Gaining Speed
Hockey skates allow hockey players to gain speed in a very short period of time. By pushing with the edges on the sides of the blades, the player starts to move. Skate blades are not flat. They have two sharp edges along with a hollow space between the two blades. By pushing off to the sides, a hockey player generates speed while skating. Keeping those edges sharp allow a player to dig into the ice more with their edges to create greater force while skating.
Turning on Skates
The more blade that is on the ice, the more power you will be able to generate when it comes to building speed and velocity. The greater the curve of the blade -- called the radius -- the easier it will be to turn. Hockey skates have a much greater radius than speed skates or figure skates because players have to change directions quickly and do it many times as the puck moves fluidly on the ice. Turning your skates to change direction is a matter of balance and decisive movements.
Stopping
Hockey skates come to a stop when the skater digs his edges into the ice to to stop momentum. This is done by the sudden turning of the hips to the right or left. That allows the skate edges to scrape the ice, which forces the skater to a stop and allows him to turn in a new direction and begin skating again.
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