Improving fitness, talent disappeared?

[prorobo]

I'm about 4 years removed from my lone season of college club hockey (ACHA) and recently skated with my school's current team and got smoked. Apparently men's league and random pick up games do not keep you in shape or my limited talent simply disappeared. My question is how the hell do I get back to where I once was? Can it be accomplished with off ice training only or are there on ice fitness camps for adults? Being out of shape and terrible sucks.

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[Gino 14]

I'm about 4 years removed from my lone season of college club hockey (ACHA) and recently skated with my school's current team and got smoked. Apparently men's league and random pick up games do not keep you in shape or my limited talent simply disappeared. My question is how the hell do I get back to where I once was? Can it be accomplished with off ice training only or are there on ice fitness camps for adults? Being out of shape and terrible sucks.

Welcome to the world of the working adult. I doubt that the talent disappeared, but the possibility that your conditioning disappeared is probably a more likely candidate. Unless you're playing several times a week, and by that I mean 3 or 4, men's league won't get you in shape. Take advantage of open skates and head to the gym.

 

[Jarick]

I'm sure you can regain your speed and skill through lots of training, practice, and ice time...but if you're working and have other things in your life you might just want to go out at a level that suits you and have fun. Not many people who play hockey for fun as an adult have the time and resources to constantly improve...

 

[canuck44]

I've always wondered, how good is ACHA hockey? (Not to derail the thread, but since we have someone with experience in the league I thought I'd ask) I've read online that ACHA D1 is comparable some some programs in NCAA D1 and that some bottom level ACHA teams have players that have never really played before. That seems like a ridiculous range of skill to me

 

[EmptyNetter]

It's a vague question because I have no idea what your past skill level was and whether you're honestly evaluating the players you just skated against.

1. Give a comparative of what you used to be able to do that you can't do now. Is your top speed much slower? How about your first step? Agility? Feel for the puck?

2. Are you now playing against better opponents or are they about the same as you used to play against?

3. How's your wind? If you tire easily you won't have the energy to pull off any fancy moves.

I think you can easily improve through off-ice training if it's a conditioning issue. You can also do stick handling drills, balance exercises, agility exercises, etc. But if hockey IQ is the problem -- deciding what to do with the puck when it's on your stick, deking out a defender, waiting out a goalie on a breakaway. . . for the most part you'll need to play to get that part of your game back.

 

[BLKHKhockey]

I've always wondered, how good is ACHA hockey? (Not to derail the thread, but since we have someone with experience in the league I thought I'd ask) I've read online that ACHA D1 is comparable some some programs in NCAA D1 and that some bottom level ACHA teams have players that have never really played before. That seems like a ridiculous range of skill to me

Highest skill from top to bottom:

NCAA D1
NCAA D3
ACHA D1
ACHA D2
ACHA D3

I play ACHA D2 as a freshman and our team mostly consists of ex AAA players with a few high school stars and AAers. ACHA D3 (lowest level) would probably compare to higher level high school teams.

Also, a kid who played ACHA D2 recently got drafted into the AHL. Of course, this particular case is very rare.


On topic, most of player's talent is muscle memory. Your stride, shot, and stickhandling suffer because you haven't done them in a while. Also, if you become stronger without practicing your skills, your coordination will be thrown off.

 

[Maupin Fan]

Highest skill from top to bottom:

NCAA D1
NCAA D3
ACHA D1
ACHA D2
ACHA D3

I play ACHA D2 as a freshman and our team mostly consists of ex AAA players with a few high school stars and AAers. ACHA D3 (lowest level) would probably compare to higher level high school teams.

Also, a kid who played ACHA D2 recently got drafted into the AHL. Of course, this particular case is very rare.


On topic, most of player's talent is muscle memory. Your stride, shot, and stickhandling suffer because you haven't done them in a while. Also, if you become stronger without practicing your skills, your coordination will be thrown off.

Yeah, some of the top 4-5 ACHA D1 teams would beat bottom feeding NCAA D3 teams on a fairly consistent basis and may be able to compete with some mid level D3 teams. They aren't comparable to NCAA D1 schools at all.

Also, that kid was from FGCU and didn't get drafted. He signed a PTO and went to the AHL camp but was ultimately assigned to Louisiana in the SPHL, where he is doing fairly well. It's a nice story, even considering how bad the SP is.

 

[prorobo]

Looks like I just have to find the time to hit the gym and get on the ice as much as possible.

As for the ACHA, at least up here in the Northeast, D2 and D3 were pretty comparable skill-wise. I was D3 but we would play in a state tourny where we skated and won against D2 and D1 schools and made it to the championship only to lose. The only reason we weren't D2 or higher is we had no budget to do the required travel for that level. My team consisted of all high school D1 players, junior players (the US kind), and a couple NCAA D1 and D3 dropouts. It was usually pretty good hockey besides those few games where we'd play some starter D3 club that couldn't get out of their own way. And it beat the hell out of men's league!