BUFFALO — During hockey season, HarborCenter, the facility located across the street from First Niagara Center, always has a fresh sheet of ice. It serves as home to Canisius College and the Buffalo Junior Sabres. Last fall, the Bruins, Devils, and Sabres used the rink as part of a rookie tournament.

But for the NHL Combine, the only ice at HarborCenter was in cubes keeping drinks chilled. On Saturday, the floor turned into clusters of workout stations. Over 100 NHL hopefuls ran through tests (pull-ups, Wingate, shuttle run, long jump) they will never encounter if they progress to the show. Skates and sticks are nowhere in sight at the combine, nor will they be in the near future.

“Right now, the majority consensus is it’s not something they’re looking to add to the combine,’’ NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said of the 30 general managers. “At this time of the year, it’s probably the worst time to do any on-ice tests. There’s no advantage to the players doing an on-ice test now. We’ve been watching them play for 8-9 months now. Everybody knows what they bring to the table.’’

That there is no on-ice component to the NHL Combine is the event’s primary quirk. It would be like players at the NFL Combine testing at the Brickyard in Indianapolis instead of Lucas Oil Stadium.

The argument against putting the players on the ice is the combine’s timing. On May 29, Max Jones, Olli Juolevi, Victor Mete, Tyler Parsons, Cliff Pu, and Matt Tkachuk were six of the London Knights playing for the Memorial Cup against Rouyn-Noranda. There are still beads of melted ice on the Knights’ skate blades.

In comparison, Boston University defenseman Charlie McAvoy played the final game of his freshman season on March 26, when the Terriers lost to the University of Denver in the NCAA Tournament. It’s expected, then, that a player with two-plus months to recover would perform better in on-ice testing than a counterpart who’s yet to dry out his equipment bag.

“I think it’s an area that’s really difficult, because you’ve got several players for the London team who aren’t even testing this week,’’ said Bruins GM Don Sweeney. “They just got off playing close to 100 games. Other players have been off the ice for a month. I think it’s a little bit unfair in that regard.’’

GMs and scouts use in-season viewings to determine a player’s skating, hockey sense, and on-ice skill. They employ the combine’s tests to supply their strength and conditioning coaches with data to project a player’s physical ceiling.

Results from the vertical jump can indicate a player’s explosiveness. The VO2 max can show a player’s endurance. The Wingate can show a player’s skating power.

On Saturday, the strength coaches, including Boston’s John Whitesides, sat on the floor to get the best looks at the prospects. The trick for Whitesides and his peers is to sift through results that are subject to manipulation. On the ice, there’s nowhere to hide for a player who can’t skate. But that same player, given proper training, can lie down on the bench and chuck up a two-plate press with speed and power.

“It’s easier to get a guy strong in the gym than to make him a great hockey player,’’ said Ben Prentiss, founder of Prentiss Hockey Performance.

Prentiss’s charges include Chad Krys, the No. 53-ranked North American skater. For a five-week segment prior to his Buffalo arrival, Krys conducted workouts in Ann Arbor, Mich., that Prentiss designed with the combine in mind. They paid off. Krys posted a 25.59-inch leap on the vertical jump, topping the 25.24 inches posted by Jakob Chychrun, the draft’s top-ranked defenseman.

“I didn’t get to work with him,’’ said Krys, who had to finish his schoolwork instead of training on site in Stamford, Conn. “But I worked out with him last summer and he gave me a few things to do on my own. He definitely helps me out, especially with explosion and power stuff. He’s definitely a big help.’’

Eight years ago, Zach Bogosian turned the combine upside down. The defenseman shattered the ceiling by performing more like a machine than a 17-year-old. Bogosian’s combine results helped him go third overall behind Steven Stamkos and Drew Doughty.

Had there been an on-ice session, Alex Pietrangelo, Tyler Myers, and Erik Karlsson, three of the defensemen drafted after Bogosian, might have gone higher. In a tank top and shorts, the combine’s official outfit, the 26-year-old Karlsson would look like a ghost compared to the 18-year-old Chychrun (6 feet 2 inches, 205 pounds). In his NHL uniform, Karlsson would look like a prodigy because of his speed, vision, hands, and processing power.

The combine is good at measuring size and strength. In today’s caffeinated NHL, speed and hockey sense have become more important. The latter cannot be determined on the pull-up rack.

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeFluto.