The puck drops for the 2016/17 NHL season in a few hours. Edmonton is on the road in Calgary for the first game. I won't be able to see it as I will myself be on the road at the time, possibly only will get to watch it sometime over the weekend. This will be the second season with Connor McDavid as an Oiler. Here's hoping he has an even better season than last (when he scored over a point per game but missed almost half the season due a broken clavicle due those dirty Flyers).
There has been quite a bit of activity in the Northern hemisphere summer at Oilersland. Probably the most controversial move was the trade of Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson. So, we now have a strong right D and lost a top winger. Me, I liked the trade once I got my head around it. On the assumption that Larsson is as good as they say he is, the team will benefit more than they'll lose on the exit of Hall. And I must say that I wasn't a great Hall fan. He was good, yes, but spent too much time being a hero on his own and then getting shitty when it didn't work out. Not my kind of player.
We picked up Milan Lucic to compensate on the left wing. I think I'll prefer him to Hall. Maybe not as individually brilliant as Hall but pretty damn good none-the-less, but he's a team player and sticks up for his mates (I hated him when he was in Boston). We can do with a bit of grunt up front and we got it with Lucic on the first line.
Nail Yakapov is also gone, traded for picks to the Blues. As much as I enjoyed watching him play, he was frustrating due always going offside, bouncing off the guys he hit, missing the goal from point blank (not good for a 'sniper'). The fact he wanted to be traded was probably the icing on the cake and he's gone. I hope he works it all out, but am relieved he won't need to be covered.
Looking at the opening night roster, it's a long way advanced from this time last year. We have a D, we have two killer lines leading the forwards, we still have a good number one goalie. There are still a lot of prospects and rookies (three or four?!) on it, including this year's number 4 overall draft pick (Pool Party!), but I am most glad to see Slepyshev on the list. I first noticed him before I knew he was an Oiler, in a Weber Cup game a couple years ago playing for his Russian KHL team. He was ferocious and fast. He only played one or two games with the Oilers last year. I think he's looking good at the moment. I am looking forward to seeing him unleash that ferocity (hopefully against Calgary).
Oh well, another Oilers season begins. It's hard not to be optimistic at this time of the season. For an Oilers fan, that usually ends within the month, but I'm hoping this year will be different. They do say, hope dies last but I'm hoping there's more to it than that this time around.
My prediction? We'll go close to the playoffs, maybe grab a wildcard spot if injuries don't cripple us like they did last year. We wait...
Fridge
Thursday, 13 October 2016
Wednesday, 12 October 2016
Running Man
There's a theory out there that human evolution is as much linked to our ability to run as it is anything else. The theory points out that the exponential growth in the size of our brainpans is synchronous with the emergence of homio sapiens from its monkey ancestors, and gave it the edge in its competition with neanderthals so much so that the later vanished from the tale. To get the growth in brain, we needed a huge increase in protein intake. We achieved this by eating animals we caught. Regularly. Almost two million years before there is evidence that we used tools to do so (or, for that matter, to do anything else).
How did we regularly hunt down sufficiently large animals to supply our growing need for proteins, without tools? In the savannahs and grasslands that dominated the landscape of early humankind, so goes the story, we were able to take down animals that were bigger, stronger, faster than us by running them down. Essentially, running them to death (apparently there are still existing cultures where this still occurs). We could do this because humans are able to run for longer and further than any other animal.
Our bodies distinguish themselves from all other animals in several respects, all geared to allow us to run longer and further. These include; sweat and essential hairlessness to cool ourselves down independently of our breathing; an actual pace length longer than even a horse's; a breathing musculature that allows for independence from the stride (unlike, say, a cheetah who's powerful legs act as a bellows for the lungs, one pace one super powerful breathing action). We were made to run, says the theory, and all else followed.
This running man theory has been used to promote all sorts of ideas, from barefoot running to the naturalness of ultra-marathons. Me? I'm simpler. I've used it to explain why I seem to like running. And the more I have run, the more I want to run. It's a virtuous circle.
