Hockey training culminates in camp's first-annual Icemen Cup.
July 31st, 2007
PARK CITY, Utah -- The U.S. Men's Alpine Ski Team swapped skis for hockey skates and equipment in its latest camp as coaches, looking at opportunities for strong cross-over training, brought in the head coach of the Utah Grizzlies and a former National Hockey League player to organize on-ice workouts designed to payoff when the racers return to snow this winter.
"From the coaches' perspective, it was good dryland [training]. It was so exhausting and by the end we were all cooked - I mean," Sullivan continued, "we'd be on the ice about 7 a.m. every day, and then we'd go to the training facility, do recovery work for a couple hours...have some meetings during the day, have different talks, and then go back to the rink in the late afternoon or in the evening." In addition to the conditioning factor, he noted the edge-to-edge technique in skating transfers easily to ski racing as athletes drive their edges in for control and propulsion.
The camp concluded Monday night with a take-no-prisoners hockey game between the Black and White teams in the first Icemen Cup game. "We probably should have been dressed in black and blue. It got pretty competitive out there," McNichol said. "But it was good team-building, too."
Tied at 2-2 after two periods, Team White won 5-3 with Hunt scoring a hat trick, i.e., three goals, while McNichol and Assistant Europa Cup Coach Peter Korfiatis had one each. Paul McDonald (Bellevue, WA) had two scores for Team Black with Chris Beckmann (Guilderland, NY) getting the other.
Trophy game: Intensity, friendly collisions
"Oh, my God, it was intense," said McDonald, who drove back to his home in the Seattle area when the camp ended. "It got a little aggressive, but everybody had a good time. [No names, please] hit me pretty good at one point, but after a couple of minutes I forgot about it."
Sullivan, who was a linebacker and captain his senior year at North Tahoe H.S., drew parallels between the hockey game and a World Cup race or his high school football career. "The feelings I had before the game almost were like the anticipation of race day. I played high school football and there was that same game-day intensity. I was feeling that vibe.
"The intensity definitely was up a notch. There were some words exchanged, and not in friendliness, but at the end we were all laughing about it. In the heat of the moment hockey can be so frustrating and you've got somebody right in your face," he said.
Rearick was impressed by the energy and enthusiasm from the athletes, who hadn't played much hockey until the camp. "They were at it...good energy, good intensity," he said. "That's what you want to see...good buy-in on a concept. This was outstanding."
Said McNichol, "The camp was extraordinary. Everybody pushed themselves, coaches included. I can't say enough good things about it. We haven't done this kind of conditioning camp in a number of years. The last one, I think, was the Oceanman camp in San Diego, and that was about 2001...but this year we felt we needed to bring the guys together and explore Team dynamics through conditioning, and the element of working hard together, supporting each other through an arduous process of training and pushing each other's limits.
"And hockey takes the guys out of their comfort zone. That was important...and we got the payback we wanted," he said.
"A couple of athletes were injured before hand, so they did bike work, some pool work...and everybody worked with Keith Henschen, who's a performance sports psychologist; he's worked with the Utah Jazz and U.S. Track & Field as well as U.S. speedskaters, among others. Now the athletes have met him - he was at our April and May sessions and now here. He'll be staying in touch with them, and they know they can use him."
While McNichol, Brigham, Sullivan and Erik Schlopy (Park City, UT) have their own jerseys - complete with their last name across the shoulders, some athletes didn't have even that much gear. Christie brought black or white Griz hockey shirts, so that became the natural division of teams for the Icemen Cup game.
The teams for the Icemen Cup:
Team Black - Chris Beckmann (Guilderland, NY), Will Brandenburg (Dakota Dunes, SD), Erik Fisher (Middleton, ID), Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV), Nolan Kasper (Warren, VT), Tim Kelley (Starksboro, VT), T.J. Lanning (Park City, UT), Paul McDonald (Bellevue, WA), Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY), Jeremy Transue (Hunter, NY), Per Lundstam (USSA strength and conditioning coach), Rewk Patten (World Cup speed coach) and Todd Daniels (men's physical therapist).
Team White - Jimmy Cochran (Keene, NH), Kevin Francis (Bend, OR), Cody Marshall (Pittsfield, VT), Steven Nyman (Provo, UT), Erik Schlopy (Park City, UT), Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA), Jake Zamansky (Aspen, CO), Jesse Hunt (U.S. alpine director), Phil McNichol (men's head coach), Chris Brigham (speed head coach), Sasha Rearick (tech head coach), Peter Korfiatis (Europa Cup coach) and Ben Black (tech coach).
The first hockey camp won't be the last, according to McNichol. "Jesse did a hockey program in Lake Placid years back, and we've had a basketball camp with Nike, but we haven't done hockey for a while, and the guys were ready for it. The skating and awareness factors improved five- or six-fold; so, I think we'll do this again, through the next couple of [preseason] cycles.
"The transfer of skills, and keeping them focused on their real sport, was great," McNichol said. "This camp was everything we wanted."
Multimedia:
Photos from the hockey camp can be found at http://ussa.smugmug.com/gallery/3200678#176428736
