Guest Bloggers

The Magic of Chocolate Milk

Coach Kim — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:52:30 -0800

Mmmmm…chocolate milk. I drank way too much of the stuff when I was a kid - always trying to pass it off that I was really drinking “milk”. Deep down inside, I knew it probably wasn’t what the commercials had in mind when they said, “Milk - It Does A Body Good”.

But…As it turns out, chocolate milk does do a body good. Scientific research has shown that chocolate milk is one of the best recovery drinks for athletes to have after they finish a tough workout or game.

1% chocolate milk has the perfect blend of:

–> Simple sugars (carbohydrates) from the chocolate that will get absorbed by the body quickly in order to immediately replenish lost energy stores

–> Protein from the milk that will help the muscles recover from the wear and tear of the on-ice (or off-ice) session.

Athletes ideally need a carbohydrates-to-protein ratio of 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 after exercise. Chocolate milk has that ratio; unflavored milk doesn’t. It turns out that I was on to something when I was a kid - except that I drank it by the jug and definitely did not restrict my consumption for after practices and games.

Chocolate milk just might be the perfect hockey recovery drink. It tastes great and helps players to recover faster.

Sounds pretty perfect to me.

Until next time,
~Coach Kim

Originally published September, 2008 on Total Female Hockey Club.

Which Habs book is for you?

Joe Pelletier — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:25:32 -0800

It comes as no surprise that there are several high quality books out this year on the Montreal Canadiens. Hockey's greatest team is celebrating it's centennial, after all, and authors, publishers and book sellers are playing a big role in giving fans a taste of Montreal history to take home with them.

There are four main titles for you to consider, plus a DVD:

Habs Heroes: The Definitive List of the 100 Greatest Canadiens Ever
Ken Campbell/The Hockey News
THN senior writer Ken Campbell polled a panel of experts to come up with a definitve 1-through-100 ranking of the top Montreal Canadiens players of all time. Campbell then goes about writing brief biographies for this action packed book. There's plenty of colour photography to compliment the great writing. Published by The Hockey News/Transcontinental Books.

Honoured Canadiens
Andrew Podnieks
When the Montreal Canadiens and the Hockey Hall of Fame got together to work on this joint project, they instantly sought the services of hockey super author Andrew Podnieks. With Podnieks' great research and writing abilities, and the Hall's amazing and exclusive photography, this book looks at each of the 54 Montreal Canadiens players, coaches and builders who have been enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The design and layout are spectacular, with the imagery unmatchable. And Podnieks does a good job of covering each enshrinee with great detail. The only thing more noticeable than the striking cover is the shrink wrap around it that prevents you from peeking inside. Publisher HB Fenn authorized a sneak peek inside here at HockeyBookReviews.com

The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory
D'Arcy Jenish
This book appears to be the early popular favorite, appearing on the Globe And Mail's best seller list earlier this season, one of only two hockey books to do so this fall. Jenish retraces Montreal's long history through the words of Montreal's sports writers over the years. He must have spent countless hours researching and compiling this work, but it pays off big time. He offers a unique, thorough, and honest history of the Canadiens, warts and all. It is not a history written through nostalgia-coloured glasses like every other Habs history title.

Patrick Roy: Winning, Nothing Else
Michel Roy
This Patrick Roy biography, written by his father Michel Roy, is the English release of the 2007 French mega hit Le Guerrier. Roy remains in the news despite retiring from NHL competition, so this book will be of great interest to many fans, and not just Montreal fans. The book is a little long-winded, but you get an honest look into one of hockey's leading personalities. Roy was at times mysterious and at other times down right controversial. This book looks into it all.

So which is the best?

1. The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory by D'Arcy Jenish
2. Honoured Canadiens by Andrew Podnieks
3. Habs Heroes by Ken Campbell/The Hockey News
4. Patrick Roy: Winning, Nothing Else by Michel Roy

There is another book coming in January 15th, 2009. Wiley is reproducing the classic Lions in Winter by Chrys Goyens and Alan Turowetz. It's actually the third edition of this blast from the past.

Oh yes, about that DVD. It's called Montreal Canadiens Greatest Games. Here's the disk lineup:

1. 2/19/08 vs. Rangers (Habs come back from 5-0 down)
2. 11/23/03 vs. Oilers (Heritage Classic)
3. 3/11/96 vs. Stars (Last game at the Forum)
4. 6/9/93 vs. Kings (Habs win 23rd and last Stanley Cup)
5. 5/24/86 vs. Flames (Habs win 22nd Cup)
6. 4/20/84 vs. Nordiques (Adams Division Final, Game 6)
7. 5/10/79 vs. Bruins (Too many men on the ice. Semi-final Game 7)
8. 5/14/77 vs. Bruins (Habs win 2nd of Four Cups in a row)
9. 12/31/75 vs. Red Army (Tretiek puts on a show vs Habs on New Year's Eve)
10. 4/14/60 vs. Maple Leafs (Habs win 5th consecutive Stanley Cup)

Give me back my mask!

