Blog post #2

• Introduction: The objective of my project is to see if the changes of equipment in over 40 years in the NHL have allowed the players to skate faster and shoot the puck harder. My method of finding the answer to my question is to watch NHL All-Star competitions dating back to 1994 to 2024. I am specifically going to be watching the fastest skater and hardest shot competitions to give me the best, most reliable data for my project. I will gather the data from both competitions find the averages of the data collected and compare them to years in the past and see if the new equipment has any factor in making players skate faster or shoot harder. 

• Progress So Far:

  • Key milestones 

     Some milestones that I have achieved while collecting my data were I have found key data that can prove that the new technology that has been introduced throughout the years has affected the player's skate speed and shot power. While I am watching the competitions the announcers have given me some key information when it comes to knowing more about the new technology. The announcers talk about how with the "newer" carbon fiber sticks, they offer stick flex to the players, and that matters when it comes to the hardest shot competition. Players with a higher stick flex over time have been known to win the hardest shot competition because the amount of weight that has to be put onto the stick to create force makes the output of the shot much harder. After all, it is creating more force towards the puck.

• • What is going well? 

     Some things that are going well in my research process are every video that I need of the All-Star competitions is on YouTube so they are very easy to find and watch which makes the process efficient and quick. Also, I am not losing interest in my research because I enjoy watching all of the competitions, I am learning a lot about the new technology that has been introduced and the other side of that, the older sticks and skates used back then.  

• Challenges and Problem-Solving:

     While watching some of the older competitions, because they didn't have a lot of the technology we have now, the mile-per-hour recording that usually pops up on the screen would sometimes not show up. To solve this issue I would go back to the time right after the player took the shot and listen closely to the announcers because they would announce the mile per hour after the player took the shot so that is how I got around that roadblock. Another roadblock that I hit was the 2004 and 2006 All-Star competitions were blocked on school wifi for some reason, so I just had to watch those two competitions at home to make sure I was able to get all of the data I needed for my project.

• Collected Data Highlights:

     Some data highlights that I have come across are during the hardest shot competition there have been some outliers in my data. This is because a rule in the competition is you have to make sure the puck goes in the net for you attempt to count, and there have been instances where players have missed the net completely which leaves the players laughing and in disbelief because one of the best players in the NHL missed the net from 15 feet away. Because this attempt doesn't count I have to put their mile-per-hour speed at 0 which ends up bringing the average down for that year. In contrast, there have been instances where players have broken records with high mile-per-hour shots that clear other player's shots. For example, in 2016 a defenseman for the Boston Bruins, Zdeno Chara recorded a shot that was 108.8 mph which was way higher than every other player's shot.

• Reflection: 

     I am enjoying my research so far, I like watching the older videos because those are players that I didn't get to watch growing up so seeing them in action is super interesting. I am learning more about how the introduction of carbon fiber two-piece sticks has helped players drastically when it comes to perfecting a hard shot in comparison to one-piece wooden sticks. I have also learned from listening to the announcers during the competitions that during the hardest shot competition, it is not about how high you bring the stick up before your shot, it is more about how fast you bring it down to the ice and how fast you can move your torso because most of the power comes from your core and legs. Also when shooting players should shoot it a little off the ice because if you shoot it too high your shot speed will decrease over time so keeping it lower will give you a better chance in wining the competition. On the other hand, during the skating competition I noticed that when turning those tight corners, the players that keep their feet moving crossing over their legs tend to get a better time because they are continuously gaining speed when crossing over instead of gliding around the corners like most player's tend to do.