So much so that my pre-season training hasn't got out of 'running mode'. I justify it by referring to the increase in my 'aerobic base', and make the most of it by tailoring into my running as much hockey specific conditioning aspects as I can. Thus, 'hard running' and interval work takes place in the schedule alongside more traditional threshold and aerobic 'modes'. The only real specific 'running' modality I do is the weekly 'long run' - an aspect of marathon training far more so than for hockey (in fact, a concentration on this 'running agenda' is contra-indicated for hockey players if taken beyond a certain point).
Perhaps the fact that I will be shifting back a gear or two in my running program in the months to come allows me to justify pushing it to the forefront now.
And, as a runner I'm pretty pleased with what I've achieved. In the last week I ran a total of 28km, with the longest individual run being of over 10km one moonlit night. It's been quite a journey!
How did we regularly hunt down sufficiently large animals to supply our growing need for proteins, without tools? In the savannahs and grasslands that dominated the landscape of early humankind, so goes the story, we were able to take down animals that were bigger, stronger, faster than us by running them down. Essentially, running them to death (apparently there are still existing cultures where this still occurs). We could do this because humans are able to run for longer and further than any other animal.
Our bodies distinguish themselves from all other animals in several respects, all geared to allow us to run longer and further. These include; sweat and essential hairlessness to cool ourselves down independently of our breathing; an actual pace length longer than even a horse's; a breathing musculature that allows for independence from the stride (unlike, say, a cheetah who's powerful legs act as a bellows for the lungs, one pace one super powerful breathing action). We were made to run, says the theory, and all else followed.
This running man theory has been used to promote all sorts of ideas, from barefoot running to the naturalness of ultra-marathons. Me? I'm simpler. I've used it to explain why I seem to like running. And the more I have run, the more I want to run. It's a virtuous circle.
So much so that my pre-season training hasn't got out of 'running mode'. I justify it by referring to the increase in my 'aerobic base', and make the most of it by tailoring into my running as much hockey specific conditioning aspects as I can. Thus, 'hard running' and interval work takes place in the schedule alongside more traditional threshold and aerobic 'modes'. The only real specific 'running' modality I do is the weekly 'long run' - an aspect of marathon training far more so than for hockey (in fact, a concentration on this 'running agenda' is contra-indicated for hockey players if taken beyond a certain point).
Perhaps the fact that I will be shifting back a gear or two in my running program in the months to come allows me to justify pushing it to the forefront now.
And, as a runner I'm pretty pleased with what I've achieved. In the last week I ran a total of 28km, with the longest individual run being of over 10km one moonlit night. It's been quite a journey!
Tuesday, 4 October 2016
Pre Season Training Thoughts
The upcoming season is the third for which I will have prepared myself with a pre-season schedule of fitness, conditioning and skills training. Unsurprisingly, and even though it is still early days this year despite my later than ideal start, I feel better equipped than in the past and that my efforts will be more effective as a result. Hopefully it's not just hubris.
Since my last inline game in early August it was another four and a half weeks before I did any specifically 'sporty' activity (namely, a social skate at the Ice Arena one Wednesday evening). Not that this was a huge change, as I hadn't done anything EXCEPT play inline once a week since May. Be that as it was, I thoroughly enjoyed my ice skating and drove the heart and lungs reasonably strongly. I felt great afterwards, realised that I'd better stop procrastinating about beginning some pre-season training (I'd been finding 'reasons' not to start for the previous couple of weeks), that higher level physical exertion isn't only good for you, it FEELS good as well! So, a couple days later I strapped on my heart rate monitor and went my first run in five months. And thus began my pre-season training program for this season.
In the first couple days I ran 3km each, the following week totaled 22km, the following one over 25km, this week will be close to 30km. I can feel the heart/blood/lungs starting to respond to this increase in aerobic activity, to the point where I now feel safe starting some anaerobic work (began this phase of training yesterday evening). Next up will be core and leg strength work (this week), agility (next week) and general overall skills training (subject to weather for some inline skating, otherwise stickhandling with a golf ball every second evening every second day or so).