Joe Pelletier — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:07:33 -0800

As we all know goalies used to play every game without a mask. That all changed by the 1970s as the new generation of goalies all donned facial protection. They wouldn’t even think of stopping pucks without their mask.

So that makes one particular incident in the playoffs of 1971 very interesting. A line brawl broke out in game two of the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers. A long delay ensued because one of the Rangers forwards, Vic Hadfield, threw Toronto goalie Bernie Parent’s mask into the crowd of Madison Square Gardens.

New York fans are renowned for their antics, so you knew right away they were not going to give the mask back to the opposition’s goaltender. Toronto executive King Clancy, still as fiesty as he was when he played the game decades earlier, stormed into the hostile crowd after the mask. This got the police involved on the search but that mask was never to be seen again.

In those days it was too expensive to create and carry spare masks. With the game already out of hand, Parent took to the bench and let back up goalie Jacques Plante finish the game.

Hockey: a game of mistakes

Coach Kim — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:24:04 -0800

When was the last time you watched a game and saw one of the teams execute a perfect breakout or score a tic-tac-toe powerplay goal? There is a reason that when you see it happen on TV, the announcers get so excited about it…because those “perfect” plays happen so infrequently.
A coach of mine used to always say, “The ice is slippery. Take advantage of it.”

Mistakes are going to happen and it is those teams and players who recover quickly that are going to excel. You can be focused and confident before you head out of the dressing room - but how do you react when those mistakes happen on the ice? You have to regroup quickly and refocus on the task at hand. It is the ability to regain your composure quickly that separates the “great” teams and players from the “good” ones.

Let It Go

The most critical thing to do after you have made a mistake during a game is letting it go and to forget about it as quickly as possible. This is often “easier said than done” - especially when you score on your own net or miss a sure goal on an open net. No matter how big you think the mistake was, there is absolutely nothing that you can do to change it. It is now in the past and you can't go back in time and make it go away.

But you do have control over how you react after a mistake.

When you react negatively to a mistake, whether outwardly (like slamming your stick against the boards) or inwardly (by telling yourself that you can't do anything right), you let that mistake take control of you. And you need to stay focused on what you can control. You can't control what happened in the past. You have the choice to either let the mistake get to you or to move on. Since there is absolutely no benefit to dwelling on the mistake, the choice is clear: you have let it go.

One tool that has always worked well for many players is to think about “flushing” their mistakes down the toilet. I know, it sounds a little strange -
but trust me, it works. When you get back to the bench after a tough shift, just take your mistake and “flush it”. Once you “flush it”, it is gone forever - or at least until after the game when you want to take the time to re?ect on both the positive and negative aspects of your performance.

The most important thing is that you move on immediately. Because in hockey, a few seconds can change everything. And your ability to control your mental game can completely transform your physical game.

Until next time,
~Coach Kim

Originally published September, 2008 on Total Female Hockey Club.

World's largest hockey stick

Miss 604 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:35:31 -0800

In 1986 the Canadian Government paid for a large hockey stick (207 feet long to be exact) to be put into place in Vancouver for our world fair, Expo 86. When it was all over, the town of Duncan, BC over on Vancouver Island, won a contest and became the permanent home of the stick.

It's been deemed the "World's Largest Hockey Stick" although there is a city in Minnesota that has the "World's Largest Freestanding Hockey Stick" outside the US Hockey Hall of Fame. This other stick is 110 feet long and weighs over 10,000 pounds.

Some say that Duncan's stick shouldn't count since it's just a "sculpture" and the one in Eleveth, Minnesota is actually a "real stick". No matter the dispute, it's just kind of fun to see hockey commemorated this way.

There are also others, such as Tim Schmalz, who actually think that there should be something more commemorative and permanent for all of Canada to enjoy. He's on a mission to make a 50-foot sculpture in the name of Canadian hockey, giving us all a national monument for the sport.

He started out on the East coast earlier this year and by this time next year he should reach BC. He's crossing the country, sculpting, and adding to the piece bit by bit, while collecting donations from Canadians to keep it going; this way it will be our monument and not something built by a corporate sponsor. By the end he hopes it will reach the goal height and then it will be cast in bronze. It also hasn't been decided where it will be placed, but several cities have already expressed an interest.

Hockey evolved in Canada and to many it's more than simply our national (winter) sport. It's a lifestyle, a community-builder and something to be proud of. Any structure, sculpture, or giant puck (or maybe even net) in honor of this dedication and camaraderie is a good thing in my books.