Are there figure skaters who transitioned from ice hockey?

[FethryDuck]

Hi, just wondering if there are figure skaters who transitioned from ice hockey.
As my son likes ice hockey I sometimes watch with him.
I always found it fascinating how "stable" they are on their skates (even being tackled and body-checked) and which super quick moves they do without (mostly ...) falling.
Especially as "the skating part" is just a means to move on the playing field; i.e. I'd guess most of the "brain work" goes into the "playing &scoring goals" part.

I would assume that with that amount of body control, the "keeping balance under challenging conditions" and the "advanced mechanics of skating" an ice hockey player would have a huge headstart when switching to figure skating. (Compared to someone who's just skated a bit under "mild conditions".)

I picture that a former ice hockey player would be able to fully concentrate on the "artistic bit" of the figure skating because the rest would basically go on "autopilot", given the experience of having skated a lot under "harsh conditions" when playing ice hockey.

Remains the point that most ice hockey players probably do not want to become figure skaters otherwise they had gone for figure skating in the first place ....

Just a funny thought but who knows.

 

[gmyers]

nbc would not stop calling Charlie white a former hockey player

 

[gkelly]

If you're talking about elite skaters: Some skaters started out in hockey as young children and decided within a few months or a couple of years that they were more interested in figure skating, but made the switch while they were still quite young.

Some started out doing both hockey and figure skating and decided quite young just to focus on the latter. Or not so young, i.e., Charlie White was still playing hockey in his mid-teens. But he didn't switch from hockey to figure skating -- he had been doing hockey and singles skating and ice dance for years, until he decided to give up hockey and not long after that to give up singles, to focus on the ice dance.

At a recreational level, yes, adult or teen skaters might make the switch from hockey to figure skating, but would not likely reach every advanced levels.

If they want to pass figure skating tests or enter figure skating competitions, they would need to learn actual figure skating skills. Being comfortable on the ice already from their hockey experience would be a huge advantage compared to beginners without that experience, but they would have a lot of catching up to do compared with skaters who had been training in figure skating for years already.

Battle of the Blades was a Canadian TV show pairing hockey players with figure skaters to perform figure skating-style duets.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=battle+of+the+blades

Again, these hockey players had a big advantage in that they were already comfortable on the ice and had some basic skating skills. But the way this show was structured, they just needed to develop some very basic figure skating skills -- what I see in the videos I watched at that link was figure skating-style crossovers and maybe mohawks, very rarely even basic three turns. Most of what they were doing was on two feet, or simple gliding, not necessarily on edges. (Or in the air, in the case of female hockey skaters paired with male figure skaters.) The focus was more on performance skills and partnering skills to achieve impressive lifts and sometimes other pair skills, using the existing skills of the figure skating partner, in order to perform duets that were fun for audiences to watch. It wasn't about teaching the hockey players to master the basic figure skating skills they would need if they actually wanted to become figure skaters.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Remains the point that most ice hockey players probably do not want to become figure skaters otherwise they had gone for figure skating in the first place ....

Just a funny thought but who knows.

Barry Soper was the Canadian novice (1967), junior (1969), and senior (1971-74) ice dance champion with his girlfriend-later-wife Louise Lind. He was a teenage hockey player with no interest in learning to figure skate, aiming for a career at least in Junior hockey, when he noticed Louise among the figure skaters who had practice ice after his team's practice session. Teen romance followed and he was persuaded to take up figure skating for the first time at 17 in order to skate with her. He had only been on figure skates for two years when they won their first Canadian championship (novice). They won silver at Skate Canada International in 1973 and competed at Worlds from 1971-74. Louise retired from skating and worked as a dental hygienist, but Barry became an ice dance coach in Vancouver.

 

[el henry]

Max Aaron, 2013 US mens champion. He played hockey at a high level for his age bracket and simultaneously figure skating. As @gkelly noted, almost no one "transitions" from solely hockey to solely figure skating, at least in the US, they do both and then choose.

I'm way more impressed by the fact that Max and his sister Maddie (US Team pairs skater with Max Settlage, two time US Pewter Medalists) were born and raised in Arizona and skated at a elite level competitively

 

[Diana Delafield]

In small-town Canada, the rink is the activity centre and kids do both, to be with their friends and to get more ice time. In their teens, many boys who realize they are going to be small then drop hockey and concentrate on figure skating, the most famous example being Kurt Browning.

