Confirmed with Link: Habs Sign Jesperi Kotkaniemi to 3-Year ELC ($925K)

[BB88]

Well I hope he makes use of it, because he's got work to do. As a comparison, another one of our draftees with skating issues, Cam Hillis, is working out with Barb Underhill 2-3 times per week this off-season. Jesperi just said he needs to ''get in the gym'' in his interview with the local media. Mmmm nope, that's not going to do it. He might have to learn the lesson the Leon Draisaitl way.

It seems to be a Finnish thing, which I like and don't like at the same time.

Laine/Ristolainen/Rantanen are training together in Turku, with the legendary Rautanen, all of them have the same goal, improve skating/1st steps.
Their training is versatile, not just hitting the weights, but they don't skate in the summers. Laine didn't really skate for 6months and he should be getting better as a skater. The reasoning from posters here is that you need to do the groundwork before you should try skating in the offseasons.

Yes both Rantanen& Ristolainen have improved their skating but is that maxing out the development(in skating)?
I like the Barkov way, he hired an figure skating coach last summer.

 

[NotProkofievian]

It seems to be a Finnish thing, which I like and don't like at the same time.

Laine/Ristolainen/Rantanen are training together in Turku, with the legendary Rautanen, all of them have the same goal, improve skating/1st steps.
Their training is versatile, not just hitting the weights, but they don't skate in the summers. Laine didn't really skate for 6months and he should be getting better as a skater. The reasoning from posters here is that you need to do the groundwork before you should try skating in the offseasons.

Yes both Rantanen& Ristolainen have improved their skating but is that maxing out the development(in skating)?
I like the Barkov way, he hired an figure skating coach last summer.

Whatever they're doing in Oulu seems to be working. Aho, Pulju and Kupari are all fast as f***. I agree that you have to get your body in working order to be as good of a skater as possible, but I also agree with what seems to be your point. Hockey's a unique sport in that it requires mastery of an unnatural skill as its basis: skating. The only way you master it is hours on the ice.

 

[BB88]

Whatever they're doing in Oulu seems to be working. Aho, Pulju and Kupari are all fast as ****. I agree that you have to get your body in working order to be as good of a skater as possible, but I also agree with what seems to be your point. Hockey's a unique sport in that it requires mastery of an unnatural skill as its basis: skating. The only way you master it is hours on the ice.

Karpat is gold standard.

I want versatility, I want what they are doing in Turku, but with skating. I refuse to believe that the top prospects/superstars in NA won't skate during summers.
Barkov is a beast on skates these days and he doesn't just rely on off ice training.

 

[StiffSquid]

Strength training without skating tends to make you a little stiff.

I remember this with Saku. He was an exceptionally skilled skater who hit the gym a little bit too hard the first few years after he came to NA. He lost some of that agility that made him such an incredible player to watch before his NHL years. Koivu would be in his element in the modern NHL.

 

[Redux91]

Strength training without skating tends to make you a little stiff.

I remember this with Saku. He was an exceptionally skilled skater who hit the gym a little bit too hard the first few years after he came to NA. He lost some of that agility that made him such an incredible player to watch before his NHL years. Koivu would be in his element in the modern NHL.

lol..koivu lost the spark because of serious knee injuries... not the "gym"

 

[StiffSquid]

lol..koivu lost the spark because of serious knee injuries... not the "gym"

I agree , sir. More muscle tends to make you less agile though. His balance and agility before NHL were exceptional. I remember his first knee injury. I think he was top5 in scoring when he got hurt. So much potential

 

[RageQuit77]

A casual fockey fans' mind and perception requires that a hockey player's summer training program/schedule does contain some amount of skating regardless of focus of training. It's like no-brainer thing what they should always do during summers.

Mr. Rautala's school have had notoriously good results (at least within Finnish hockey scene) with hockey players (but not limited to hockey players only), and it's certain they have all contacts, knowledge, and touch and drive to/for recent scientific developments in these things (Rautala's school is kind of "university" of the/in to the craft here in Finland).

I'm not particularly concerned about Jesperi. He is also under the contract now. Habs management can give directives for training priorities if they feel it is necessary. I don't see that would happen (it's already happened actually), nor there would ever arise any reason it would happen against generally proven athletic training school of Rautala. Not worst place on the earth to spend your summers if you're hockey player, and if they cannot offer what you need, they have all necessary authority and high-level contacts (in Finnish context) to get access to what you may need.

ADD: Probably already linked several times. Here again.

 

[NotProkofievian]

A casual fockey fans' mind and perception requires that a hockey player's summer training program/schedule does contain some amount of skating regardless of focus of training. It's like no-brainer thing what they should always do during summers.

Mr. Rautala's school have had notoriously good results (at least within Finnish hockey scene) with hockey players (but not limited to hockey players only), and it's certain they have all contacts, knowledge, and touch and drive to/for recent scientific developments in these things (Rautala's school is kind of "university" of the/in to the craft here in Finland).

I'm not particularly concerned about Jesperi. He is also under the contract now. Habs management can give directives for training priorities if they feel it is necessary. I don't see that would happen (it's already happened actually), nor there would ever arise any reason it would happen against generally proven athletic training school of Rautala. Not worst place on the earth to spend your summers if you're hockey player, and if they cannot offer what you need, they have all necessary authority and high-level contacts (in Finnish context) to get access to what you may need.

ADD: Probably already linked several times. Here again.

Is Jesperi training with Rautala?

 

[RageQuit77]

Is Jesperi training with Rautala?

I don't actually know that. Wouldn't be surprised, tho.

But that's not the point, and not even crucially important if he is/will be directly under Rautala's supervision. The point is that here in Finland (pop. ~5.5 mil) every top sports/hockey trainers (particularly) are someway interlinked/in contact to Mr. Rautala and his school, the methods, traditions, collective experience etc... culture. So was/is/will be Jesperi too.

Maybe his trainer is not Mr. Rautala, but that guy likely will be at least strongly influenced by Rautala and his school, if not directly "trained" by Rautala, you know.

 

[NotProkofievian]

I don't actually know that. Wouldn't be surprised, tho.

But that's not the point, and not even crucially important if he is/will be directly under Rautala's supervision. The point is that here in Finland (pop. ~5.5 mil) every top sports/hockey trainers (particularly) are someway interlinked/in contact to Mr. Rautala and his school, the methods, traditions, collective experience etc... culture. So was/is/will be Jesperi too.

Maybe his trainer is not Mr. Rautala, but that guy likely will be at least strongly influenced by Rautala and his school, if not directly "trained" by Rautala, you know.

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

[Dominator13]

Probably got a fat signing bonus that the Habs want him to use on a personal trainer next season in Finland. I'm happy for the kid, at 17 years old getting 200K is like getting 5 million when you're 25.

 

[RageQuit77]

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

If you're interested, check Rautala Training's official website (in Finnish): Rautala Training tarjoaa huippuvalmennusta lajiin katsomatta

Tangential to the topic. If Finnish training methods are really interesting topic to you, I recommend reading this excellent article about legendary goalie coach Urpo 'Upi' Ylönen: The Oracle of Ice Hockey