August 2026 Product Update
In case you missed it, we recently introduced the HELIOS Performance Advisory Board. Today you're seeing the first results of that collaboration.
In case you missed it, we recently introduced the HELIOS Performance Advisory Board. Four of the most respected practitioners in hockey across strength and conditioning, skating mechanics, player development, and skill development, joining HELIOS to ensure that what we measure is accurate, what we surface is meaningful, and what we build reflects how the game is actually played.
Today you're seeing the first results of that collaboration.
HELIOS App 4.3.0 is live. And with it, a set of updates that have been years in the making, refined with the expertise of our new board and built to give you the most accurate, meaningful, and hockey-aligned performance data we've ever delivered.
The numbers behind this update.
Over 730,000 hours of sessions.
Over 630,000 sessions.
That's the history of every shift, every practice, and every game that we've reprocessed from scratch to give you a consistent, up-to-date picture of your performance using our best metrics to date.
Your previous data is preserved in our database. But your app now reflects a better version of HELIOS that’s been built on years of refinement, expert input, and a deeper understanding of how hockey performance actually works.
Here's everything that's changing, and why.
Metric Updates
Stride Speed is now Burst Speed.
This one matters. HELIOS doesn't track your speed across a continuous multi-lap skate around the rink; it tracks your speed for every individual skating burst. That's how hockey is actually played: stops, starts, explosive short-distance efforts, repeated over and over. Burst Speed reflects that with the most accurate data available.
And it's not just a name change. We've improved the algorithm behind it, working to more accurately measure Max Speed across your skating bursts without capping top-end performance. Your Average Speed will look similar. Your Max Speed may surprise you.
Explosiveness is now Acceleration.
Explosiveness was always measuring the wind-up to max speed: the multi-stride, multi-second acceleration phase of an explosive burst. Acceleration is simply the right name for that. Clearer, more precise, and aligned with how skating experts actually talk about this part of the movement.
And no, Explosiveness isn't gone. It's becoming something new: a dedicated metric focused on first-step quickness. More on that soon.
Again, this is more than a rename. The algorithm behind Max Acceleration has been improved, without limiting top-end performance. Your Average Acceleration will look similar.
Agility is now Turnover Rate.
This change came directly from the expertise of our board. Turnover Rate is the term skating and skill development specialists actually use for this quality: strides per minute foot speed, also known as cadence. Agility is a fine general word. Turnover Rate is the right hockey word.
Same improvement note: Max Turnover Rate algorithm has been updated. Your Average Turnover Rate will look similar.
Balance is now Symmetry.
Straightforward. Symmetry is the term experts in skating mechanics use for what this metric measures and it's more precise about what we're actually capturing. Just a name change on this one; nothing else moves.
Player Load is now Load.
Because who needs to overcomplicate it. Just an update to the name.
Updated Baselines
With every session in HELIOS history reprocessed, we've also updated your personal baselines. Those baselines are now built into the relevant parts of your app experience, so when you see a green arrow or a gray arrow next to your Max Speed, it's comparing against an updated, more accurate picture of your own performance history.
Age Group and Level of Play in Onboarding
We've added Age Group and Level of Play to the HELIOS onboarding flow, using the standards established by USA Hockey and Hockey Canada. This sets up better automations and integrations going forward.
Existing Users: you can add these details now inside Profile → Edit in the HELIOS App.
The Bottom Line
This is the most significant platform update in HELIOS history (so far).
Better names. Better algorithms. Better baselines. Better syncing. And a complete historical reprocessing of nearly 84 years worth of skating sessions to give you the most consistent, accurate picture of your performance we've ever delivered.
Our goal is always to make sure HELIOS keeps getting better. This update is our next step in that journey.
Update your HELIOS App today to access these new updates.