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Watching a hockey 
player score a goal

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can be a rush of excitement,

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but did you know players 
often take physics

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into account as they play?

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We join the Raleigh, North 
Carolina hockey team,

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the Carolina Hurricanes,

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and learn how torque, 
friction, energy transfers,

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and vectors make for 
success on the ice.

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- [Narrator] Hockey is one of 
the fastest sports on Earth.

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Players travel as 
fast as vehicles.

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Hockey pucks scream along 
the ice at 90 miles per hour.

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(crowd cheering)

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- You gotta know not 
just what you're doing,

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but what everyone else is doing

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and where everyone else is,

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so it's awareness, knowing 
where they're going,

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anticipating where they're going

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so that you can get the 
puck to them sometime,

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or your body in time.

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- [Narrator] But it's 
not just practice

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that helps the 
Carolina Hurricanes win

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in this fast and frozen sport.

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It's science.

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We spent some time at a 
Hurricanes practice to find out.

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- A lot going on in 
about a split second,

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and these that are so good

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they figure it all out 
and it happens naturally.

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- We've just played for so long

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it just comes naturally now.

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- There's a lot of information

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being thrown at you as a goalie,

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because you've gotta 
worry about the shooter,

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you've gotta worry 
about the pass options.

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Is there a screen?

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Could it hit somebody 
in front of you

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and it's a broken play?

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- [Narrator] Let's look 
first at the slap shot.

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It's one of the most 
exciting moments in hockey,

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as well as a dramatic example

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of how multiple types 
of energy are used.

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The power comes from the player

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transferring weight 
from the back legs,

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through the body, down the arms,

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and right through to the stick.

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The moving player, 
and the moving stick,

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are examples of kinetic energy.

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That's the energy of movement,

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but there's more 
to it than that.

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- Obviously the big windup,

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but you're trying to hit 
actually the ice first.

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People may not know that

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so you can bend the stick,

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and the stick's 
actually doing the work.

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- [Narrator] The bent 
stick is an example

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of potential energy, the 
energy stored in an object.

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When the stick 
actually hits the puck,

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the energy stored 
in the bowed stick

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is converted to kinetic energy, 
and released into the puck.

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The overall motion 
of the shooter

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combined with the 
stick snapping back

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gives the slap 
shot so much power.

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- That torque on that 
stick's gonna make that puck

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go where it wants to go

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at the speed at 
which it wants to go.

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can get a little more 
torque on their stick,

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a little more bend,

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creates a lot more 
velocity through the puck.

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- [Narrator] And it 
turns out there are

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different types 
of hockey sticks.

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- There's a lot of physics 
that goes into that for sure.

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I mean a lot of guys use 
different flexes of stick.

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I use more of a whippy 
stick, so it's easier to move

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and then guys like Justin 
Faulk use a really stiff stick,

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so that means 
basically if you have

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a lot of upper body strength 
and use a stiffer stick

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then you're gonna 
have a harder shot

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just 'cause of the basic 
physics of the stick.

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- [Narrator] Here's a 
different type of shot.

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Players call it a 
flick, or a wrist shot.

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- Now you're talking 
about no windup,

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but you're still, if you watch,

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guys will get torque 
on that stick,

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so they're still watching.

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That stick's still gonna bend.

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So now the puck's 
right on the stick,

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but they're pushing into the ice

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to get again that 
bend on that stick

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to get that stick to do the work

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and that whip of that stick 
is getting the work done.

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Now obviously they 
have to have strength,

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and you have to have timing

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and you have to have skill

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to put the puck 
where you want it.

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That's a whole nother game.

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- [Narrator] That's an example

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of what's called 
projectile motion,

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how an object propelled 
through the air

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is influenced by gravity.

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As the player snaps his wrist,

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the puck rolls off the blade 
and towards the target.

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The longer the puck is in 
contact with the stick,

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the faster it spins when 
it leaves the stick,

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and that spin keeps 
the puck on target,

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even though gravity 
is pulling it down.

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- But you'll move 
it on your stick

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so guys will pull it in to 
get more torque in here,

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you know to get that bend.

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Sometimes guys like it

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depending on the 
curve of their stick.

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There's a lot of stuff going on

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where you release the 
puck off the blade.

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- These players are so 
good that they can start

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with the puck out here,

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but by the time they release it,

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it's two feet in tighter

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so they're changing their angle

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trying to sneak one by ya.

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- [Narrator] Finally 
there's passing.

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It's one of the most 
important skills in hockey.

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Passing involves 
speed, accuracy,

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and a vision of 
what is happening.

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- How fast they're moving,

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obviously if they're moving

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then for sure you're 
passing it where you think

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they're gonna be, 
where they're going.

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That's kind of the famous 
Wayne Gretzky quote

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is he's not going 
where the puck is,

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he's going where 
the puck is going.

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- [Narrator] Passing 
is an example

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- [Narrator] Passing 
is an example

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of what's called velocity 
vectors in physics.

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A vector is a quantity with

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more than one piece 
of information.

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The players, and 
the puck itself,

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all have speed and direction.

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Putting the vectors 
together shows

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where the puck needs to 
go to complete the pass.

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Of course, hockey players do 
all of this instinctively.

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- There's a lot 
going into passing.

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It looks like 
nothing's going on,

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but there's the pace of 
the pass, number one.

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The curve that 
you're passing it to,

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so if the guy's on his forehand

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I can fire it hard,

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meaning I don't have 
to lead him too much.

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If he's on his backhand where 
it's a harder pass to accept,

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I better put a little 
more touch on it.

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A little more 
gentle, if you will,

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and I maybe have to put it

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a little ahead of 
him a little more

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so he can skate into it.

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(crowd cheering)

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There's a lot going on.

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People don't need to 
probably know all that.

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At the end of the day,

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just putting it in the back 
of the net however you can.

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- Quest for more hockey,

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visit

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(pleasant music)