This thesis will discuss the results of a two-year 90 game study to consider the role violence and aggression plays in competitive minor hockey and its role as a mechanism for injury. The second objective of this thesis was to determine the contextual factors that lead to injury on the ice. Using a mixed methods approach, the study followed three minor hockey teams from the Ottawa-Gatineau region over two sporting seasons. The study found that players are not being injured due to aggressive or violent play but rather players are being hurt within the rules of the game. The contextual factors that were shown to lead to injury included: (1) body-checking, (2) time of the game, (3) player’s body mass, (4) position played and (5) legal plays. Injuries were also broken down by anatomical site (head/neck, upper body and lower body); the upper body was affected by injury most.

This thesis focuses on creation and comparison of ice hockey matches prediction models with the view on ice hockey world championship matches. The first part is dedicated to collecting theoretical knowledge needed for solving this problem and the second to applying this set of knowledge. The model creation approach is intertwined with the CRISP-DM data mining methodology, which also defines several chapters of this work. As input data for the models I used performance statistics of individual ice hockey players -- this brought me to implementing a script capable of automatic downloading and aggregating of player data from the Internet. Downloaded data were arranged so as they would represent ice hockey matches that were played during the championships (team A consisting of players X against team B consisting of players Y) with result of the match added to the data row. Data were also analyzed to detect any quality issue prior to the model creation and transformed into an integrated view. Result assessment consists of two parts, in the first the technical evaluation of models using data from the testing data set takes place. The first part also points out practical usefulness of the models. The next part is about comparing result data with the betting odds -- the business relevance of the model. This part uses open source data about betting odds listed on the corresponding matches. Finally, the outcome model is used for predicting matches of the group phase of the world championship taking place in Prague, 2015.

This Master's Thesis is focused on sports marketing of professional ice hockey club, which plays the highest league in the Czech Republic. It is ice hockey club called Pirates Chomutov. The aim is to show the status of marketing in a professional hockey club and describe it, analyze the process of changing club's identity and the relocation of this club into a new arena, analyze the marketing environment and create own proposals and recommendations that could be used in future. The theoretical part is based on knowledge of the issues and describes the specifics of the sports marketing and management, marketing environment, marketing mix of this club and the current trends in marketing. The practical part is focused on the process of changing club's identity, organizational and budget structure, analysis of marketing environment and marketing mix with an emphasis on communication. Own proposals, ideas and recommendations are presented at the end of this part. Contribution of this work is revelation of the issues and trends that relate to sports area, studying the topic in one of the fastest growing ice hockey clubs in the Czech Republic. All is completed by own proposals and recommendations.

A general player valuation model in ice hockey and football that would estimate player transfer price based on performace atributes as well as on personal and club atributes doesn't exist. There are no general rules on player transfer market that would set the player transfer price. The main aim of the dissertation thesis is to set up a model that would estimate player transfer price on the player market at a level when the selling club would earn at least the same amount that he invested to he player. Specific model for football and ice hockey is also introduced in the thesis. The specific model estimates transfer price based on the price of a same quality player abroad. General and specific models fit together. They form a guideline for sport managers, agents as well as for public while estimating player transfer price. The models are introduced, the transfer prices are estimated and compared with known transfer price on the player market. The major acquisition of the models is transparent price settng for player transfers, focusing on player transfers from Czech Republic abroad. The models are easily reversible for different collective sports.

Title: Virtual reality as a mean of diagnosis of the game intelligence in ice hockey. Goal: The goal of this work is to find out whether it is possible to evaluate virtual reality through the "game intelligence". Further on, to evaluate if different proband levels do affect the level of the "game intelligence". Methodology: File for research: Our goal is to test five different groups of various performance levels and evaluate the extent of change in game intelligence among respected groups. In each of the group we are evaluating 34 to 74 probands. In total, 252 people were tested. Statistic methods: Basic descriptive statistics, MANOVA analysis, correlation analysis, canonical correlation Conclusion: Our research could be of great benefit to the sports community. We believe that the results of our research will appeal to clubs that have doubts about the positive contribution of virtual reality to ice hockey. Key Words: Virtual reality, ice hockey, diagnostic, probands

