Power Skating is simply the art of skating targeted towards the hockey player.  It is the first of many steps in improving your skills as a hockey player and is by far the most essential step.  Power Skating is first broken down into the basic stride.  We must know how to walk before we can run, and how to run before we can jump.  The only difference between this concept and skating is that walking comes very naturally while skating is self taught and often taught while developing poor form and bad habits.  Skating starts with the basic hockey position; stick down, head up, and knees bent at almost a 90 degree angle.  With bending the knees and making yourself low to the skating surface you are more balanced and much more in a position of explosiveness. 

Here are two examples that you should be able to relate to.  If you were asked to jump higher than you have ever jumped before how would you prepare to do this.  Most people would bend their knees to get as much power out of their legs as they possibly could.  This is exactly where a skater should be before he gets ready to take off down the rink.  Secondly, the longer the stride a skater has the more power he is going to get.  Imagine putting your weight on your left leg and standing straight up, extend your right leg out as far as you can.  Now notice how much further you can reach that leg out as you begin to bend that left knee. While learning the basic stride of power skating, it is used to learn all of the other skills of skating such as agility, control, quickness, turning and transition, balance and SPEED.  Once this skill has been learned, it can be directly applied to skills such as puck control, passing and shooting.