Are Hockey Players Athletes?

[Wormwood]

The bartender at my local is trying to tell me that hockey is more of a skill than athleticism, arguing how there are little or no NHL players that had the opportunity to play other sports professionally and that's why they're not athletes. I told him he's full of shit and that hockey players are arguably the best athletes around because it combines both sides of the spectrum; the brute force of physical play plus the goal scoring finesse and then puts them on ice skates.
Does anyone else believe this guy?


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Boston Still Sucks!!!

[Tall_James]

No. He had obviously been sampling his own product when he said this to you. Or he's just stupid.

By that reasoning, all of the soccer players in the world are not athletes either because soccer is the "only game in town" for a lot of people.

Idiot.


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[Fallon]

I'll kill him!

Spend five minutes doing what hockey players do and tell me they're not athletes. You try stick handling a puck while skating around 230 pound guys are trying to crush you. Hockey's fucking tough.

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[FUNKMAN]

stick handling a puck while skating around 230 pound guys


and don't forget the boxing skills...

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[A.J.]

Yes.

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A Skidmark production.

Red Sox Nation

[Teenweek]

They are more athletes than baseball players who get tans in the outfield or the fat pieces of shit on the offensive line in football, who cannot run 50 yard without having a heart attack.

Of course they are athletes. The guy is an idot.

[Justice4all]

Ok you can tell this bartender to brush up on his bullshit skills because he is really lacking in it.
Hockey is the FASTEST SPORT ON TWO LEGS!
You need the agility of a soccer player with the constant running and motion or skating, the strentgh of a football player to deal with the hitting and the shoving, the eye of a baseball player to keep it on the puck at such fast speeds and the endurance of a cross country runner to stay on your feet for SO long.
Try doing sprints on the ice for 30-40 mins a night and let me know how your bartending buddy fares! because that is the average time a prime player is on the ice.
Stupid fuck...he would get killed on the ice!

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Cheer up Red Sox fans.....Anyone can have a bad century!

[JohnnyCash]

I can see the guy saying golfers arent athletes or bowlers, but not hockey players. Hockey players are great athletes, they would have to be to do what they do.


Thanks to Reefdwella for the great Sig Pic.
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[Crippler]

I've allowed people to bash baseball player for not being top-flight "athletes" in the past because there simply is no use trying to explain that Cecil Fielder, Steve Balboni, or David Wells, etc. are true athletes. Incredibly skilled, but not necessarily athletes.

But there is no way in hell you can argue that hockey players are not. The endurance, power, and skill it must takes to fly around a frictionless surface, with 5+ pound boots on each foot, balancing on a thin blade, with shoulder pads, a helmet (light as they may be), and a 5 foot long stick in your hands...all while looking down at a 4-inch disc while other 6 foot tall, 220-pounders are trying to crush you while traveling at 20+mph...is astonishing to me.

I've tried to play floor & street hockey (something I would love to see organized with board members), and I'm winded within minutes. I can't imagine the conditioning that must take place in the NHL.

The answer: YES, hockey players are athletes on the highest order. They may not be soccer players, cross-country runners, or tri-athletes, etc., but to say they aren't athletes because they were born in places where ice is more plentiful than green grass & clay is simply asinine.

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[Jennitalia]

tell him, Justice! right on!
on a side note, my ex played hockey in a couple of leagues. It was such a turn on to see him in action

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[zoom2457]

That bartender is a dumbass. He's probably just saying that because he doesn't like hockey.

Not only to hockey players have to be great skaters, great puck handlers, they also have to know how to fight.

"Excuse me, excuse me I believe you have my stapler"

[Heavy]

This bartender was obviously molested as a child. I'd like to know the distance the avg player skates during a game. If youre not in top shape, forget playing. Cant take a stick to the face? You wont last.

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[Wormwood]

He's probably just saying that because he doesn't like hockey.


yeah, that's what it came down to, he's still a dick though. Personally I don't really care for basketball because one of the major factors of being a basketball player (height) has nothing to do with being athletic. But I would never accuse all basketball players of not being athletic.

My rule of thumb is that if you can be good at a sport and still be a fat bastard it's a skill.


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I WANT CANDY, BUBBLEGUM OR TAFFY!!!

[Bama]

You guys sure are awful defensive about this.






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YANKEES SUCK

[Fallon]

You guys sure are awful defensive about this.
Hockey has the most loyal fans and we always take shit from people because the sport isn't as popular as football, basketball and baseball.

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[walking joint]

Of course they are athletes. The guy is an idot.


my thoughts exactly.

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finally a sig...SatCam rules

[Clark Kent]

It certainly takes more skill to play hockey than it does to shoot a basketball. Any 6th grader could dribble a ball and throw it into a hoop. Hockey is hard enough to play on sneakers, and sometimes you even forget that these guys are skating so fast on a slippery ice surface. And anyone who's ever played goalie and woken up the next day with welts will tell you that hockey is definitely a sport!

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[ogieoglethorpe]

Please, if they consider NASCAR a sport.....where will it end....my mechanic changing my flat is now a pro athlete

[Snoogans]

The bartender at my local is trying to tell me that hockey is more of a skill than athleticism, arguing how there are little or no NHL players that had the opportunity to play other sports professionally and that's why they're not athletes

hockey takes more athleticism than any sport. you need the hand-eye of baseball to keep the puck and knock it down, the team and playwork of basketball, all while someone 6'3 240 is tryin to put you on your ass, while your both on skates, and when they piss you off, you can punch them

you dont get more sport than that bitch

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TallJames is the man

EAT THAT FUCKIN SQUIRREL BABY!!!!!
That song rips off Cut the Mullet
Snoogans 1, Monitor 0

[carcass]

obviously , his wife is a lesbian....so he hates hockey[ either you get this or you dont] OR ogie is

do you tip this " guy"

face down in the gutter
wont admit defeat
thou his clothes are soiled and black
he's a big strong man , w/ a childs mind
dont you take his booze away

[cozmokramer]

And anyone who's ever played goalie and woken up the next day with welts will tell you that hockey is definitely a sport!

Very good point. When you try to tell football fans that hockey players are also in rough enviroments they always say "yeah but in football, it is more constant" Excuse me, but what does a goalie do? Their objet is to stop 100mph hard pieces of ruber, at some times where there aren't any pads. Hockey players are definetly athletes, and hockey is maybe even the hardest sport to be great at.


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[SatCam]

Floor Hockey without skates is much harder than any other hockey. If you're wearing roller blades, or ice skates, it's like riding a bike... less work for you.

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