thestonedkoala
Going Dark
- Aug 27, 2004
- 28,255
- 1,617
I know you got guys like Marian Gaborik and Paul Coffey, guys that are blazing fast or silky smooth in their skating. And then you guys like Derek Boogaard and Dave Semenko who were...terrible.
But is there too much emphasis on skating from prospects? I know that balance and agility is important but speed and skating style?
If a player can skate and be effective with their skating, shouldn't that be enough.
Not every player is going to be a Coffey or a Gaborik but I think that when prospects are evaluated scouts try to find something wrong and skating is one of the easier knocks to look at.
Case in point; Zach Phillips. From reports from the prospect camp his skating isn't as bad as a lot of people make it out to be and he's doing actually pretty good at their camp. But everyone knocked him saying his skating is terrible and one of the reasons why he fell.
So if a player has bad skating, shouldn't agility and balance be more important on the skates then speed and style?
But is there too much emphasis on skating from prospects? I know that balance and agility is important but speed and skating style?
If a player can skate and be effective with their skating, shouldn't that be enough.
Not every player is going to be a Coffey or a Gaborik but I think that when prospects are evaluated scouts try to find something wrong and skating is one of the easier knocks to look at.
Case in point; Zach Phillips. From reports from the prospect camp his skating isn't as bad as a lot of people make it out to be and he's doing actually pretty good at their camp. But everyone knocked him saying his skating is terrible and one of the reasons why he fell.
So if a player has bad skating, shouldn't agility and balance be more important on the skates then speed and style?