Cruickshank: Rasmus Andersson needs to respond to conditioning criticism

[CroFlames]

I just hope it's is a bad habit thing or lack of conditioning knowledge, rather than lack of motivation or a problem with authority.

[Vulcan]

Yeah, it isn't just about body fat percentage but weren't there some reports of him being not able to keep up because of his conditioning at the July camp.

[JohnnyTitan]

Remember when that guy could only do one pull-up?

I've seen Rasmus at the last two dev camps and he's heads-and-shoulders above the others.

He will figure out the conditioning. Hockey has just come too easy for this kid so far. He'll never be totally cut...but I think he has top-pairing talent and is one of our safest prospects.

Although I did also coin the term Fatmas Sandwichsson and will bring it out again if he tests poorly on Thursday!

[MarkGio]

Originally Posted by JohnnyTitan

Remember when that guy could only do one pull-up?

I've seen Rasmus at the last two dev camps and he's a head-and-shoulders above the others.

He will figure out the conditioning. Hockey has just come too easy for this kid so far. He'll never be totally cut...but I think he has top-pairing talent and is one of our safest prospects.

Although I did also coin the term Fatmas Sandwichsson and will bring it out again if he tests poorly on Thursday!

Bennett was hiding an injury. That's more likely the reason he couldn't do the pull up, not conditioning

[JohnnyTitan]

The points I was trying to make were:
1) Players can physically change...especially young players...and
2) Sometimes off-ice physicalities don't translate to how good of a player someone turns out to be. See Tom Brady, Ryan Leaf and Jamarcus Russell as prime incongruences of that in the NFL.

Being a defenceman in the NHL isn't just about riding a stationary bike really fast for really long.

[Clarkey]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

You realize some of those people are the Flames management, right? With everything they've invested in Andersson, it's unlikely they're going to 'knock it off' because it hurts the kid's feelings or irks some fans.

That's right I now remember that time you, Burke, Treliving and I were talking about this and they specifically mentioned their concerns.

I've talked to a few former players and coach's myopic fixation with visual aesthetics (i.e. body fat percentage) is a common thing. I'd be more concerned with a guy like Colborne's greyhound 2% bodyfat percentage than a guy who's got a minor gut.

[Yanda]

Rasmus Anderson has all the tools to be the next Toni Lydman, Flames should have got him in touch with Gary Roberts over the offseason

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Clarkey

That's right I now remember that time you, Burke, Treliving and I were talking about this and they specifically mentioned their concerns.

I've talked to a few former players and coach's myopic fixation with visual aesthetics (i.e. body fat percentage) is a common thing. I'd be more concerned with a guy like Colborne's greyhound 2% bodyfat percentage than a guy who's got a minor gut.

Flames management have expressed concerns about this publicly. Thats all Cliff was saying. And the concern isn't about a little gut it's about conditioning

[curves2000]

The issue of fitness and conditioning for athletes are related to a few things and one of them is being a pro and showing dedication for your line of work.

Young kids can 100% get away with below average or average conditioning and fitness levels. Its usually when you hit 30 that things can start to go sideways career and performance wise and you see it time and time again.

Somebody mentioned Drew Doughty which is which is an accurate example. He was rumored to not be the fittest guy and has improved a lot, but if he hadn't, I don't think his performance year after year in playoff runs, Olympic games and All-Star games would hold up. Its simply too hard.

The way the game is today its very hard for players 35+ to stay in the league unless they contribute and can play the game at a high level. Players like Jagr, Iginla, Chelios and others who are known for fitness were able to stick around a long time as a result

In the recent article in the Hockey News where former Flame Devon Setoguchi talked about his alcohol and drug addictions he made reference to this. He mentioned that if he had pushed himself over the course of his career he thinks he would have been a repeat 30 goal scorer. He also mentioned that during his time with the Flames he was initially pissed off with Bob Hartley but the truth was he wasn't in good enough shape to compete. This is one of the downsides of addiction, is the loss of ability to perform your best and do what you love because everything takes a back seat to drugs and booze.

The reports that we heard from development camp was that Rasmus Anderson was looking a little slow and winded from some of the action on the ice, it could partially be as a result of poor fitness and being overweight. Being a bit overweight and out of shape in July, 2016 isn't the biggest deal. Being on the Flames roster in 3 years, during game 79 with the playoffs on the line, getting caught and not having the speed to catch up to Connor McDavid is an issue.

I am confident the kid will be able to figure it out as its a struggle for a lot of people. Hopefully if he is down in the AHL, making a few bucks and being an official pro hockey player he will get it together. All the best because he is a solid prospect for the very near future.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by wretched34

Look at Byfuglien, or even Kessel, both are much more "out of shape" when looking at them, but have had years of learning how to condition themselves to play at their "out of shape" weight.

Byfuglien figured out to work to find the best skate blade and skate boot for his skating style. He's making the blades optimal for his style which makes him deceptively quick. It doesn't look like he's skating very hard but he has such excellent top speed and that he doesn't have a really obvious ramp up in stride makes him fool a lot of people into perceiving him moving slower.

[MarkGio]

Originally Posted by curves2000

The issue of fitness and conditioning for athletes are related to a few things and one of them is being a pro and showing dedication for your line of work.

Young kids can 100% get away with below average or average conditioning and fitness levels. Its usually when you hit 30 that things can start to go sideways career and performance wise and you see it time and time again.

Somebody mentioned Drew Doughty which is which is an accurate example. He was rumored to not be the fittest guy and has improved a lot, but if he hadn't, I don't think his performance year after year in playoff runs, Olympic games and All-Star games would hold up. Its simply too hard.

