Confirmed with Link: Maple Leafs hire Director of Sports Science (Dr. Bettle)

[Commander Clueless]

Good hiring. About time the Leafs get with the program!

 

[diceman934]

so Kessel's ability to skate like that and play 20 minutes a game has nothing to do with him being fit. It's some gift from the Thunder Gods and his ankles are enchanted with the blood of Cheetah cubs. ok then.

He can not play 20 minutes a game skating hard....as very evident from watching him play. He has a hard time completing a 40 second shift when having to skate hard in one direction...

You need to understand that speed is a result of good genetics and not fitness or hard work. If this was not true then Jay McClements would have been among the fastest in the League!

 

[Daisy Jane]

He can not play 20 minutes a game skating hard....as very evident from watching him play. He has a hard time completing a 40 second shift when having to skate hard in one direction...

You need to understand that speed is a result of good genetics and not fitness or hard work. If this was not true then Jay McClements would have been among the fastest in the League!

well i keep saying that. (well not necessarily like that).

saying that. Kessel beat Seguin in a skate off at the all star game is a testament to how fit he is when watching him in say game 52 down 3 goals and he just listlessly gets off the ice, or is beat by someone not named Tyler Seguin in a foot race to get the puck are two totally different things.

I don't think (me personally) that Kessel was prepared for this season. (or if he was - something seriously, slipped up).Nith mentioned something more about his explosiveness that is fine. he wasn't all like he used to be.

Some one mentioned (Pyromanic) that maybe he just stopped competing. (which to me is just as bad, if not worse).

at either rate while Dr. Bettle can work on one, he may not do anything about the other. again. since i don't know much about the Nets other than Masai Urigri told them to eff off, hopefully he can make a difference within our organization from prospect to pro.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

He can not play 20 minutes a game skating hard....as very evident from watching him play. He has a hard time completing a 40 second shift when having to skate hard in one direction...

You need to understand that speed is a result of good genetics and not fitness or hard work. If this was not true then Jay McClements would have been among the fastest in the League!

So you're saying Kessel is.... genetically gifted? A short, balding, chubby kid from Wisconsin is that fast, agile and explosive but it has nothing to do with his fitness/athletic training.... it's genetics... ok.

I think I am done in this thread.




looks pretty good for the 3rd period of a game 7. doesn't look too winded and out of shape to me.

 

[Muston Atthews]

So you're saying Kessel is.... genetically gifted? A short, balding, chubby kid from Wisconsin is that fast, agile and explosive but it has nothing to do with his fitness/athletic training.... it's genetics... ok.

I think I am done in this thread.




looks pretty good for the 3rd period of a game 7. doesn't look too winded and out of shape to me.

 

[Alain Racette]

With all due respect we can't just take new ideas as golden ideas. Burke was absolutely full of new ideas when he came here.

Nonetheless, great to see management thinking outside the box!

I disagree. Burke was filled to the brim with the old and conventional ideas - his candid nature just made them louder.

I'm not 100% sold on analytics but I am at least willing to give the new data a shot - if there's information to be mined in any way possible, see if it works and how well it helps the team. Burke was adamantly opposed to analytics, even stating such an opinion at an INDUSTRY SUMMIT dedicated to the topic.

I'm slowly turning the corner on the useful of advanced stats concerning the NHL. At the very least the Maple Leafs are more than willing to think outside the box since the old ways were just no longer working - that I can totally respect!

 

[JustOneBeforeIGo]

Praise be to Science! Heal the out of shape! feed them vegetables! make them skate like angles! make them strong and flexible!

feel better?

...little bit, yeah

 

[Kurtz]

So you're saying Kessel is.... genetically gifted? A short, balding, chubby kid from Wisconsin is that fast, agile and explosive but it has nothing to do with his fitness/athletic training.... it's genetics... ok.

I think I am done in this thread.




looks pretty good for the 3rd period of a game 7. doesn't look too winded and out of shape to me.

Hang on, what does baldness have to do with anything? Jordan and Lebron James were both bald/balding, and they're two of the greatest athletic specimens who've ever lived. Kessel is also not short.

His athleticism was a genetic gift, there's little doubt about that. His chubbiness is of his own doing "Is that a cookie, Phil?". We know he refused to go to the gym in Boston, which was one of the issues they had with him. I'd be surprised if that has changed in Toronto.

If you still don't think that Phil is genetically gifted, I'd like to point out that his sister is one of the best hockey players in the world, and her defining attribute is her speed. Their father? A star college quarterback who's in University of Michigan hall of fame. Their mother? No idea, but I'd put money on her being athletic, probably a runner.

Everything Phil has he owns to his genetics. Unfortunately that also means he's likely been taking them for granted his whole life.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Hang on, what does baldness have to do with anything? Jordan and Lebron James were both bald/balding, and they're two of the greatest athletic specimens who've ever lived. Kessel is also not short.

His athleticism was a genetic gift, there's little doubt about that. His chubbiness is of his own doing "Is that a cookie, Phil?". We know he refused to go to the gym in Boston, which was one of the issues they had with him. I'd be surprised if that has changed in Toronto.

If you still don't think that Phil is genetically gifted, I'd like to point out that his sister is one of the best hockey players in the world, and her defining attribute is her speed. Their father? A star college quarterback who's in University of Michigan hall of fame. Their mother? No idea, but I'd put money on her being athletic, probably a runner.

Everything Phil has he owns to his genetics. Unfortunately that also means he's likely been taking them for granted his whole life.

