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Blackhawks have learned to maximize short summers after three Stanley Cups

Sean Leahy
·Contributing writer
Blackhawks have learned to maximize short summers after three Stanley Cups

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The Chicago Blackhawks spent a third summer since 2010 celebrating a Stanley Cup championship and a fifth off-season since 2009 recovering from playing hockey into late-May, early-June.

The off-seasons have been short. Three of them have featured parades and parties, and not a lot of time for the players to prepare for the following season.

Six Blackhawks – Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson -- have been on board for all three Cup wins. And as the off-seasons have come and gone, the way they’ve prepped themselves for next year has evolved.

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“For me, a lot of it, since the first Cup, I’ve been getting older and I’ve been playing a lot more hockey,” said defenseman Duncan Keith. “I’ve also understood my body better as I’ve gotten older and what I need to do and how I need to feel and how at a certain weight I feel at my best. Obviously, you want to look good off the ice, you want to train and all that sort of thing, but there’s a difference between looking good off the ice and feeling good on the ice. For me, sometimes a little bit lighter is better and I can skate and not get as tired."

Not helping Keith be a little lighter early in his summer is a certain junk food he treats himself to during a two-week break: Tim Hortons’ chocolate glazed donuts. But the rest he gets during that period is vital going forward.

“You have to get your rest after the season. Let your body heal whatever it has,” he said. “But then it’s a quick turnaround and you want to let your body feel good and strong and ready to go for a long grind. I usually like to come into camp with a little extra muscle early on. Probably don’t feel as good early on but then [it helps] to be able to compete over the long haul.”

Niklas Hjalmarsson has learned to take a different approach to his short summers. He begun to focus more on mental recovery from the long grind of 100ish games and is fine coming into training camp not in as good a shape as he could be.

“I obviously stay in shape and I don’t go to McDonald’s,” he said. “I’m letting my body heal, especially mentally, to get the urge back to want to go in the gym and you want to go on the ice instead of trying to force yourself into that because then coming into camp you’re already tired of hockey and workouts. That’s not a good sign.”

Training camps in sports used to serve as a time for professional athletes to get in shape. Now, it’s expected they enter preseason with their bodies finely tuned.

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The Players’ Tribune released a video on Thursday featuring Matt Moulson, Jonathan Quick and Kevin Shattenkirk, Cam Atkinson, and Derick Brassard training with Ben Prentiss, a strength and conditioning coach based in Connecticut. It’s a small peak into what goes into the making of an NHL player’s physical form, and that while the summer is a time to get away from hockey, it’s also a time to re-shape one's body for at least 82 games.

Experience in that department has certainly helped the Blackhawks over the last six seasons. Despite a lot of hockey played and a physical toll taken on their bodies, the grind has has brought them the ultimate reward: three rings.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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