Quick Shot:  Drilling down on the concept of Athleticism, I take a closer look at some of the Game's Pioneers, Builders, and Hockey Greats.

Long Version: George Kingston, a Canadian Hockey icon has been a major contributor to Hockey and to development of Youth, Elite and Pro Hockey Players around the world for almost 50 years.  At age 70 he is still committed to and has learned a great deal by studying training methods used by some of the greatest producers of elite hockey players, in the world.  In advance of the now famous 1972 Summit Series for example, he traveled to Russia to study the Red Army. It was then he began to understand and appreciate the nuances of different and arguably, better athletic training and hockey development methods that threatened what Canada considered to be “its Game”. 

After 50-years of immersing himself in Sport and Hockey at all levels, Kingston favours and promotes a well-rounded approach to development of athletes, as opposed to concentrating on the singular development of specialized hockey skill.  This is an important distinction and lesson-learned, from a person who has been around the game, at the developmental and Elite level, more than anyone on the planet that I am aware of. In all of his research, coaching at every level including University, Junior, Olympic, and Professional, and inside Professional Management he promotes the development of athleticism and not simply the emphasis on development of pure hockey skill.

Wayne Gretzky, arguably one of the best hockey players to play the game of Hockey, was a gifted multi-sport Youth athlete who enjoyed baseball and lacrosse during his off season.  He was not known to be a strong skater; and he wasn’t big, strong or involved in year round hockey training, so one has to wonder how and why he was so impactful and so productive in the physically demanding game of hockey. I have wondered about this since I was the age of 12, when my father supplied me with my first Maclean’s Magazine Article that featured a young Wayne Gretzky, in the late 1970s.  I recall the author of the article described Gretzky as a “scrawny kid from Brantford, Ontario” when he was still playing for the Major Jr. A, Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds.

Through my own participation in competitive sports and onto formal study of Sport at University level, and through the application of Sport Medicine and Performance Science techniques where I have had front row access working with athletes from around the world, I have observed several common themes of Sport, and none bigger than the Athleticism-factor (“A-factor”).  No matter what the Sport, participants at all levels who possess well rounded athleticism dominate and endure over participants who possess only single sport-specific skill.

Athleticism is not difficult to achieve and conversely, it is very easy to rob people of athleticism by over-training and training only at one sport or skill.  Athleticism is the acquired skill of coordination; balance; agility and fluidity of movement.  Athleticism enables athletes to develop fully to support performance at higher levels, in part because they can adapt to situational play and to various circumstances thrown at them.  Single-sport athletes can do very well, but all evidence of the truly great, pure athletes is overwhelming and supports a balanced approach to training.

Michael Jordan, for example was perhaps one of the most productive and gifted basketball players to ever play the Game, and he also possessed a natural gift and talent in baseball.  To this day, he continues to perform at a very high level in the game of golf.  Jordan, like Gretzky is a naturally gifted athlete, who fed his “A-Factor” before he became a specialized single-sport athlete.


Tom Glavine, 2-time Cy Young Award, and World Series MVP was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in January 2014.  Interestingly, Glavine was an incredible dual-athlete, who was first scouted in 1984 by one of the teams Gordie Howe played for, the NHL® Hartford Whalers.  Former NHL scout David McNab, now VP of Anaheim Ducks said Tom Glavine “had John LeClair-like hands”.

Amazingly, Glavine was drafted by the LA Kings, 5-Rounds ahead of future NHL® Hall of Famer (2009), Luc Robitaille and 2-Rounds ahead of NHL superstar and Hall of Famer (2009), Brett Hull. 

Message to Players, Trainers, Coaches and Parents: Sport analysts, writers, scouts and Coaches are quick to agree that Tom Glavin’s success in baseball, is linked very closely to his athleticism, which he fed in multiple sports, throughout his Youth and onto his draft year (age of 18), when he was drafted by both NHL® and MLB Teams.

To modernize this concept of multi-sport play, John Tavares of the NY Islanders who showed off his amazing hands at the 2013 NHL All Star Game and for Team Canada at the Sochi Olympics, has this to say about cross sport development:   “it's lacrosse that helped teach me to spin off checks, take shots and protect the puck under pressure. My stick skills, the way to read the play quickly, comes from lacrosse. The hand-eye coordination is just one of the little things that help you in hockey."  Other players who enjoyed an off-season and balanced approach to play, while honing cross-sport skills in lacrosse, are  Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Toews, Sam Gagne to name a few of the current NHL® Stars.

"It's lacrosse that helped teach me to spin off checks, take shots and protect the puck under pressure. My stick skills, the way to read the play quickly, comes from lacrosse. The hand-eye coordination is just one of the little things that help you in hockey."
                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                       John Tavares

                                                                                      
 
Past stars like Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky all played lacrosse, as did Doug Gilmour, Mike Gartner, Steve Larmer, Dave Andreychuk, Adam Foote, Joe Niewendyk, Paul Coffey, Adam Oates, Brian Bellows, Gary Roberts, Joe Sakic, Brendan Shannahan, and Paul Kariya to name a few who benefited from cross-play and development of natural “A-factor”.

I am having difficulty leaving this section (on the topic of “Athleticism”) without mentioning NHL superstar Pavel Datsyuk, who was voted by all NHL Players in the 2011-2012 NHL Players Poll to be the Smartest Player, Most Difficult to Play Against, Hardest to Take the Puck From, Most Difficult to Stop, Cleanest Player, and Toughest Forward to Play Against.

Being voted as one of the best all round players by one’s peers, and opponents is a strong indicator a player is special.  

A few years ago Rob Veccia, former OHL-er (Soo GreyHounds and Windsor Spitfires) and nephew to a former Red Wings Coach took me to my first game at The Joe Louis Arena, in Detroit.  Enroute to the game, we called an old friend of mine, Ed Burkholder who many may know from his energetic appearances on TSN and for his enduring color-commentating talents.  Ed had formerly worked as a Professional Hockey Scout within the Red Wings system, during their rebuild years so I knew he who have an inside scoop on what to look for in Detroit.  I was looking for a quick Scouting Report on key Red Wings personnel.

I learned that “Detroit was a team of puck possession” and that “play revolved around Pavel Datsyuk, who Ed described as a “master with the puck”.

Overlooked initially by NHL Teams most believe because of his small stature, it is interesting to note Datsyuk had low success early in his hockey career.  It wasn’t until one of the great minds in hockey, Russian Trainer for Moscow Dynamo and The Russian Olympic Team (2006), Vladimir Krikunov recognized Datsyuk’s athletic skills of coordination, agility and what he describes as his ability to “naturally read a game”.

The ability Datsyuk has to read the Game in any Sport, is a Gift he must have developed. To be clear, Krikunov didn't discover Datsyuk on the ice; he discovered one of the most exciting and talented modern day hockey players, on the soccer field.

Note to Players: One of the most gifted current NHL players is Pavel Datsyuk, who developed and was showcasing crazy athletic skill, on the soccer field during a training session, and it was on the field of soccer that the hockey world discovered the great athleticism in Pavel Datsyuk.

Stay tuned for tips on developing Athleticism and your own personal A-Factor

See ya at the rink,
Jody Anderson

#Hockey MATTERS
@DoctorJody