This is Russia
I recently returned from Russia where I was privileged to co-direct the off-ice strength and performance-testing element for an NHL prospects camp hosted by Pavel Datsyuk in Yekaterinburg, Russia. My experiences over the three weeks were thrilling, educational, and hilarious all at the same time.
The ultimate goal of the camp is to identify potential NHL prospects and give them the chance to play and "be seen" by a group of professional North American and European coaches. By giving these athletes the opportunity to have an NHL caliber development camp experience, Pavel is giving back to a community that he calls home and providing the athletes and people of his community the gift of being surrounded with the best facilities, equipment and coaching available.
Yekaterinburg is situated on the border of Europe and Asia about 1,000 miles east of Moscow, on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains. The city was founded in 1723 and is the fourth largest in Russia with a population of approximately 1.4 million.
After landing in a place that I thought I'd never be, we were picked up by our driver Dima. Dima didn't speak English and was clad head to toe in Detroit Red Wings and Pavel Datsyuk apparel. As we rushed away from the airport and started our drive into the heart of the Ural Mountains, the realization of just how different Russia is from what we are used to became instantly apparent.
As we left the rough and vibrant city behind, we came upon several Russian villages, some so extravagant that they looked like something you'd see in a movie surrounded by lush wooded plains, mainly cultivated for agricultural purposes, and many small lakes. After 90 minutes of speeding through the rural roads we finally made it to Kurganova deep in the woods on the edge of a vast alpine lake. Kurganova is the summer training site for Avtomobilist, of the Kontinental Hockey League and the Pavel Datsyuk Hockey School. The site is luxurious, filling a city block with two full size ice sheets, indoor swimming pool, two completely equipped gyms, a fully turfed soccer pitch and an athletes village all under a grove of evergreens. The quality and thought put into developing this camp is an indication of the high standards to which is expected of those that attend.
As the coaching staff arrived, it was like walking into an exclusive club where the charge at the door was to show your Stanley Cup ring. It's intimidating, the guy you are going to be working with is on posters on the walls and everyone else in the group is just as worthy. The collection that was put together to coach and evaluate the players of this camp was nothing but class. Their willingness to teach and motivate was something that you only see with guys that had been together for years.
Prior to going in, I had heard all of the critiques and stories of the Russian style of preparation for hockey. The training is too hard and antiquated; athletes get hurt and don't learn enough. Russia is a hard place to make change happen, you become reluctant to take risk and to trying new things. Hockey is a tough sport; after speaking to the athletes and getting a training history, it quickly became clear that work ethic and desire were inherent in each player but they were lacking structure and education. Experience ranged from plyometric and 5 mile run sessions to 1,000 push up and sit up workouts per day. After evaluating the players physically and getting a chance to speak to them, I knew that small steps toward reprogramming would go a long way. The decision was made to make changes that would match their hard work and experience. Instead of jogging a mile to warm-up, we taught dynamic movement and mobility drills. Knowing that there was experience with plyometric and "running" programs, the decision was made to teach the strength component as a complex: the barbell front squat was taught and paired with box jumps, which was one exercise they had lots of time with. The barbell front press was paired with the explosive push that they had been performing daily. Taking sit-ups out and replacing them with hanging leg raises and pull-ups seemed to be much appreciated. The speed component was an easy switch from 5-mile runs to short sprint and agility drills such as the 5-10-5 shuttle and 10yd sprint technique.
Pavel's vision and determination to change the way players are evaluated is changing the very landscape of Russian hockey.
After all, What if the NHL draft only had 5 rounds?
