How fast does a hokey puck travel when hit?

Answer 1

Officially, Zdeno Chara hold the record of 105.4 mph, set in 2009.

Al Iafrate's 16 set record of a 105.2 mph at the 1993 Skills Competition.

Unofficially, Chad Kilger held the record with a 106.6 mph slap shot until fairly recently, when Sheldon Souray hit a 106.7mph at the Oilers' skills competition.

Bobby Hull reportedly blasted the hardest slap shot in NHL league history at 118.3 mph.

Answer 2

A very respectable slapshot would be around 100 mph. Well to be fair. A strong NHL player with a great shot will be able to reach the top 90s... 95+ miles per hour. But lets be reasonable. Very rarely will you see that in amateur play. So if your shot is over 80 miles per hour then you can consider yourself to have a hard shot. More important that how fast does it travel is where is it coming from and where is it going. A slow shot that takes the goalie by surprise from the hash marks will likely still go in often even between his legs on the ice like it was shot by an 8 yr old. Usually the rule of thumb is. If you shoot it from inside the top of the circles the goalie is just lucky to have it hit him because he doesn't have time to react to the shot. 80-105 miles an hour won't make much difference inside those 30 ft. But if you shoot from the blue line the goalie should be able to easily react and make the save. Even if it's 105 miles an hour if its shot from the blue line it's likely the goalie will have time to read the trajectory and get his pads or gloves in the way and make the save. The speed of a shot is determined by the smooth release of the shot and the rhythm and fluid motion that the player uses in the shot. It does not matter what kind of stick is used. The differences in the stick are used for aiming and player preferences.