Aim: The aim of the study was to analyse the injuries and illnesses in Swedish Para athletes during four Paralympic Games (PG), 2012-2018. The research questions (RQ) were: 1) what was the injury incident rate (IR), and which anatomical areas were affected by injuries? 2) what was the illness IR and which physiological systems were affected by illnesses? 3) did the injury and illness IR differ between the Swedish delegation and the reference group (RG), where most athletes participating in the four PGs were included? 4) were there any associations between injury and illness IR and subgroups of athletes? Method: A retrospective analysis of data from a large ongoing prospective study of injuries and illnesses initiated by the International Paralympic Committee in 2012. Data from 157 Swedish Paralympic athletes were analysed and compared to previous results from the RG.  For RQ1, 2 and 3, injuries and illnesses were reported as IR, calculated per 1000 athlete days, in the Swedish delegations (RQ1-3) and compared to the RG (RQ3). For RQ4, a univariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to find possible associations between risk of injury and illness, and subgroups. Results: The injury IR in Swedish athletes varied between the four PGs, from 2.5 to 59.5 per 1000 athlete days. Most injuries occurred in the upper limb. There was a particularly high occurrence of injuries in Para ice hockey players. The illness IR varied from 3.6 per 1000 athlete days in London (2012), to 39.5 in Sochi (2014). The respiratory tract was most affected by illness, in both Swedish athletes and the RG. Most injuries and illnesses in the Swedish delegation were acute onset, but only a minority led to days lost from training and competition. The Swedish delegation had a lower injury IR per 1000 athlete days compared to the RG in all PGs, except for Pyeongchang (2018), where they had an almost three times higher IR. The illness IR for the Swedish delegation was, compared to the RG, lower in London (2012), the same in Rio (2016) and higher in both Sochi (2014) and Pyeongchang (2018). Participation in the Winter Games was associated with a higher risk for both injury and illness compared to the Summer Games. There was also an increased risk of injury for athletes in a contact sport compared to a non-contact sport. Conclusions: This thesis indicates that there is a need to continue monitoring Para athletes, both during and between competitions, to get more knowledge about injury and illness incidence patterns, as well as preventable risk factors. The latter would be especially important for Para ice hockey. It is yet to see if the awareness of the importance of hygiene measures and physical distancing to reduce spreading of infections, brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, will affect the occurrence of respiratory tract infections during large sporting events.

This study examines effective leadership qualities in the world of professional ice-hockey. The study builds on semi-structured interviews where three coaches and two general managers participated. The paper has an inductive approach where a thematic analysis lay the foundation for a theoretical explanation. Results indicate that the leader needs to handle stakeholders in an innovative way, have a dynamic relationship between a transactional and transformational leadership, and finally, the leader's experience and emotional intelligence are two crucial factors in developing a successful and effective leadership. Practical implications for findings in this study are discussed along with recommendations for future research.

