Conditioning

With the talk of the town recently being Albert Haynesworth's lack of conditioning, I got to thinking about the conditioning of hockey players. Hockey is all about sprints, stops and starts. A typical NHL shift IS the conditioning test Haynesworth failed: 300 yards worth of 25 yard sprints in 73 seconds. Haynesworth is a defensive lineman, the overweight goalie of the football world; they don't do sprints. They're compact in their movements. And they always, always, look gassed.

Remind you of anyone, Caps fans?

I have been fortunate enough to witness the conditioning hilarity that is Dmitri Kugryshev at Caps Development Camp. To be a legitimate NFL or NHL player requires tons of hard work, some skill, and elite conditioning and dedication to becoming better.

Just don't make them do sprints. Ever.