Could Improper Strength Training be a Problem for the Flames?

[EVERLAST]

Maybe we hire Gary Freakin Roberts to be the new fitness coach and we wont
Get sand kicked our faces anymore at the beach.

[Miniac]

Facepalm/ thread

[TheDebaser]

Originally Posted by MissTeeks

Rich Hesketh has been with the team since 1995. I think if his fitness programs were no good, they would have fired him by now.

There are a couple of things that worry me about this.

1) With having a guy who's been around since 1995, I think that there is a small danger that even if he's not doing his job better than at the very least 50% of the nhl (we should be wanting the best of the best, a guy who is just ok isn't good enough), people won't question his performance due to his reputation as a guy who has been doing this so long.

If he is doing his job well then this point is moot, but then again, where are the results?

2) Training has changed drastically over the 18 years he has been on duty; has this guy kept up with the state-of-the-art?

3) If this guy is doing well and does have the know how to be an nhl strength trainer for a stanley cup winning team, is our coaching staff giving this guy enough access to our players for him to get the results he wants?

I just think that going into a rebuild, we need to be asking questions like this, rather than running the risk of looking back in three years saying "huh, we should have put more thought into this three years ago."

[Vulcan]

I'd like to see a Flames sponsored training camp like Roberts runs, set up in Calgary for all our young players and any vets who want to participate. Playing pro hockey should be a full time job.

[wooohooo]

I don't understand what is with all the hate about this thread. It's a legitimate question, doesn't mean it should be facepalmed.

It's a big facet of being an effective player. Rich has been there a long time, but whether he's good at what he does I don't know the answer to that, but it doesn't deserve a 'facepalm'.

I would think him being there for that long he knows what he's doing, but also at the same time change isn't always a bad thing. Change up how guys are used to training, maybe it does help. Whatever advantage you get you take. Same with sports psychologists and sleep doctors or whatever else is out there.

[djsFlames]

Damn, I wasn't aware that becoming a team of incredible hulks was the secret to winning. Well that makes sense now! Let's get them started early, then. With enough 'roids and strength training, even gaudreau could be out there muscling Thornton off the puck and taking heads off! No excuses!

[FlamingHomer]

I don't have data but I can't help but think that being bulked up would hinder shooting and skating more than it would offset being knocked off the puck.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

I don't understand what is with all the hate about this thread. It's a legitimate question, doesn't mean it should be facepalmed.

Could improper strength training be a problem? What does improper strength training look like? What does proper strength training look like? What do the Flames do for strength training? Are you a better player if you're a strength monster? What is a strength monster? Can you imagine if our players were supermen? Who had big bushy beards and deep hearty laughs? Can you imagine if they all scored 50 goals a season and led the league in Gordie Howe hat tricks? What would the team costs be in Proactiv? Are our talented players actually stagnating? Are they really that talented? Are they just not that good? Are they developing or stagnating? Could improper cardio vascular training be a problem? Could team culture be a problem? Could special teams coaching be a problem? Could any of these areas be strengths? How does the approach the Flames take with training compare to the competition? How many burpees can Backlund do? Why do they call them burpees? Why did I just notice that our stagnant players are also described as lanky? Do the Flames even have a single player or prospect that could be considered lanky? Why am I asking so many questions?

[djsFlames]

Realistically though, I think the issue is the players willingness to take the hard route, skate through the tough areas instead of diverting to the easier path, be willing to take a beating to make playd, and bloody well hit some guys when they start skating circles around your entire team, instead of those pathetic stick checking attempts and little shoves from behind.. does absolutely nothing. I think most of these players are physically strong enough to make the tough plays if they truly willed it. It's the "wuss out" approach that's killing us.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by TheDebaser

I just think that it's a bit of a red flag that aside from our captain, our draft picks and Curtis Glencross, not a single player has really improved his strength over years of playing here.

That's quite a conclusion you make. Based on what? Just your own observations?

[mustache ride]

Originally Posted by MissTeeks

Rich Hesketh has been with the team since 1995. I think if his fitness programs were no good, they would have fired him by now.

How long has Button been with the team?

[moon]

It seems many of the guys that are soft on the puck came from other organizations. Is it Heskeths fault that Wideman, Hudler, Butler, Russell are all soft on the puck and have been their whole careers? Is it the fault of Washington, St. Louis, Boston, Detroit, Buffalo who all had these guys at one point as well? Or is it that some guys are going to be softer on the puck than others and toughness hasn't seemed to be the biggest area of concern for Feaster other than throwing out goons like McGrattan and SOB.

I think if we saw guys that should be strong having issues it may be a concern but for the most those guys above plus Backlund, Baertschi, Cammy are guys you would expect to have trouble and always will because they are weak guys.

Glencross, Stajan, Gio, Brodie, Jones, Monahan and Stempniak, the guys that are more solid are all fine in terms of their strength.

