From college to the NHL

By Kevin Kurtt
Let’s Play Hockey Editor

If you’ve watched nearly any NCAA sporting event on television in the past several years, you’ve seen the ad. You may even be able to recite the tagline: “There are 380,000 NCAA student-athletes, and just about all of them will be going pro in something other than sports.”

It’s a noble campaign directed at educating the masses that most athletes in college will see their athletic careers come to an end at graduation.

In the world of NCAA hockey, the vast majority of players on the 59 Division I and 78 Division II/III men’s teams will not make the jump to the NHL, AHL, ECHL or any other of the various professional hockey leagues around the world. But for a select few, college hockey is merely a steppingstone to the bright lights of the National Hockey League.

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A hockey trip out East – Part II

Details: Last Updated on Thursday, 06 December 2012 18:42

By Kevin Hartzell
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

This chronicle of our trip East was interrupted by the death of my mom. After a week home in St. Paul with my family, my wife, MaryBeth, and I returned to Hartford.

Sunday, Nov. 18 – We arrive at the Hartford airport and head an hour north to Amherst, Mass., and Mullin Arena on the campus of the University of Massachusetts. We will see a Hockey East showdown of sister schools UMass hosting UMass-Lowell.

Mullin Arena is a spacious arena, arguably a bit too large for most college games. I don’t know the seating capacity but it looks like it holds 10,000. On a Sunday night, it seems more like a minor pro game with no school band playing to add a collegiate flavor.

Getting to know Winny Brodt Brown

Details: Last Updated on Thursday, 06 December 2012 18:42

Winny Brown (Brodt) has been playing for the Minnesota Whitecaps for eight years. Nearly a decade since the Whitecaps inaugural season in 2004-05, Winny has worked hard to enjoy many successes in both her playing and professional careers. In 2005, she co-founded the Minnesota Jr. Whitecaps – an offseason hockey program for elite high school hockey players in the state – with Chris Peterson, the Breck girls’ head coach. Currently Winny works as a sales rep for Proguard Sports, is a group fitness instructor at Lifetime Fitness and owns Os Hockey Training, an all-female hockey training program.

Athletes make the best hockey players

Details: Last Updated on Thursday, 06 December 2012 19:33

By Minnesota Hockey

On Nov. 3, thousands of kids participated in Try Hockey for Free Day. One young boy from New Hope, Minn., spent that Saturday morning flying around the ice, looking more like a second- or third-year Mite than a first-time skater. Yet, his mom claimed he could barely stand up the previous year when he was first introduced to skating. How could a child show so much progress over the course of a year with no additional ice time or hockey specific training?

The answer is simple. During the previous spring, summer and fall, this boy had been participating in other sports and activities, leading to major improvements in balance, muscle strength and coordination. These gains in athleticism translated into a notable difference in his skating ability.

Cutting edge

Details: Last Updated on Thursday, 06 December 2012 18:39

Understanding skate sharpening for a better glide and a better stride

By Aaron Paitich

When hockey players ask Bill Schuessler, owner of Wissota Skate Sharpeners, about skate sharpening, the first question he asks them is at what radius they are sharpening their skates. Half-inch? Five-eighths? His question is most often met with a blank stare as rarely do the players, or the parents, understand what he’s talking about.

How often do you walk into the skate shop, drop off your blades and leave without asking or understanding the basics about how your skates are being sharpened? While you might not think you need to consider how your skates are being sharpened, understanding the process and at what radius your skates are being sharpened can have a big affect on your performance on the ice. For example, how often have you stepped onto the ice and thought your skates have been way too “sharp”?

Aerobic fitness is essential in hockey; aerobic training is not

Details: Last Updated on Monday, 03 December 2012 17:58

By Jack Blatherwick
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

Review: Aerobic metabolism combines oxygen with dietary and stored fuels to produce energy for muscle contraction. Anaerobic metabolism also produces energy, but uses no oxygen. It is less efficient, and the principal fuel is stored in the muscle, not delivered in the blood as it is for aerobic metabolism.

Aerobic fitness increases stamina for long, slow exercise. It also increases the ability to recover between shifts of a hockey game. Long, slow aerobic training, sometimes called “cardio,” is popular among adults seeking cardiovascular fitness, low body fat and a healthy lifestyle.

The Stand-up Goalie: Life lessons from the crease

Details: Last Updated on Monday, 03 December 2012 17:53

By Hans Eisenbeis

It’s a curious thing in life that someone always seems to be bigger, faster, better, smarter. It’s easy to believe that you’re something special when you forget the mirror is attached to the wall and the wall is attached to the rest of the world, and somewhere out there – probably closer than you think – there is someone with a harder slapshot or a better Mohawk turn or a faster glove hand.

With goaltenders, this is a complicated business, because so much of the game is played in the head. Confidence dictates that you know you can make that save, but the scoresheet often says otherwise.