The way the game is today its very hard for players 35+ to stay in the league unless they contribute and can play the game at a high level. Players like Jagr, Iginla, Chelios and others who are known for fitness were able to stick around a long time as a result

In the recent article in the Hockey News where former Flame Devon Setoguchi talked about his alcohol and drug addictions he made reference to this. He mentioned that if he had pushed himself over the course of his career he thinks he would have been a repeat 30 goal scorer. He also mentioned that during his time with the Flames he was initially pissed off with Bob Hartley but the truth was he wasn't in good enough shape to compete. This is one of the downsides of addiction, is the loss of ability to perform your best and do what you love because everything takes a back seat to drugs and booze.

The reports that we heard from development camp was that Rasmus Anderson was looking a little slow and winded from some of the action on the ice, it could partially be as a result of poor fitness and being overweight. Being a bit overweight and out of shape in July, 2016 isn't the biggest deal. Being on the Flames roster in 3 years, during game 79 with the playoffs on the line, getting caught and not having the speed to catch up to Connor McDavid is an issue.

I am confident the kid will be able to figure it out as its a struggle for a lot of people. Hopefully if he is down in the AHL, making a few bucks and being an official pro hockey player he will get it together. All the best because he is a solid prospect for the very near future.

I can see this. Hockey is a billion dollar industry and franchise values are several hundred million. We saw a few seasons ago Chicago make the playoffs by default because Dallas lost the last game of the season. I could see the case for ensuring these athletes understand that if you're out of shape on the 82nd game and cost the team the losing goal, it could mean millions in lost revenue.

But the same could be said about a bad pass, poor back checking, distracted on the ice, or failing to stay within the system. There's a way to build a winning roster and atmosphere and I'm not sure hard-line policies are the right approach.

[dying4acup]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

I can see this. Hockey is a billion dollar industry and franchise values are several hundred million. We saw a few seasons ago Chicago make the playoffs by default because Dallas lost the last game of the season. I could see the case for ensuring these athletes understand that if you're out of shape on the 82nd game and cost the team the losing goal, it could mean millions in lost revenue.

But the same could be said about a bad pass, poor back checking, distracted on the ice, or failing to stay within the system. There's a way to build a winning roster and atmosphere and I'm not sure hard-line policies are the right approach.

The difference is that this is an incredibly correctable flaw!

The problem is that this was pointed out by many a year ago, including the Flames, and the agent I'm sure, as well his national team program leading up to the draft.

Does the kid want to make changes or not?

[CroFlames]

I'm just a little shocked that it's still an issue this late in the game. He's on the cusp of becoming pro, and has tons of potential to make it to the big league. Why is fitness an issue?

If he seriously is unable to control himself, hire a GD nutritionist and a GD trainer to keep you in line.

It would be an uber waste if his talent went down the tubes due to something as simple as fitness.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I'm just a little shocked that it's still an issue this late in the game. He's on the cusp of becoming pro, and has tons of potential to make it to the big league. Why is fitness an issue?

If he seriously is unable to control himself, hire a GD nutritionist and a GD trainer to keep you in line.

It would be an uber waste if his talent went down the tubes due to something as simple as fitness.

That stuff costs money. The amounts they get in junior aren't enough to cover a lot of extra expenditures. Now that he's pro he'll get a lot of help to improve this issue. If he doesn't from here on, that's on him.

to answer your first question, I still think that there are players who are so talented that they don't need to be in shape, depending on their competition. In junior he never had to be fit because he was still an exceptional player. In the pros it will be a different story, and it will definitely catch up with him a la Ryan Howse.

[Robbob]

I would withhold judgement until after the fitness testing. The problem with the rookie development camp being in July is that is when NHL players start to ramp up their training. Granted they probably wanted him farther ahead then he was in July, but maybe he got back on track in the last 2 months. I guess we will see in a couple days when they show up for the fitness portion before the tournament.

[zuluking]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Bennett was hiding an injury scared of being drafted by the Oilers. That's more likely the reason he couldn't do the pull up, not conditioning

fyp

[spuzzum]

If the season ends anywhere between April to June, that is a period of 3 to 5 months until camp starts in September.

-How much time does the average player need to get in "shape?"
-How many hours per day or week? I go to the gym an hour each day 5 days per week. Anymore than that and I'd be completely sore.
-Nutrition and what you eat are extremely important. I am curious if the players go on a diet when they start getting into game shape.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

In the pros it will be a different story, and it will definitely catch up with him a la Ryan Howse.

Nothing "caught up" to Ryan Howse... he just wasn't very good (even in junior). The guy had one good tool (in junior) everything else was average or below.

[Enoch Root]

Howse is not a good comparison.

1) Andersson is significantly more talented

2) Howse didn't just suffer from being out of shape, he didn't have the drive or desire to become a professional hockey player. He simply wasn't into it.

That describes Andersson not at all.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

That stuff costs money. The amounts they get in junior aren't enough to cover a lot of extra expenditures. Now that he's pro he'll get a lot of help to improve this issue. If he doesn't from here on, that's on him.

to answer your first question, I still think that there are players who are so talented that they don't need to be in shape, depending on their competition. In junior he never had to be fit because he was still an exceptional player. In the pros it will be a different story, and it will definitely catch up with him a la Ryan Howse.

Well, he did get 92k in signing bonus last fall!

On the main topic though, I think it's obvious true fitness doesn't come naturally to Rasmus, fine during the summer but when he's out of the firm grasp of his NHL overlords he slips during the winters in junior. Now being a full time pro, having Flames guys in the AHL to help him I think he'll do better day-to-day.