If I treat the first game of the season as actually falling within pre-season period I buy myself a couple extra weeks before I need to transition into regular season activity, so I have about a month to go. That's enough time to make a significant difference to my performance. Especially if I maintain some basic fitness and skill work into my schedule through at least the first half of the season.
The plan is evolving!
Since my last inline game in early August it was another four and a half weeks before I did any specifically 'sporty' activity (namely, a social skate at the Ice Arena one Wednesday evening). Not that this was a huge change, as I hadn't done anything EXCEPT play inline once a week since May. Be that as it was, I thoroughly enjoyed my ice skating and drove the heart and lungs reasonably strongly. I felt great afterwards, realised that I'd better stop procrastinating about beginning some pre-season training (I'd been finding 'reasons' not to start for the previous couple of weeks), that higher level physical exertion isn't only good for you, it FEELS good as well! So, a couple days later I strapped on my heart rate monitor and went my first run in five months. And thus began my pre-season training program for this season.
In the first couple days I ran 3km each, the following week totaled 22km, the following one over 25km, this week will be close to 30km. I can feel the heart/blood/lungs starting to respond to this increase in aerobic activity, to the point where I now feel safe starting some anaerobic work (began this phase of training yesterday evening). Next up will be core and leg strength work (this week), agility (next week) and general overall skills training (subject to weather for some inline skating, otherwise stickhandling with a golf ball every second evening every second day or so).
If I treat the first game of the season as actually falling within pre-season period I buy myself a couple extra weeks before I need to transition into regular season activity, so I have about a month to go. That's enough time to make a significant difference to my performance. Especially if I maintain some basic fitness and skill work into my schedule through at least the first half of the season.
The plan is evolving!
Sunday, 2 October 2016
The Plan
It is two and a half weeks to our opening ice hockey game for the season, and another 15 days before the second (we play five times over the ensuing 24 day period). Having moved to the Mid North (about two hours drive from the Ice Arena) there will be a few changes for me from the last three seasons. Ironically, this pre-season period is that which will be least affected by the move (as it primarily involves individual off-ice fitness and conditioning work, as opposed to team or ice based activity).
The big changes for me are a function of the distance I need to travel and the time it takes to do so. I won't be getting to training with any regularity (and possibly not for weeks at a time), I won't be playing inline hockey over summer, and I'll have a two hour car trip both before and after my games.
To alleviate the issue of the two hour drive beforehand, I'll try and leave earlier so that I can have some 'chill' time before starting to focus in on the game ahead. As I would be having my main meal at least four hours before a game, if I had that and then drove in I'd have a couple hours to get over the trip. Sounds better than what I did with inline over winter, when it was get out of the car and get changed and play.
As for lack of training sessions or inline games, I can aim to do the best I practically can to attend trainings (half is better than none) and factor some individual skills sessions into my fitness and conditioning schedule. As for skating practice, take advantage of what spare trips to Adelaide I get to call in at the Ice Arena, and get in some inline skating at the local primary school when the weather fines up.
All of that is for the future, however, except for fitness and conditioning and maybe some individual skills work. I can do these things now.
Sounds like a plan.
The big changes for me are a function of the distance I need to travel and the time it takes to do so. I won't be getting to training with any regularity (and possibly not for weeks at a time), I won't be playing inline hockey over summer, and I'll have a two hour car trip both before and after my games.
To alleviate the issue of the two hour drive beforehand, I'll try and leave earlier so that I can have some 'chill' time before starting to focus in on the game ahead. As I would be having my main meal at least four hours before a game, if I had that and then drove in I'd have a couple hours to get over the trip. Sounds better than what I did with inline over winter, when it was get out of the car and get changed and play.
As for lack of training sessions or inline games, I can aim to do the best I practically can to attend trainings (half is better than none) and factor some individual skills sessions into my fitness and conditioning schedule. As for skating practice, take advantage of what spare trips to Adelaide I get to call in at the Ice Arena, and get in some inline skating at the local primary school when the weather fines up.
All of that is for the future, however, except for fitness and conditioning and maybe some individual skills work. I can do these things now.
Sounds like a plan.
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