Prospects coming off long seasons push through NHL combine

TORONTO — Griffin Reinhart got off one of the best lines about the back-to-back endurance tests teenage hockey players go through at the NHL combine. That kind of jibes with the fact he had one of the longest seasons of any player.

At the combine, you can set your watch to players being asked if they vomited after completing the VO2 max test that wraps up the hour-long battery of strength and conditioning tests. Apparently all it takes is one player to get sick in the curtained-off area and then the lingering smell triggers others' gag reflex.

"I didn't puke but it's almost like a domino effect," said Reinhart, a possible top-10 pick from the Edmonton Oil Kings. "One guy gets sick and then another guy gets sick."

The 6-foot-4, 197-pound Reinhart, who also joked, "I'm the tallest so they all have to catch up to me" when asked about his place in the pecking order among the draft's top defencemen, is one of seven players at the combine whose seasons ended within the past 10 days. The London Knights' Andreas Athanasiou and Olli Määttä played in the MasterCard Memorial Cup final last Sunday in Shawinigan, Que.; their teammate Josh Anderson played in the tournament's early games before coming down with the flu. Reinhart and Oil Kings mates Mitch Moroz and Henrik Samuelsson played until May 24, when they were ousted from the Memorial Cup.

Green Bay Gamblers defenceman Jordan Schmaltz's team wrapped up the USHL's Clark Cup final one evening prior. Isn't that a lot of strain to put junior hockey players through?

It's a fair question at least. Reinhart, 18, said NHL teams were understanding.

"A lot of teams even asked me why I was even doing anything out here," the North Vancouver, B.C., native said. "I was a bit shocked. I thought I was expected to do it."

"Except for the shoulder exercises, bench presses and push-up, I was able to do it," Reinhart said, noting the long major junior season leaves little time for a weight-lifting routine.

"I've done some weights every now and then during the season. But especially during the playoffs and even toward the end of the regular season, I haven't been doing that much."

"Hopefully we can go on a run like that next year and it gives him a little bit of an excuse to not perform as well here."

The combine at the Toronto International Centre was only a 25-minute drive from Anderson's Mississauga home. That was good for him since he only had one day at home in between the end of London's season and the combine. Plus he was also coming off a case of strep thoat.

"It made it hard to swallow but I got through it all," said Anderson, who earned a combine invite from the NHL even though he was never drafted into junior. "It's pretty important. You're pretty tired, your legs are a bit tired but you've got to fight through it."

That was echoed by Schmaltz. He had only about two days in between getting home to Madison, Wisc., from his USHL playoff run and coming to Toronto to interview with NHL teams and work out in front of scouts.

"I didn't really have time to prepare," said Schmaltz, a protected second-round choice. "I just went in there and tried to compete, I went home Saturday night, then came here Tuesday. It went well, though."

The NHL combine is largely modelled on the NFL's. The NFL combine is usually in late February, 6-8 weeks after college athletes in the early 20s have completed their seasons. Hockey's long season doesn't afford the luxury. So that's why you get Reinhart joking that if Edmonton repeats as the WHL champion, the team's best prospect for the 2013 draft, centre Curtis Lazar, "will have an excuse for not doing as well on the tests." Others will just give it a honest effort.

"I would have," Anderson said when asked if he'd like more time between events. "But going to the Memorial Cup is a huge honour and you've got what you've got to do."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.