success in ice hockey depends on an individual’s ability to accelerate from a standing start or change direction and continue skating quickly and efficiently. previous research to determine those factors which had the greatest contribution to on-ice acceleration was limited to two-dimensional biomechanical analyses of skating technique, without regard for the influence of physiological measures. the purpose of the present study was therefore to predict on-ice acceleration using peak anaerobic power from a wingate test and kinematic variables from a three dimensional analysis of the biomechanics of skating technique. a sub-purpose of the present study was to examine the variability of skating technique at the elite level. the participants in this research study were thirty-seven ice hockey players from the florida panthers and los angeles kings of the national hockey league participating in the 1999 prospects camp in thunder bay, ontario. the players completed a thirty second, maximal intensity wingate anaerobic cycle ergometer test against a resistance of 0.095 kg-kg bodyweight-1. peak anaerobic power was calculated and recorded as the highest anaerobic power value (number of flywheel revolutions) produced during any of the five-second intervals. one week following the wingate anaerobic test, the players performed two maximal, on-ice accelerations over a distance of twenty meters, while being taped by two, panasonic™ cl-350 digital cameras mounted on peak performance™ pan/tilt heads. the peak performance™ 3d video analysis system and a 23- point spatial model were used to extract the raw coordinates for the fastest of the two trials for each player, as measured by a photoelectric timer. the system was then used to smooth the raw data from both camera views and to combine the smoothed data to produce a three-dimensional image. center of mass and kinematic variables of interest were measured at push-off and touchdown for the first five strides.