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Is more becoming too much?

October 23, 2008 05:44 PM | Posted by   Cassie Campbell  

It’s great to see that today’s modern hockey players know how to treat their bodies. Gone are the days when these guys worked off a beer belly during the first weeks of the schedule. Now they are fit and trim. They play hard and train hard.

But I think they are actually training too hard.

As a former Olympic athlete, I know a little bit about fitness testing and training for a long hockey season. I’ve done it all. Yet there were times when I was training too much, especially when I was playing a regular game schedule. Sometimes it seemed there was more emphasis on my fitness test results than what I did on the ice.

I understand the need for testing athletes, especially those tests that are for medical reasons rather than fitness. But enough is enough.

Time to re-evaluate training

All leagues, including the NHL, should be looking at how they can improve not only their medical tests, but also the way they conduct fitness testing and their training throughout the season.

During the NHL’s general managers meetings this week, team representatives will be looking at the medical tests that need to take place. Obviously it is a no-brainer that enhanced medical testing at all levels of elite hockey must occur to help prevent such incidences as the tragic passing of young Russian hockey star Alexei Cherepanov. However, the physical fitness testing for hockey players needs to be minimized as much as possible and in-season training regimens need to be amended.

I applaud the Carolina Hurricanes for understanding that more is not necessarily better.

The Hurricanes eliminated their traditional morning pre-game skate on game days and also asked strength and conditioning coach Peter Friesen to look at how the players are warming up and training on the off days – to make sure they aren’t going overboard.

This mentality is often unheard of in the hockey world, but when Rod Brind’Amour, who we all know as one of the fittest guys in the NHL, re-injured his knee while warming up, it made it clear that the training regime not only in Carolina but maybe everywhere else should be looked at. I completely understand the need to get out of the hotel room in the morning, but to spend an additional two to three hours at the rink including travel for a half-hour skate has always made no sense to me. I truly believe that the value of rest has been taken for granted.

Too much, too early

Now, even 10-year-old kids are finding themselves in the gym lifting weights and working out with trainers. It simply has gone overboard at the grassroots level and maybe too in some instances at the NHL level. I get it, these guys are supposed to be in top physical condition when the season starts, but don’t forget they also need to be rested so that when the 82-game plus season occurs, they are ready for it.

It is interesting to see the amount of man games lost in the NHL over the last year (my count was 6,755 man games lost by 30 NHL teams last season) but more importantly the back and groin injuries seem to be occurring more often than not – sometimes attributed to over-training.

Guy Carbonneau mentioned the stiffness of the skates as one potential factor for such injuries and I will not disagree with that, but as the athletes have become stronger, faster and fitter - it is plain to see that some of the current training regimens have lost their magic.

Maybe a little bit less off the ice will lead to more on the ice.

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