The aging hockey player

[jorbjorb]

I think if you stay fit and go to the gym lots you'll outlast a bunch of the young ones. I see 18-19 year olds in my mens league with horrible torsos and pretty crappy stamina. If we're talking elite play yes you're body won't keep up. If we're talking mens league I think you can be an impact player as long as you stay fit. A lot of people with the highest endurance in the world are over 45 because they put the time in their training. If you're losing your hands at 35 it might because you aren't practicing that much. Maybe set some drills up in your basement and gain that muscle memory back. Look at some of the old timer games on youtube, those guys have great technique and would probably beat your average 18 year old in a foot race.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

endurance

 

[RandV]

I think if you stay fit and go to the gym lots you'll outlast a bunch of the young ones. I see 18-19 year olds in my mens league with horrible torsos and pretty crappy stamina. If we're talking elite play yes you're body won't keep up. If we're talking mens league I think you can be an impact player as long as you stay fit. A lot of people with the highest endurance in the world are over 45 because they put the time in their training. If you're losing your hands at 35 it might because you aren't practicing that much. Maybe set some drills up in your basement and gain that muscle memory back. Look at some of the old timer games on youtube, those guys have great technique and would probably beat your average 18 year old in a foot race.

Elaborating on that first part, this was my own story and it's probably pretty common that moderately athletic people are fit in active while in high school but then when they graduate they drop the active park and carelessly start up a not so healthy lifestyle and not realize the effect it's having.

As for hockey, personally I started at age 27 so I never had my younger self to compare to but now 10 years later getting closer to 40 I haven't noticed any area's of decline. There are actually area's I can improve on if I focus on fitness and stamina for a while. The only downside I do have is I'm a good bit more tired the morning after a game.

But I did play soccer in high school and damn was it ever noticeable when I got back into that around 30.