The best hockey players are more often than not, the best skaters. Connor McDavid, he’s got the best acceleration and stride extension the NHL has ever seen. Sidney Crosby, he’s powerful and uses his edges to protect the puck like no one else. Erik Karlsson, he’s an effortless skater. The NHL’s best are all very different players, but they share one thing in common: they possess elite skating skills.
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However, no one, and I mean no one, can do the things Jeff Skinner can do with his edges. It is well documented that Skinner was a competitive figure skater well into his teenage years. The thing about figure skating is that it requires balance and edge training to achieve smoothness and beauty. Over the years, one of the figure skating movements that has made the transition to hockey is the “mohawk.”
The mohawk, or spread eagle is a transition maneuver in figure skating. The maneuver requires the skater to open both hips, turn both feet outwards and glide along either the inside or outside edges of the blade. It is very rare to see a mohawk performed using outside edges in hockey. Generally, it is used as a puck protection tool in the offensive zone. Sidney Crosby put on this clinic against the Senators in the playoffs.
Crosby uses his inside edges to put his back side between the puck and the defender. The mohawk is effective here because the only way a defender can “stop” Crosby is by trying to push him off balance (not happening), or to take a penalty. Because his centre of gravity is directly over the puck, it enables Crosby to put weight on either foot, controlling his movement. The wide base makes it infinitely more difficult, if not impossible to stick check him because of the angle. Performing the mohawk while turning and protecting the puck is the easiest way to perform it, which is what most NHLers do.
Using the mohawk as a skating maneuver on the rush on zone entries is an entirely different animal. Two players stick out as being able to do this regularly, and to perfection: Jeff Skinner and Jeremy Bracco. Bracco uses the mohawk almost to a fault. He’s so confident with it, that he uses it over regular skating. Using the mohawk on the rush requires incredible balance, centre of gravity control and weight transfer within each foot. If used effectively, it allows the player to do the following: continuously face the play, avoid check by slipping through tight areas, it allows the player to see what is behind and in front of the play.
I know it is hard to do, but take your eyes off Bracco for a second and watch the defenders. First of all, the speed Bracco does this at is absolutely ridiculous. He generates speed as he rounds the net, which is hard to do when you consider that requires pushing using different muscles than a regular stride. The mohawk uses small muscles in the glutes, inner thighs (adductors longis & magnus), and calves.
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After he enters the zone, he strides in mohawk formation to generate power. This allows him to survey his options and react accordingly. Against Erie, he recognizes the passing opportunity and immediately moves the puck fora highlight reel, primary assist. Against Latvia, he finds nothing upon entry, continues around the net and mohawks from the face-off dot into the slot where he releases the puck … three seconds later. As noted in the video, by continuously facing the play and the net, Bracco can move then shoot the puck as soon as an option presents itself. This is a big advantage when you consider the lack of time there is to make play in today’s game.
Arguably, Bracco overuses the mohawk maneuver. Once he learns to harness it, make it more powerful and glide less, it will make him extremely difficult to deal with. It will make an already slippery player, more slippery, meaning he’s going to catch guys lunging at him and draw a lot of penalties.
Now, we get to the master of the mohawk. In hockey, that is Skinner. He uses the mohawk differently, and less, than Bracco. Skinner has one extra element to his mohawk. He can do it on his outside edges, too. Not only can he do it with both edges, he can transition from one to the other, seamlessly. So, if you thought Bracco and Crosby were difficult to deal with, I present to you, Jeff Skinner.
Both of these plays ended in a Hurricanes goal, both were created by Skinner’s use of the mohawk. The angles on the first goal pay justice to the intricacy of the footwork. Consider Skinner does not break stride once while transitioning. While he doesn’t use the outside mohawk here, he does use his outside edge to transition and protect the puck as he moves it to Eric Staal. By putting his body between the defender and the puck and Staal, it prevents the defender from attacking Staal. As he continues towards the net, the mohawk serves him well behind the net. He uses it to speed up his movement towards the far post. Because his hips are open and the post is on his stick (strong) side, the mohawk allows him to get the puck around the post quicker. This is because he does not have to bring the puck across his body to wrap it because he’s already facing the direction he needs to be. If he was crossing over or performing a tight turn, the puck would have to cross his body, thus, elongating the path and time it takes. That split second created by his use of the mohawk is the reason he was able to beat Howard to the post.
The second goal was in the early part of this season against the Leafs. Skinner nearly turned himself into a pretzel and somehow, maintained balance and the puck! Not only that, he made the play that led to the goal by Jooris. Pay careful attention to his right foot as he enters the mohawk. He turns and cuts on the outside edge, allowing him to subtly change direction. As he shifts weight to his left foot, he is on his inside edge. By the time he makes the pass, he is still on his left foot, but on his outside edge. Remarkably, Skinner used both edges on both feet, one by one, within 1.5 seconds. That’s four (!) directional changes in less than two seconds. Good luck defending that, it is borderline impossible.
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More and more, teams are focusing on skating. Players who are slippery are being rewarded with the crackdown on obstruction, be it hooking, holding or slashing. The mohawk gives a player with the puck the ability to put their body between the puck and the defender (Crosby), continuously face the play and create opportunities (Bracco), and create in the offensive zone off the rush and below the dots (Skinner). The ability to change direction with intricate edge work gives these players a distinct advantage. Yes, all players use the mohawk to varying degrees, but the ones who are really good at it, benefit immensely. It is one of those “little things” that creates the extra second of space required to create a scoring opportunity, which is a difference maker in today’s game.
(Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)
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