Blogs

One of main topics of the Boston Hockey Summit was the growing problem of sports hernias and “groin” strains within the sport of ice hockey. These injuries are affecting an increasing number of high-level hockey players. I wrote Dissecting the Sports Hernia last summer for StrengthCoach.com outlining some of the research on the topic. The […]

Brijesh Patel, my friend and colleague from Quinnipiac University, spoke at the Boston Hockey Summit about training program design for ice hockey players. During his talk he went through several yoga-based isometric circuits that can be incorporated into off-ice training warm-ups. Everyone, including myself, that I’ve seen do these circuits has the same reaction: They […]

The state of youth hockey is…in big trouble. Michael Boyle is widely regarded as the world’s authority on ice hockey strength and conditioning. His presentation on hockey player development at the Boston Hockey Summit was one that I truly believe EVERYONE involved in the game of hockey should see…probably twice. Coach Boyle used a number […]

One of my favorite presentations at the Boston Hockey Summit in May was Jim Snider’s talk on “Dryland Speed Training for Hockey”. Coach Snider is the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey teams at the University of Wisconsin. Needless to say, that program has an outstanding reputation. Coach Snider’s whole […]

A couple weeks ago I attended the Boston Hockey Summit, a hockey-specific seminar hosting collegiate and professional strength and conditioning coaches, physical therapists and hip surgeons, and a professional power skating coach. This was right up my alley! My hope is that more of these seminars will pop up across the country and that more […]

Last week, we agreed that mental preparation is essential to athletic success. I’ve read through a lot of articles and books related to mental preparation for athletics and frankly, I’ve been disappointed. My colleague and friend Kim McCullough has put together the best step-by-step guide to preparing mentally for the game of hockey that I’ve […]

Vince Lombardi was one of the most successful coaches of all time. He’s still the most frequently quoted name in sports. A few notable quotes: “Mental toughness is essential to success.” “You never win a game unless you beat the guy in front of you. The score on the board doesn’t mean a thing. That’s […]

The other day I was watching Any Given Sunday with my girlfriend Emily. One of the underlying themes of that movie was that no individual player is bigger than the team. This mentality is a HUGE problem in youth hockey, as players that develop faster tend to think that they ARE the team, not a […]

I don’t have swine flu…but I do have a new job! As of Monday (June 8th), I’ll be starting as the Director of Athletic Development at Endeavor Fitness in Sewell, NJ. The facility is awesome. Check out the pictures on their site www.EndeavorFit.com. I’m excited to get started. We have an impressive line up of […]

Whether you’re an ice hockey enthusiast or strength and conditioning professional, you won’t want to miss this opportunity! After my longwinded talk about the importance of education (and continuing education) last week, I thought I should forward this along to you.  Eric Cressey just sent me an email letting me know about Strength and Conditioning […]