So why wasn't Toni Granato an all-star or anywhere close to Kessel's tier of talent? His sister Cammy is one of the best female hockey players of all-time.

Yes most athletes come from athletic families, but to simply attribute all of Kessel's ability based on genetics is severely undermining all that Kessel is. Alexander Daigle was "genetically gifted" as they come and couldn't put together any success in the NHL let alone consistent top 10 scoring performances. His shot , speed, agility; all that comes from how hard he has worked through his life to create himself. He does not have a Lebron's 6'9 height, Jordan's freakish jumping ability, Payton Manning's arm or Messi's legs. He is an average bodied dude who has superstar athletic ability and apparently it has nothing to do with Phil... it's some gift he got. It's bs. It's a copout to rag on him some more for not being what we want him to be.


And balding is genetics.... his chubbyness , if you read earlier in the thread can be attributed to him lacking testosterone due to his lack of testes. It makes it harder for anyone lacking it to metabolize fat properly. And somehow this hasn't affected him at all. So he did no work then to keep pace? He is just that athletically freakish through no work of his own ?? Keep telling yourself that.

And Kessel is short, look at him on the ice, he looks 5'10, not 6 foot like he's generously listed.

 

[Eb]

Guy has a double chin, eats like crap (have some people in the know on this) seems like he's gasping for air after every shift. Enough pictures are out there of this guy...does he look like an in shape athlete?

Who are these people?

 

[Kylie Sven Opossum]

I heard that Kessel usually works out with his sister in the off-season, and that she is quite hard to keep up with. But last summer, she was out with a concussion so it didn't happen. Perhaps this is the reason why he seemed not as fit as usual...

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Some one mentioned (Pyromanic) that maybe he just stopped competing. (which to me is just as bad, if not worse).

He stopped competing and guess what, if I was the most productive member of my organization and was being used as a scapegoat in the media, and then to have an idiot like Feschuk goes on a campaign to ostracize me, then my work ethic would go out the window as well. That ain't just me either, that probably goes for every individual in those circumstances. The way he was treated by Dave Feschuk this year was absolutely disgusting. Feschuk made claims he couldn't back up and just stated it was from sources he couldn't reveal. The fans and media left a bad taste in my mouth about the city of Toronto in general. Easily the best fans but also easily the worst, depending on the circumstances.

 

[Daisy Jane]

again as this is not the Kessel thread - I am more interested in what this Dr. Betttle can do for the organization.

 

[Eb]

again as this is not the Kessel thread - I am more interested in what this Dr. Betttle can do for the organization.

And we have no idea yet.

 

[Daisy Jane]

And we have no idea yet.

well. ... yes we do. he has strengths in flexibility, nutrition, etc. i'm excited and interested what he can do with regards to that, as well as the injury prevention techniques, so it will be good to see how that is applied in regards to hockey and how that will benefit in-game etc.

 

[Pyromaniac3]

Leafs should be spending as much as they can getting the right people in areas where salary doesn't count. Happy to see they're finally proactive.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Leafs should be spending as much as they can getting the right people in areas where salary doesn't count. Happy to see they're finally proactive.

it really looks like they are creating a compound. it's so exciting.

 

[TMLeafer]

Nice to see that this is an area of concern for the front office.

Athletes are athletes, but I'll be interested in knowing his expertise will translate to hockey players and what he'd preach differently.

 

[Warden of the North]

it really looks like they are creating a compound. it's so exciting.

Dr. Bettle joins the Leafs at Compound W (Win).

 

[Daisy Jane]

Dr. Bettle joins the Leafs at Compound W (Win).

heck yah.
slowly getting the best and brightest. watch out NHL.

 

[Warden of the North]

If you want to talk about Kessel, go to the Kessel thread.

 

[Semantics]

Long overdue. I've been saying for years that a team with the Leafs' resources should have someone who is at the forefront of the science in the field, someone with a PhD preferably. We shouldn't have to settle for an Anthony Belza or even a Gary Roberts, we can get someone who has both education and experience. Well, here we go, looks like someone at MLSE is listening.

I can't be sure whether Belza was doing a poor job or not, but the fact is he pretty much walked in off the street. He was an ECHL goon and has a BS in an only vaguely related discipline (psychology), and just worked his way up from lower level teams. The day he was hired someone on here with connections to him claimed he was arrogant and a bit of a dunce. Just another black mark the old management regime showing how they hired people they liked rather than demanding the very best.

 

[crump]

Another seemingly astute hire by this managment. Shanahan slowly placing his thumbprints in all corners of the organization. It's refreshing to see somebody clean house then make their own choices. Should be a wild summer.

 

[Raymondo316]

Someone should post that GIF of Leafers on the stationary bikes. You have Phaneuf going 40km/h on that bike while Kessel looks like he's biking through mud. Ironically enough, for an NHL player, shouldn't the tension on those stationary bikes be up tight instead of loose. What benefit does Phaneuf get from going fast with a loose tension as a hockey player? He's not training for a long-distance run..

 

[leafs in five]

do the Leafs still employ Barb Underhill?

related question does any NHL team employ a woman in its front office? so beyond like a nutritionist or a skating instructor but in a position that would be listed for example here http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=42119

not criticising the Leafs directly here and i'm sure most if not all other teams front office charts are full of Bob McEacherns and Terry Reids but the Leafs having cleaned house have had this succession of hirings and of course they're all men but you know since we're getting in on this cutting edge thing with a 28 year old assistant GM maybe there's an even more groundbreaking hiring on the horizon?