Bakgrund: Sportfysioterapeuter hjälper atleter att förbättra sport-specifika förmågor. Inom ishockey är slagskottet den skotteknik som producerar den snabbaste puckhastigheten. Handgreppsstyrka har visat sig vara viktig för en hockeyspelares sport-specifika förmågor och klubbrörelser. Skridskohastighet är en viktig variabel sett till hockeyspelares övergripande prestationsnivå. Syfte: Att undersöka den genomsnittliga maximala skotthastigheten, den genomsnittliga maximala handgreppsstyrkan och den genomsnittliga maximala skridskohastigheten hos en grupp manliga svenska elithockeyspelare och undersöka sambandet mellan den maximala skotthastigheten och den maximala handgreppsstyrkan samt skridskohastigheten. Metod: Ett lag på tjugotre manliga elithockeyspelare tillfrågades varav tjugo deltog i studien. Endast utespelare tillfrågades. Tvärsnittstudie med kvantitativ ansats bestående av enstaka mätningar på en grupp. Skotthastighet, handgreppsstyrka och skridskohastighet mättes en gång per testperson vid tre separata tillfällen. Resultat: Sjutton hockeyspelare slutförde studien. Den genomsnittliga maximala skotthastigheten var 128,167 km/h. Den genomsnittliga maximala handgreppsstyrkan var 60,2 kg. Den genomsnittliga skridskohastigheten var 1,405s mätt på en sträcka av 15 meter. Sambandet mellan skotthastighet och handgreppsstyrka var svagt negativt och ej statistiskt signifikant (r=-0,042; p=0,876). Sambandet mellan skotthastighet och skridskohastighet var svagt negativt och ej statistiskt signifikant (r=-0177; p=0,508).     Konklusion: De genomsnittliga maximala värdena på skotthastighet, handgreppsstyrka och skridskohastighet är jämförbara med andra studiers värden. Sambandet mellan skotthastighet och handgreppstyrka samt skridskohastighet var svagt vilket pekar på att dessa faktorer inte är en indikator på skotthastigheten vid ett slagskott. Fler studier behövs för att stödja studiens resultat. / Background: Sportsfysiotherapists help athletes improve their sport-specific abilities. In ice-hockey, the slap shot is the shot-technique that produces the greatest puck velocity. Hand grip strength have shown to be important to hockey players sport-specific abilities and stick movements. Skating speed is an important variable for the hockey players overall performance.    Aim: To investigate the mean hand grip strength, skating speed and shooting speed on a group swedish male elite ice-hockey players and investigate the correlation between these factors.     Methods: A team of twentythree male elite hockey players were asked to participate in the study. Twenty players participated. A cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach consisting of single measures on one group. Puck velocity, handgrip strength and skating speed were measured one time per player on three separate sessions.    Results: Seventeen hockey players completed the studie. The mean puck velocity was 128,167 km/h. The mean hand grip strength were 60,2 kg. The mean shooting speed were 1,405s measured on a distance of 15 meters. The correlation between puck velocity and hand grip strength were not statistically significant weak negative (r=-0,042; p=0,876). The correlation between mean puck velocity and shooting speed were not statistically significant weak negative(r=-0,177; p=0,508).    Conclusion: The mean maximal values of puck velocity, hand grip strength and shooting speed are comparable with similar values from other studies. The correlation between puck velocity and hand grip strength and shooting speed were weak which indicate that these factors do not affect the puck velocity from a slap shot. Further studies are needed to strengthen this study's result.

Title: The exercise diagnostics of women ice-hockey players - Wingate test Objectives: The study is focused on anthropometric characteristics and anaerobic efficiency comparing with using 30s Wingate test parameters. For the test groups of women ice-hockey players and boys ice-hockey players ages 15, 16 and 17 have been selected. The purpose of the work is forming a picture about efficiency level of women players from the national team and comparing with the results of these three selected groups of boys. The study includes a data evaluation of questionnaire about hockey experiences of women players. The exercise anaerobic 30s Wingate test has been implemented on selected group of women ice-hockey players from 14 to 26 years (x = 17.8 ± 3.7). The results of this group have been compared with results of three groups of hockey players ages 15, 16 and 17 (x = 14.98 ± 0.81; x = 16.03 ± 0.41; x = 17 ± 0.35). Working hypothesis supposed no differences between anaerobic training facility indices of women and boys ages 15, 16 and 17. Methods : Basic statistical items (x-arithmetic mean, SD-standard deviation) for all 4 groups (women, boys age 15, 16 and 17) have been evaluated. The statistical significance of differences between average values of file parameters has been tested by T-test (also known as...

Title: The effectiveness of conditioning program in the pre-season time in players of the KLH Chomutov ice hockey team. Objectives: The main aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of conditioning program before the season, using the Wingate Test. Another objective was to determine the load capacity in terms of the on-ice and off-ice training program. We also tried to compare the test results of younger and older players. Methods: During the actual implementation of the thesis, we used selected diagnostic instruments that characterize the level of velocity - power assumptions of ice hockey players in the men's cathegory. For testing we used the Wingate Test. The tests were applied before and at the end of the pre-season time. During the reporting period, we evaluated changes in the level of individual indicators of the Wingate Test. Results: The results show that the off-ice and on-ice conditioning programs do not have the same volume and content of the load. Increased volume and content of the load was observed in the on-ice conditioning program. The content of off-ice conditioning program in the pre-season time in ice hockey is a non-specific activity focused mainly on development of speed-strength abilities. The on-ice training program increases the proportion of the development of...