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.



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...