I think it is a case of blaming a guy for a lot of things out of his control.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by moon

It seems many of the guys that are soft on the puck came from other organizations. Is it Heskeths fault that Wideman, Hudler, Butler, Russell are all soft on the puck and have been their whole careers? Is it the fault of Washington, St. Louis, Boston, Detroit, Buffalo who all had these guys at one point as well? Or is it that some guys are going to be softer on the puck than others and toughness hasn't seemed to be the biggest area of concern for Feaster other than throwing out goons like McGrattan and SOB.

I think if we saw guys that should be strong having issues it may be a concern but for the most those guys above plus Backlund, Baertschi, Cammy are guys you would expect to have trouble and always will because they are weak guys.

Glencross, Stajan, Gio, Brodie, Jones, Monahan and Stempniak, the guys that are more solid are all fine in terms of their strength.

I think it is a case of blaming a guy for a lot of things out of his control.

Butler I think is a bit soft on the puck, but that is about it from the bolded list. Wideman surprised me at how physical he is and how he is able to remove players from the puck at times. Russel battles, even on the corners - for a guy his size, I wouldn't classify him as being soft on the puck. Hudler - I see him getting hit sometimes where I think he lost the puck, but still hangs onto it and makes a play. Hudler is not soft. He doesn't initiate too much, but he seems to actually do alright for himself.

Baertschi, Stajan (better this season and last though) and Billins I found pretty soft on the puck so far.

As for your 'toughness isn't an area of concern for Feaster' - why else trade Tanguay for Jones? Why sign Galiardi? O'Brien wasn't signed as an enforcer - he was signed to be that guy that pushes back when a guy takes liberties with the goalie (and he hasn't been fulfilling that role completely, which I think is part of the reason that Feaster felt he needed to obtain Smid) and obtaining Smid? Drafting Kanzig? Poirier over Shinkaruk? Feaster himself has said (before Burke was hired) that this team needs to get tougher and harder to play against. There is definitely very apparent concern from Feaster in that area I would say.

[moon]

It may be more of a concern this past offseason but the acquisitions of Wideman and Hudler last year two very soft players, Russell this who isn't bad for his size but is small and soft for an average player are the guys he brought in that actually play.

Galiardi isn't tough so not sure why his addition shows much and SOB is a guy who looks to be in the pressbox now with Smid so if not a goon not sure his 'toughness' is doing much in the 6 minutes a game he plays when not a scratch.

Poirier is a number of years away and hopefully drafted over Shinkaruk for reaons other than supposed toughness and Kanzig is a plug that struggles to make the AHL unless as a goon.

Some toughness added but overall the team is still very soft and the majority of guys Feaster has brought in, especially top 6/top 4, have contributed to this. I do think that there is a desire to get tougher now but it is tough to do overnight and it will take time to make the roster an overall tougher team especially at more than the bottom 6/bottom pairing level.

[TjRhythmic]

Most men doing reach their physical peak till around 25-26, sometimes later. Given that we have a young team there is a lot maturing to go with them.

During the season most, if not all, players don't train to build strength, they train more to maintain... and it's the trainers job more so to keep them running at their current peak level.. their isn't a lot of players that actually improve their fitness levels by the end of the season. Most of the time they will actually regress cause the training during the season is far different then the off season.

During is more about maintaining your strength and conditioning.

After the season, they'll probably meet with each player and give them a plan, and what they feel that person needs to work on with regards to working out. It's then up to the player more so to train hard in the off season so he comes back stronger.

And most of these players train with players from other teams so it has nothing to do with Calgary's trainer. It's more or less the trainer that player has decided to hire during the off season.

And as most said... bigger is better. The bigger the player, the stronger they usually are.

And someone like Sven, even Backlund. They are still young, but they are also smaller framed. If when they reach 26-27 and still getting out muscled all the time, then it's time to think about their off season training schedule.

[djsFlames]

Wideman isn't exactly soft.

Did you miss some of the massive hip checks he's been throwing? He seems to hold his own physically, at least. Hudler is another issue. But if Huds is playing at a 1+ PPG pace, then he can play as soft as he wants far as I'm concerned.

This is why I'm hoping Ferland can reach his potential offensively, as he's a really rugged dude that can grind out there and is one of the best young fighters I've seen. Reminds me of Kassian when he's at his best. If he can become a top 9 guy, would be very helpful for the team.

[Northendzone]

I think the flames workouts need to include both wax on and wax off.....

[Psytic]

They don't even need more strength they just to be able to keep their feet moving with out being pinned. If you look at guys like the Sedins they just stick their back to the checker and keep skating so the guy has to take a hit from behind penalty to stop them half the time. Not saying Backlund or Bart can get that good at it but that's another way to be strong on the puck.

[Sport Psych]

Serious question for the OP: do you have any knowledge of what the Flames' current strength and conditioning program entails?

If so, can you share with us exactly where you think certain deficiencies exist within the S&C program? And, what the team might need to do to rectify those deficiencies?

If not, your question is rather bizarre. Before you ask whether "improper strength training could be a reason" for the Flames' supposed weak play, wouldn't it be better to first ask something like "does anyone know what our S&C program is?" and go from there?

And no, it is patently false that "absolutely anyone can become an absolute strength monster." What evidence do you have that would support such a claim?

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

All the strength training in the world isn't going to develop talent in Chris Butler.