Category Archives: Columns
San Francisco’s Lee pitches fourth straight shutout as U.S. wins Paralympic sled hockey gold medal
March 13th, 2022Declan Farmer tallied two goals and an assist, including the game-winning goal, and Jen Lee (San Francisco) posted a 16 save shutout as the 2022 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team defeated Canada 5-0 today in the goal medal game of the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. “I’m just so incredibly proud of this team,”…
From the Trainer’s Room: Training by the numbers
March 11th, 2022Hockey players love their numbers when it comes to performance. How hard is my shot? How fast can I skate from here to there? The booming world of sports science has brought data collection on hockey performance to a new level. Where the stopwatch used to be the go-to tool for measurement, now everyone has…
From the Trainer’s Room: Olympic insights – Adapting to using a mobile training room
March 4th, 2022Due to magnitude of the Olympic Games and the number of countries participating, setting up an athletic training room can be a challenge. Before leaving, I had to decide what I would need during the four-week journey with six Olympic figure skaters practicing up to twice a day and competing 2-3 times. In professional hockey,…
From the Trainer’s Room: Staying healthy, fresh for a productive postseason
February 21st, 2022After a couple of years of modified or shortened seasons due to the pandemic, it has been a nice problem to have so much hockey going on now. As we draw closer to the end of the season and, hopefully, the beginning of playoffs, we need to keep our bodies healthy and fit despite the…
From the Trainer’s Room: Olympic insights – One great day
February 17th, 2022Every day has been great here in Beijing, but Wednesday, February 9 will probably be the best. The morning started with the men’s figure skating finals. Compete client Nathan Chen was in the lead following the short program. He is a three-time world champion and the favorite to win the gold medal. Tensions were pretty…
From the Trainer’s Room: Olympic insights – Reflecting on the opening ceremonies
February 14th, 2022I’m sure there will be many highlights during the Olympic Games, but what a start it was. On the day of the opening ceremony, the figure skating team event began. Compete client Michal Brezina kicked it off for the Czech team followed by the rest of the team practicing. After practice, everyone began to gather…
From the Trainer’s Room: Olympic insights – Living in the loop
February 11th, 2022The Olympic sites and villages have been affected heavily by COVID. The sites are in a loop, which is essentially a series of bubbles connected by strict and official transportation. Each site is enclosed and the only way in or out is by private bus or car. I am staying in a hotel about 15…
From the Trainer’s Room: Olympic insights – How did I get here?
February 11th, 2022So how did I end up at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China? I ask myself the same question all the time. I started helping with U.S. Figure Skating a few years ago assisting with camp and covering competitions. During this time, I worked together with the U.S. Figure Skating medical staff helping wherever…
From the Trainer’s Room: Long-term athletic development all about following specific guidelines for maximum benefits
February 4th, 2022The implementation of long-term athletic development (LTAD) aims to improve health, physical activity, and performance of all youth. USA Hockey refers to long-term athletic development as the ADM (American Development Model), while Hockey Canada uses the mantra Long Term Player Development. It is important to understand that long-term athletic development is not a rigid model…
From the Trainer’s Room: Physical, mental effects of early sport specialization
January 26th, 2022As many young athletes near the end of their season, they will be faced with different options on what to do during the offseason. Some athletes will choose to take this time to prepare for the next season while others will continue to play their sport as a part of a different club or organization….