Nobody ever likes to see a player get injured to the point where they can’t continue to play. Having an injury stop a player from playing for any length of time is really unfortunate for the player, teammates and the coaching staff.
Dealing with injuries is always a difficult situation. It requires coaches to shuffle lines and/or positions around and maybe even rethink systematical strategies. Players may have to play a position they are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable in. Now in today’s blog I am simply only focusing on injuries that are curable and a player can come back from in the future, I don’t even want to think about career ending injuries. I am lucky enough to have never had to have a player in a situation such as that and hope I never do. So, what can we as players, coaches and parents do to prevent injuries?

A great starting point would be come into the season in shape!!!! This is the most important thing a player can do. Not only will you be better prepared and lower your risk of injury, but you will see results on the score sheet quicker, impress your coach and possibly get more ice time. Time and time again I see players coming into the season doing very little in the off-season to prepare for the upcoming season. This can be a dangerous time for players to be injured for multiple reasons. First of all the obvious reason is they are not in shape and muscles that haven’t been properly prepared are now being asked to perform at a level of stress that they are not ready for. Secondly, coaches see that players are not in shape and see that their conditioning is not where the coach would like to see it, so what does the coach do? BAG SKATE! I understand the coaches reasoning for this; unfortunately the players are not prepared for this and need to be properly conditioned prior to an excruciating 45 minute no puck practice. Hockey is a very physical demanding game that requires players to be in shape and ready to perform. Even at the younger levels we can prepare our players to be better athletes and give them a well rounded, fun training program that gets them prepared for hockey season. This may be playing other sports in the off season, playing outside with friends and not sitting in front of the T.V. all summer or spending a 30 – 45 minute per day with a training program throughout the off-season. At M2Hockey we are dedicated to the progress of our players and making sure they are ready for their upcoming seasons and having fun while doing it. Have a great season, stay healthy and have fun!!!

Train for a Change

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M2Hockey