We've come a long way, but there's still a long way to go.
Scouts, coaches and general managers have taken notice.
They now seek players with four solid skillsets when building high-performance teams. This “whole package” player is not just the player who has above standard puck skills. but rather it is the player who can catch, carry, pass, and shoot seemingly without effort.
It is also the player that has exceptional skating skills — the unreal linear McDavid-like acceleration, the great skating Eichel-like pace, or the Crosby-like ability to change speed and direction on a dime. No longer is the player of notice a one-dimensional grinder who uses their stick well, or is always in the right position to make a solid hit now sought. Instead, scouts, coaches and GMs want complete players with competence in all the above wrapped in the fourth skill: exemplary physical fitness.
I would suggest that fitness capacity at the highest level is the vital currency for players. This is because it provides the individual with the capacity for all technical and tactical skills. It is the capacity or foundation to work, to get better and then to recover, so players can compete again. Also consider that fitness is the single most important factor late in a shift, period, or game. And, because of this, any prospect who demonstrates unconventional abilities in the fourth skillset will rise quickly when compared to others; at every position.
Scouts and coaches also recognize that physical capacity confirms the intangibles; a player’s dedication, determination, and discipline. A player who is “in shape” is communicating to his team without saying a word that they are committed to being better and that they are ready to perform. These traits are needed on all high performing teams.
Thinking back to a decade or so ago this wasn’t always the case. Teams were just starting to understand the benefits of optimal conditioning and players themselves rarely had the fourth skill figured out. Many believed they could show up at training camp and “play themselves into shape” or if they were working out they were remarkably confused experimenting with weights, running or a training program borrowed from another sport. It was unusual to see hockey players diligently doing the right stuff. And it was even rarer to see players with well-organized (periodized) yearly plans. For most, the attempt to report fit to camp was to cram in some intensive training right pre-camp and hope for the best.
Fortunately, hockey players have begun training better. Functional training and conditioning with matched specificity to the players to build strength and address deficits are now the norm. Many enlist professional trainers and credentialed experts to guide and monitor the fourth skill. This in itself has benefitted hockey, producing stronger, faster, and more resilient players.
But, I would suggest that we have only started to scratch the surface with the fourth factor. A quick comparison to elite athletes in sports like football, basketball, soccer, and boxing/MMA confirms that even the fittest hockey players of today fail to compare to the physical capacities of other high-performance athletes. It is personally disappointing for me to point out that if a hockey player showed up at another sport’s combine, they would not even qualify, let alone place near the top.
Scientific measures place ice hockey players just above average in terms of somatotype. Unimpressive body composition values (lean body mass and body fat percentages) lead to the conclusion that most sports/exercise physiologists wouldn’t even think hockey players to be particularly athletic. In fact, hockey players when compared to other elite performers are a bit scrawny and kind of soft when compared to other athletes.
When it comes to the body’s musculoskeletal system, hockey players score on the lower end of absolute strength measures and moderately low in terms of relative strength when compared to other athletes.
For example, peak power ratios point to deficiencies in anaerobic capacity and with maximum and/or repeating output in hockey players. And what about cardiovascular/or aerobic capacities? Unfortunately, again hockey players tend to be closer to the average Joe than Joe Elite Athlete.
But, hockey players are tough right? Well, in comparison to wrestlers, MMA, and combative sports athletes, our players are just not that resilient. And mental training and mental performance skillset of most other sports suggest that their techniques are lightyears ahead of where even the most aware and mentally fit hockey players are at now.
But don’t let this discourage you. All evidence suggests that hockey players with the best possible individual physical profiles or that fourth skill outplay, outperform, and outlast those who don’t realize the importance of this skill. And with this awareness our opportunity to improve is great.
As coaches, it is our responsibility to teach hockey players to learn to train, to train to develop, and then train to compete. Train it, evaluate it, and develop it — then watch your teams sore.
