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Hockey has never been an accessible sport. You can’t mimic the feel of the ice on a driveway, and needing to wear full gear is a natural part of real-world training. The problem is that every skater knows that losing out on dedicated training time can make or break the outcome of every play. If you want to even begin to be like Gretzky or McDavid, you’ll need to train just like them, even when you don’t have access to the ice.
There’s a lot of repetition within training—for anything. Whether it’s mastering a musical instrument, delivering a speech, or refining your hockey skills, you’re spending hours going through the motions and repeating the same actions over and over again. So what’s different about today’s training? Technology.
If you’re not harnessing technology to develop as a player yet, you’re putting yourself at a serious disadvantage. Now, we’re not talking about playing the latest EA NHL game or spinning the reels of the Break Away slot game—we’re talking about revolutionary tools like the Sense Arena VR platform that will actually complement your training.
Technology in Hockey
Technology is used just about anywhere in the realm of hockey, and the NHL certainly has the funds to access the best of the best. Coaches and players take advantage of performance metrics from wearable technology, video analysis tools, recovery technology, biomechanical analysis systems, and even simulation tools harnessing augmented reality. They work to give everyone on the team a way to truly understand where they can make improvements in performance, down to the smallest detail. With the technology available to make this happen, plenty of companies continue to release platforms and tools that’ll help maximize player potential, coaching, and refereeing.
What Is Sense Arena’s VR Platform?
The purpose of Sense Arena is to make it possible to turn any space into a virtual hockey rink. That instantly means no excuses and a lot less preparation time to get yourself ready to train. Whether you only have 15 minutes to squeeze in a session or don’t have the means to get on the ice, you can put on the Meta Quest VR headset and immerse yourself in an interactive, virtual experience. It doesn’t matter if you play as a goalie, center, or defence—you can use the goalie sleeves that attach to your glove and blocker or the stick mount to integrate with your real-life equipment. That way, you won’t lose out on building muscle memory.
The Sense Arena platform can still be used casually through an NHL season mode that puts you on your favourite team and lets you try your hand at winning the Stanley Cup. But suppose you’re looking for comprehensive training like the many college and NHL teams (the Devils, Golden Knights, and Kings) who use it. In that case, hundreds of drills and unlimited training plans are available to accommodate players of any skill level.
What Does Sense Arena’s VR Bring to the Table?
Aside from making training convenient and possible, VR training is immersive, letting you train just about any skill you want to refine. These skills don’t have to be as physical as passing lane drills or circle drills but can include cognitive aspects of on-ice performance like reaction time, release time, peripheral vision training, decision-making, situational awareness, and positioning. If you are most interested in advancing through physical drills, Sense Arena offers position-specific, suitable drills customized for your needs and skill level.
There’s also no sugarcoating the fact that hockey is physically demanding. All the physical contact, the toll on the legs and joints, and the general fatigue can add up, and overtraining only leads to a decline in performance. VR training can seamlessly fill in during recovery, rehabilitation, or rest days, providing realism and continued training volume without the risk.
I’m In—What’s the Cost?
In comparison to expensive private training sessions or hockey camps, NHL Sense Arena is much more affordable. While some may argue that it isn’t exactly cheap, what part of hockey is? It remains the best way to access high-quality training with that level of convenience.
Monthly plans will cost you $79/month, while an annual plan is priced at $39/month, saving you $40 a month. The annual plan comes with a free controller mount, free shipping, and access to new monthly content, as well as all the features of the monthly plan. These include the drills and training plans, NHL season and Stanley Cup modes, competitive multiplayer, and access for four users. Along with the monthly subscription, you’ll need to purchase a Meta Quest unless you already own one. The latest VR headsets don’t come cheap, at $399 or $679, depending on the exact model.
The Future of VR in Hockey
If you’ve ever used a VR headset, you’ll know it can provide a realistic environment. However, it’s clear that graphics and motion tracking quality still haven’t reached their full potential yet. That means plenty of room for VR sports training to improve and enable an even more advanced level of training than what we could’ve ever imagined. Once we can achieve even higher frame rates and higher resolution and capture movements more precisely, we can mimic real-game scenarios with an increased nuance. Add in the potential of improved ergonomics for comfort, and we’ll be well on our way to a new era of virtual sports training.
