Best athletes, teams-wise - Hockey or Basketball or Soccer or American football or Rugby?

[OAITW r.2.0]

Last edited Mon May 24, 2021, 10:15 PM - Edit history (1)

Same basic team concept, but totally different skills required. Hockey requires constant line changes to keep the game movings, but basketball requires a lot more endurance over the course of the game. Playing BB was a challenge, but skating with a stick was pretty damn physically exhausting....

[bottomofthehill]

1. Hockey players are in amazing physical shape.

The Jane eye coordination of baseball players, the strength of football players (not linemen), the endurance of basketball and soccer players. A hockey player is an amazing athlete

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. I agree.....the energy needed to move and maintain balance takes it to another level, IMHO.

[bottomofthehill]

3. Plus 200 pound bodies are constantly crashing into each outer

With it with out the boards getting her buy a 200 pound guy moving at a high rate of speed sucks.

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. The hits can be brutal.

And they are frequent. No wonder you need bench time after 3 minutes of action....

[bottomofthehill]

5. When younger and in reasonably good shape

A two minute shift was a long time, in the NHL, a minute is too long.

[OneBlueDotS-Carolina]

7. forwards change much faster than three mins...

Most are under 50 seconds...defense a touch longer, depends on the pace of the game...stay out too long, hard to recover.

[OAITW r.2.0]

8. Growing up, I played pond hockey....3 minutes was too much.

I did not realize that changes happen that frequently....I thought it was 2-3 max.

[OneBlueDotS-Carolina]

10. Very good explanation of current shift times

https://www.nhl.com/flyers/news/inside-the-numbers-shorter-shifts-matter/c-316598992

[caraher]

13. NHL shifts are very different from "beer league"

Under 1 minute is common at the highest level; as you move down the food chain into recreational hockey, shifts get longer.

I remember one team I was on (recreational) we had an "extra" forward (that is, we had I think two full lines plus one forward) and I suggested that the oldest guy, the most overweight guy and I (also on the older end) just share left wing for the whole game. We did, I think all of us got a point or two because we skated closer to our top speed than we would have skating every other shift.

The next week, same situation. But the big guy balked, saying, "But I'm getting less ice time." Well, when the last 60 seconds of your shift consists of standing around by the boards too gassed to move, what's the point of "ice time?" His shifts often ran long in part because he wasn't fast enough to change on the fly! Anyway, that ended what I thought was a very effective experiment.

[OAITW r.2.0]

14. LOL, great perspective!

Never played to your level, not even close. My primary experience was maintaining ice balance while trying to handle the puck in make up games.

[dem4decades]

6. Soccer

[OAITW r.2.0]

9. Soccer and Hockey share a lot in terms of scoring concept.

You have to have endurance to play soccer....no line changes for you! I ought to change my OP to add soccer and American football....that would interesting!

[dem4decades]

11. I remember when the old TV shows pitted athletes against each other to find the fittest.

Kyle Rote Jr, a soccer player, always won, at least that's how I remember it.

The bowlers and race car drivers didn't fare so well. Lol

[OAITW r.2.0]

12. I remember when I thought Bruce Jenner was the great American individual story....but not as

socially important as John Carlos and Tommie Smith's accomplishments in '68.

[unc70]

15. Lacrosse is also very demanding

In other words, brutal.

[OAITW r.2.0]

16. More brutal than Hockey?

It's about speed of contact. Don't know much about lacrosse, but it seems like a turf version of hockey.

[unc70]

17. Almost no padding, minimal protective gear

Running full speed, hitting with big sticks, full contact. You will have to judge for yourself how it compares with the other sports.

Right now is a good time to see good lacrosse competition. This weekend is the NCAA Final Four in men's and women's lacrosse. The ESPN networks and apps have full coverage starting at noon Friday and Saturday.

FYI field hockey is the turf version of hockey.

[OAITW r.2.0]

18. I get it...the dudes that played Lacrosse at my school were a special breed.

You played or you didn't. Great athletes...even better partiers.

[bluedigger]

19. Hockey for conditioning, basketball for overall athleticism.

Soccer is out due to lack of upper body use (other than the occasional header), and football wins for strength. Don't know enough about rugby to fairly judge, but it seems like it's a blend of the others. Baseball wins for hand eye coordination.