NHL's Top Picks Were Athletes First

The following is just another example of the importance of Strength and Conditioning, as well as the merits of not engaging in early specialization. This is taken from the latest issue of the The Hockey News Draft Preview.

For the record, Tyler Seguin who is thought of by most scouts to be the 1B prospect to Taylor Hall's 1A status was an elite lacrosse player growing up, and Cam Fowler who will almost surely be the #3 pick was a high school baseball player. This is simply more evidence of how the best players in the world are more than just hockey players; they are athletes first.

The Hockey News 2010 Draft Preview

Pop Goes the World of Taylor Hall- by Bob Duff

#1 Prospect Taylor Hall

Much of the credit for Taylor's toolbox goes to his father, who has helped him

develop a multi-sport workout regimen, much of it derived from the quick-burst

sprint work required to be in world class bobsleigh.

"My dad did a lot of training for that, a lot of power speed stuff, where I

really work on my start and my quickness," Taylor said. "Its part of the reason why I'm a pretty good skater, because I work so hard in the off season. I've been going at it hard since I was 13, but probably since I was about 10. I've been running, trying to keep my cardio up and be a good skater. I do a lot of box jumps, a lot of stairs, a lot of power squat things. I've always thought

being strong in the lower body is more important than in the upper body."

The Halls believe that had they focused Taylor's entire workout regimen around

24/7 hockey specific training, he wouldn't have evolved into the outstanding

prospect.

"Hockey's kind of changed in the past 20 years. The game's 20 percent faster

than in the 90's. You have to change your training."

"It's a speed game, a short burst speed game. It's a race to the puck. The teams that are doing well are the teams that have the puck. Possession is nine-tenths of the law when it comes to hockey."

"Too much of anything is not the right way to do things. In hockey, too much

skating is not the right thing to do. Eventually, your body becomes more

economical and you don't get as much out of the skating as you would at the

start of the season. So you have to do a bit of cross training, do less skating

and more of something else, whether it's squats, or jump squats or a variety of other things. it helps you be a better hockey player in the end."