[VIDEO] NHL All-Star Fastest Skater: Track Inconsistencies & Lost Opportunities

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A look at the greatest flaw in the NHL All-Star Fastest Skater competition: the lack of consistency in the track length.

The NHL All-Star Fastest-Skater event is always one of the most anticipated events at the league's All-Star Weekend, placing players head-to-head against one another in a timed race. Many have assumed that the recorded times could be fairly and accurately compared between years in order to rank the fastest ever attempts.

As such, Mike Gartner's 13.386 second run, until this year, was regarded as the fastest full-lap attempt ever recorded in an All-Star event. Unfortunately, there is a fatal flaw that horribly complicates the record book and makes the times impossible to compare between certain years: the length of the track.

The track length has changed several times since the event was introduced, but few have ever paid close attention to this; the result is that the times are tainted and must be categorized into smaller categories based on track length.

In some years prior to 1998-99, the nets were placed in front of the goal crease; the goal crease was 6 ft in length, while the distance from the goal line to the end boards was 11 ft. The nets, thus, were 17 ft from the boards. In 1998-99, when the league changed the distance from the end boards to the goal line from 11 ft to 13 ft; to compensate for this, the nets were moved to the goal line, lengthening the track by 4 ft at each end (8 ft total from net to net).

When the league redrew the lines for the 2005-06 season, the goal lines were moved back to their earlier position of 11 ft from the end boards, but at the six subsequent NHL All-Star Skills Competitions, the nets were placed at the goal line, thus making the track even lengthier than they were between 1998-99 and 2003-04.

The ends of each track in 1996, when Gartner set his record, were 17 ft from the end boards; between 1998-99 and 2003-04, they were 13 ft from the end boards; from 2005-06 to 2010-11, they were 11 ft from the boards.

The closer the nets are to the boards, the tighter the turns are the more each player decelerates in order to make the turn.

As a result of these differences, several players whose times could very well have challenged or beaten Gartner's time, were never provided an opportunity to rewrite the record. Sami Kapanen, for instance, recorded a 13.649 seconds with the nets at the goal line, 13 ft from the end boards. Andy McDonald recorded a time of 14.03 seconds in 2007 with the ends of the track 11 ft from the end boards.

Last year, there was a controversy with Dylan Larkin's run, as he received a running start. This year, Connor McDavid raced in the same conditions as Mike Gartner in 1996 and recorded a quicker time of 13.310 seconds.

One never knows whether a player such as Scott Neidermayer would have broken that record. His time of 13.783 seconds, and Bill Guerin's time of 13.690 seconds with nets 13 ft from the end boards are impressive. Michael Grabner's time of 14.061 seconds with nets 11 ft from the end boards is also impressive.

The lack of regard by the NHL to standardize the track length, and their negligence to enforce consistency has made years' worth of attempts impossible to compare with one another unless we categorize them separately.
 

GMR

Registered User
Jul 27, 2013
6,087
5,064
Parts Unknown
I remember when Gaborik made the ASG many years back, but for some reason wasn't included in the fastest skater competition. Made me want to throw my remote at the TV.
 

sr edler

gold is not reality
Mar 20, 2010
11,845
6,290
They should make these fastest skater runs with a puck on their sticks. Hockey is played with a puck for Christ's sake.

Ryan Giggs, the Welsh soccer player, was awesome fast with the ball on his feet. Leo Messi and Gareth Bale too. That's a whole different thing than being a fast soccer player without the ball.

Puck control is key. Acceleration is also often key in game situations, to separate yourself from your opponents. No one really needs to make a full lap in a game situation. It's quite rare.


Edit: Nice thread though, Jets.
 
Last edited:

threetimer*

Registered User
Aug 1, 2016
433
10
Yeah, good thread with some obvious but often overlooked points.

I like the H2H race though, and I like it without the puck.

I wanna see the shirts flap.
 

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