Figure Skating and Ice Hockey, Closer-Knit Than We Thought.

BusyMom said:

Apart from both sport using the same type of facilities, FS and hockey seem to be in a very opposite nature. Some skaters started with both before going full stream to their final choices. I just came across the article stated that Chan and Nyugen started FS to improve their hockey skills.
http://www.theobserver.ca/2014/03/18/high-hopes-for-figure-skater-nam-nguyen

Brian Orser, who happened to have his name attached to one of the Hockey Arena, uses hockey power play techniques to improve skaters' speed in his coaching. Max Aaron is famously linked to hockey. Nathan Chen also involve in both sports.

On the other hand, figure skating happened to be a part of NHL players training in the recent years.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=590542

Click to expand...

It developed over a childhood split between hockey and figure skating. As a playmaking center, White competed in the Detroit metro area playing AAA hockey for the Honeybaked Hockey Club, a prominent local organization that has sent more than 50 players to the NCAA ranks and seen 18 former players drafted by NHL teams since 2000 -- including Ryan Kesler, Tim Gleason and Jim Slater.

While White developed world-class skating skills that would eventually earn him Olympic glory, he was also playing hockey at an incredibly high level, all while balancing both sports with school. Already established as a teen as one of the country's top junior skaters, White won a state hockey championship as well. But when it came time to choose one sport, he knew his future was in ice dancing with Davis; it's an on-ice relationship that remains one of the longest lasting in the country. White's hockey teammates were more than understanding.

"I was such a good skater that they really respected what figure skating was able to do for my hockey. I think that led them to respect figure skating. Through the years, I've been in contact with the guys and they continue to be very supportive," said White, who followed up Olympic silver in 2010 by winning gold at the World Championships in 2011, the first by an American team in ice dancing. "They were very understanding when I decided to step away from hockey."

Click to expand...

dorispulaski said:

And Kristi Yamaguchi marrying hockey player Hedican.

Click to expand...

dorispulaski said:

We know figure skating ladies who have trained hockey skaters in power skating. This lady has done it for 20 years.

http://figureskating.about.com/od/getstartedfigureskating/tp/secretshockey.htm

And then there's "Battle of the Blades."

And Kristi Yamaguchi marrying hockey player Hedican.

Click to expand...

.


Two types of athletes, two types of skating, two groups that may not always find common ground — or in this case, ice.

“Neither one understands the other, unless you try them both,” said Omahan Sarah Lopez, a former competitive figure skater who has also played her fair share of hockey. “Each sport feels ownership of the ice, and when there's limited availability, the claws really come out.”
.....


Lopez grew up figure skating, but later, because of injuries, gave it up and played hockey in high school and also at the club level in college. She now coaches skills development to local hockey players.

She's gotten concussions while competing in both sports, but has no doubt which is more dangerous.

That would be the one in which — at 5-foot-4 and 110 pounds — she was one of the taller participants.

“Figure skaters are moving at incredible speed and lobbing their bodies into the air while wearing tights and a lycra dress,” she said. “At least hockey players are wearing pads.”

Click to expand...

dorispulaski said:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydne_Vogel

1997 Ladies Junior World champion, Sydne Vogel, started skating as a hockey player, but switched to figure skating after two years in hockey.

Click to expand...

guenever said:

Margaret Purdy (2013 world junior pairs medalist) started out as a hockey player.

Click to expand...