Alexander Ovechkin is best known for his amazing talent on the ice, but he’s also known for throwing his weight around on the ice – literally and figuratively. Ovechkin always ranks near the top in goals or points, but he ranks high in hits too! And while his numbers for hits are down this season – he ranked in the top 10 the last two NHL seasons – he still leads his team in this category (despite missing eight games earlier in the season). Ovechkin is an imposing figure on the ice! He’s officially listed at 6’2” and 233 pounds, but he actually weighs in at 237 pounds. According to his Body Mass Index (BMI), Alexander Ovechkin would be considered obese! If you calculate his BMI, it works out to 30.4 kg/m2, which officially puts him into the category of “obese.” Ovechkin obese? I hardly think so. The BMI calculation is a good guide for measuring obesity, but you can hardly use this measurement to assess the fitness level of professional athletes, especially hockey players! Ovechkin’s BMI is probably the highest in the NHL, which puts him in yet another category where he leads the league. Sean O’Donnell has the same two size dimensions as Ovechkin, and Keith Tkachuk is up there too at 6’ 2” and 235 lbs, which gives them both an “obese” BMI ranking. There are a number of “compact” players who rank up there as well, players dimunitive in height, but stocky in weight. Their BMI approaches 30, but none quite reach the “obese” category. (Accordingly to the BMI index, a rating of 30+ is considered “obese,” and a rating of between 25 - 30 puts you in the “overweight” category). None of the professional athletes listed below could be considered overweight.
Francis Bouillon (Nashville) Cal Clutterbuck (Minnesota) Darroll Powe (Philadelphia) Sean Bergenheim (N.Y. Islanders) Marc-Andre Bergeron (Montreal) Jordin Tootoo (Nashville) Brett Lebda (Detroit) Manny Legace (Carolina) Sergei Samsonov (Carolina) Nigel Dawes (Calgary) Sean Avery (N.Y. Rangers)
5’ 8” 5’11” 5’ 11” 5’ 10” 5’ 9” 5’ 9” 5’ 9” 5’ 10” 5’ 8” 5’ 9” 5’ 10”
198 lbs. 213 lbs. 212 lbs. 205 lbs. 198 lbs. 197 lbs. 195 lbs. 200 lbs. 188 lbs. 193 lbs. 195 lbs.
30.1 29.7 29.6 29.4 29.2 29.1 28.8 28.7 28.6 28.5 28.0
Cal Clutterbuck has one of the highest BMI’s in the NHL, and intrestingly, no one has more hits the past two NHL seasons than Clutterbuck. At 5’11” and 213 lbs., his low centre of gravity gives him an edge on the ice, and he uses it at every opportunity. The same can be said about Jordin Tootoo and Sean Avery – they often catch their opponents by surprise, especially with their sturdy compact build – they definitely play bigger than their size.
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On the other side of the BMI scale, you have the talented young Artem Anisimov, who measures seven inches taller than Jordin Tootoo, but carries the same weight. Some of the below listed players are younger and bound to fill in a bit more (Anisimov and Brandon Sutter), but for now, they skate as tall trees, vulnerable to the Clutterbucks and Tootoos in the league.
Artem Anisimov (N.Y. Rangers) Dareen Krejci (Boston) Troy Bodie (Anaheim) Mike Rebeiro (Dallas) Wayne Simmonds (Los Angeles) Brandon Sutter (Carolina) Martin Biron (N.Y. Islanders) Devan Dubnyk (Edmonton) Erik Ersberg (Los Angeles) Tuukka Rask (Boston)
6’ 4” 6’ 0” 6’4” 6’ 0” 6’ 2” 6’ 3” 6’ 3” 6’ 6” 6’ 0” 6’ 3”
197 lbs. 177 lbs. 196 lbs. 173 lbs. 183 lbs. 183 lbs. 180 lbs. 194 lbs. 165 lbs. 169 lbs.
24.0 24.0 23.9 23.5 23.5 22.9 22.5 22.4 22.4 21.1
The lowest BMI’s belong to the goaltenders, and the four listed above are all back-ups! They are not only “fill-ins” for their respective teams, but one might say they also need to fill-in on their size, too. Finishing up with height and weight, Zdeno Chara reigns as the tallest player in the league at 6’ 9”, but Derek Boogaard and John Scott (both players from the Wild) are 6’ 8” each, and at 257 and 258 lbs, respectively, they edge out Chara (who is listed at 255 lbs.) as the heaviest players in the NHL. Dustin Byfuglien (Chicago Black Hawks) also ranks up there at 6’ 4” and 257 lbs. Nathan Gerbe, who has tallied two NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres, is the smallest listed player at 5’6” (173 lbs.), but the smallest player overall (by height and weight standards), has to go to Stevie Sullivan of the Nashville Predators, who at 5’ 8” and 161 lbs. (he probably plays five to 10 pounds lighter), is the lightest player in the NHL. It makes quite a contrast when you see players like Sullivan coming up against giants like Chara, Boogaard, Byfuglien, but it doesn’t hurt to have Sullivan’s speed!