 

[4everchan]

Kieran Trasher is a pairs skater for Canada.

With partner Chloe Panetta he is a National junior champion.

He is now skating with Jazmine Desrochers who was a recreational skater.

They have won medals on the JGP circuit the last couple years, including two bronzes at the JGPF.

At nationals this year, they competed in the senior category and managed a nice 5th place.

They are really nicely well matched. I enjoy them a lot.

Kieran was doing hockey at a much higher level than figure skating, but was starting to see he could be a good pairs skater... He let life decide for him... he didn't get drafted so he switched completely to figure skating a few years ago

 

[thorag]

I think Liam Firus Olympian from Canada and Kirstin Moore Towers's husband started in hockey and switched at the age of 8

 

[gmyers]

What’s really interesting is in the early days of IJS when all single skaters were doing level 1 step sequences and that was the most normal and common level you see Charlie white in his step sequences getting level 3!! This was the year he and Davis were jr ice dance champs and he was still doing singles

 

[Query]

A lot of skating coaches teach both. Because at a given rink, that lets them coach at more sessions, and make more money. A few of them teach speed skating too, as well as skiing, various forms of dance & yoga, and perhaps other sports. Athleticism, like teaching, often caries over well between sports.

BTW, have you seen "The Cutting Edge" movie & its sequels? The first one, and some of the others deal with switching. They are very funny, but I admit aren't altogether realistic.

I assisted in Learn to Skate lessons for a few years. When young hockey boys who were good at hockey skating were forced to take figure skating lessons by their parents (because someone told the parents it would help their hockey skating skills), but weren't actually interested in figure skating, they usually spent their class time harassing the young girls who were just learning to skate. It was something we needed to work against. Almost as bad as putting a brother and sister in the same class. (You definitely don't want a young hockey boy in the same class as his sister!) But they got through the first few sets of LTS classes very easily, because early LTS classes mostly focus on skills they already had. The skills that didn't overlap, they often didn't work on much. Trying to force someone to learn something they don't want to participate in doesn't always go smoothly. You could ask your son whether he is interested. He may have fairly strong feelings about it. Part of the problem is that (at least in U.S. culture) figure skating for tween and teen age boys is often culturally associated an image many boys don't want.

 

[Tavi...]

I think Nathan Chen wanted to be a goalie but his mom diverted him to figure skating & ballet before he ever got started in hockey

 

[ice coverage]

Nathan Chen really did play ice hockey, at the same time that he was a successful figure skater.

Nathan's active involvement in hockey was discussed in an IceNetwork article before 2015 Nats, his first as a senior. Excerpts:

During the day, Chen is on the ice, in figure skates, ... under the watchful eye of coach Rafael Arutunian ...​

he returns to the rink later that night to join his other training mates -- his teammates on his U16 Midget A hockey team.​

"At first, I wanted to be a goalie," said Chen, ... "... But my family said being a goalie would be boring, just standing there in front of the net, not skating. So I decided to play up [at forward] instead."​

Although he practices on the same ice for skating and hockey, he keeps his ice worlds separate. Skating, where he has been exceptionally successful, having won two novice titles and two junior crowns, is where he is most serious. Hockey, which he hopes he can continue playing until the U18 level, is more for fun.​

He doesn't plan on giving up either anytime soon.​

Some of his hockey teammates know he will be competing at the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, and some don't. The ones in the know are supportive, Chen said, and his hockey coach understands why Chen is missing a few hockey practices these days. ...​

​

Chen was about three years into his figure skating career when he decided to lace up hockey skates as well. ...​

​

For his part, Arutunian supports his young skater's passion for hockey ...​

​

https://nathanchen.figureskatersonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Armed-with-quads-Chen-ready-for-Greensboro-_-icenetwork.com_-Your-home-for-figure-skating-and-speed-skating_.pdf

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Jeff Skinner of the Edmonton Oilers was a figure skater for Canada at one point, winning juvenile medals before switching to hockey solely and permanently. You can see his figure skating skills sometimes when he plays in games, he's pretty awesome to watch.