years and compare it between generations, league level, and position, and to verify if it was related to season and NHL career statistics. Relative V[Combining Dot Above]O2max was measured on ice with a portable metabolic analyzer (K4b2, Cosmed, Rome) with full hockey equipment, except for the helmet with either the Skating Multistage Aerobic Test or the 30-15 intermittent ice test tests. Relative V[Combining Dot Above]O2max results from both tests were compared between players of the same generation with an independent-samples T-test and were not significantly different. A one-way analysis of variance and post hoc pairwise tests were performed to detect significant differences between groups. Pearson correlations (two-tailed) were also performed between selected variables. All statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results show that there are no significant differences for relative V[Combining Dot Above]O2max between generations (2001-2003 vs. 2006 vs. 2015-2017), league level (NHL vs. AHL vs. ECHL vs. CHL), and position (winger, center, and defense), other than the ECHL being lower. There are also no significant relationships between V[Combining Dot Above]O2max values and hockey season and NHL career statistics. Thus, the results show that there is a minimal relative V[Combining Dot Above]O2max requirement to play North American ice hockey at the elite level (55.9 +/- 5.2 ml[middle dot]kg-1[middle dot]min-1; n = 162). Future research should be directed toward comparing V[Combining Dot Above]O2max of elite and amateur ice-hockey players to confirm the minimal relative V[Combining Dot Above]O2max requirement to play North American ice hockey at the elite level.