It’s arguably the hardest team sport to play and then work your way up to the professional ranks.
Yes, we’re talking about ice hockey, the unofficial sport that captivates our great nation from Vancouver Island all the way to the Maritimes.
First off, before learning anything else in hockey, you have to learn how to skate. This isn’t soccer, football, or basketball where everyone participates on their feet. It's not just skating that presents a challenge.
According to a report done by ESPN, hockey is the most physically demanding sport out there other than boxing. ESPN weighted endurance, strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, nerve, durability, hand-eye coordination and analytic aptitude on a scale of 1-10. A panel of sports scientists that work for the United States Olympic Committee along with a multi-sport athlete, a group of students who study the movement of muscles in sport, as well as a journalist, came up with the criteria on how to judge each sport. After the number was assigned, the categories were added up to tally the final number.
During last month’s NHL Draft in Buffalo, noted YouTuber “Coach Jeremy,” a hockey coach who broadcasts his training videos and drills on social media, caught up with a couple hockey players who spoke on the experience of being drafted into the NHL and actually making it to the league.
Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel, Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour, and former NHL goaltender and current analyst Kevin Weekes spoke to Jeremy on the challenges of not only making in the NHL but staying in the league.
The three touch on various aspects, like training, sacrifices, and more niche topics like stick length. Brind’Amour, more specifically, goes into the details on managing pressure as a professional athlete, and why character is so important in a team structure. Weeks brings up a strong point on why he believes being a student of the game was crucial to his development, and why that mentality has propelled him into a successful NHL broadcaster.
Work ethic, commitment, and attention to detail. It’s summertime, kids, go put the work in.
