Oilers pushing the weights around
The Okotoks Oilers know they need some meat behind them if they are going to be able to push their way through the Alberta Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The players make a point of pushing weights on their days off to ensure they have the strength to hold their own with other teams in the league.
Okotoks Oiler Cody Dion pulls down 200 pounds while doing lap pull-downs during a workout at Country Fitness on March 3. photo by Bruce Campbell
Weightlifting is almost a necessity if you are going to play hockey at a high level.
“I started lifting weights when I was in 14 as a freshman in high school (Grade 9),” Oiler forward Cody Dion said. “You have to have core strength. you need upper-body and strong legs because your body gets a hard workout during a game.”
Dion and several of the Oilers were at Country Fitness in Okotoks the morning of March 3. there is an unwritten rule that if an Oiler isn’t at school or at work they are expected to workout on days the team does not have a game.
“Obviously, it depends on how many games we have in a week,” Dion said. “I try to workout four or five times week.”
Dion was working on his upper body on March 3.
He bench-pressed 245 pounds and did pull downs of 200 pounds for his upper body workout. he also did arm curls using 45-pound dumbbells. he topped the workout off with some minutes on the stationary bike to develop his cardio.
“That’s plenty,” Dion said. “We play the Calgary police tomorrow night and I don’t want to be tired for that.”
Andy Stonehouse said the Oilers were given a basic program at the start of the year, but more assessment will happen on the players for individual programs next season.
Oilers coach Garry VanHereweghe is a throwback to the 1970s when a hockey players’ weight training consisted of throwing hay bales on the family farm.
Those days have gone the way of the California Golden Seals.
“When I started coaching Junior A as an assistant with the Calgary Royals there were maybe four or five guys who did weight-training,” VanHereweghe said. “For most of the players, they might have done some off-ice training a few weeks before training camp.”
What a difference nearly two decades make.
He said now all major Midget and Junior programs would have some sort of weight-training program in place. VanHereweghe added that many Junior A players have their own private trainers with whom they work.
Country Fitness provides access to its facilities for several Okotoks teams, including the Junior Ice and Icemen in lacrosse.
“I don’t think any of them use the facility as much as the Oilers do,” he said. “I think we averaging 14 to 15 players a day when they don’t have a game.”
Not all of the Oilers are pressing weights. Some of them are taking advantage of yoga classes — an activity the new age thinking VanHereweghe endorses.
“Some of the guys do yoga to stretch and help them relax for the playoffs,” VanHereweghe said. “I think it’s great. the mental part of the game during playoffs is very important. I have tried it and my wife does yoga all the time when she is getting ready for a long (running) race.”
Oilers pushing the weights around