What does it take to dribble past defenders like Victor Hedman and drive the puck under the crossbar from the faceoff circle like Alexander Ovechkin? Of course, practice! You can’t do without a certain amount of talent; practice is paramount.
Moreover, only in training can you elegantly and Hedman-like move away from the defender’s imitators and powerfully shoot empty nets like Ovechkin.
Most sports have figured out that practicing daily with minimal breaks is way past the point of severely diminishing returns and carries way more than enough risk to outweigh any conceivable benefit.
NHL guys all have different offseason programs, some of them stay off the ice for a full month, and most have at least a month each offseason, with their only ice sessions being insanely low-key with minimal structure and effort.
A ton of their offseason work is done in the gym.
That said, today’s players spend 230+ days a year working on their game in one way or another.
Without further ado, let’s skate into details!
How Often Do NHL Players Practice?
While being an NHLer appears to be very glamorous (and at times it is), it is an enormous commitment and a very demanding life.
If you are like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jacob Markström, or Vitek Vanecek, among others, you play almost every game – and with just two goalies on most squads, you can’t miss practice.
The schedule is unbelievable. The players simply do not stop for eight months. There are no days off, no weekends, and certainly no vacations. The players are either traveling or on the ice every day.
So how often do NHL players practice?
There are many variables, but no modern NHL player probably practices less than 230 days a year.
Let’s say, during the regular 82-game schedule, their team makes it to the 2nd round of the playoffs and loses. Their season is done in mid-May, and they start in mid-September.
That’s around 120 days off in the summer, which means they’re “in-season” the remaining 245 days. They’re probably looking at at least 30 days of travel and off days throughout the season, which gets us to 215, where they’re skating, practicing, or playing.
If they stay relatively healthy, maybe they still take a combined 10-15 practices or games off for maintenance days, so they’re at 200.
Depending on their age, they’re probably only skating once or twice a week in the summer, so they’re at around 225.
Once again, many variables here like age, injuries, etc., but we’d say between 200-250 is probably about accurate.
Now, if we’re talking about weight room, working out, that’s way different and probably a much higher number.
Those who cannot handle it run out of gas, either physically or mentally.
Average NHL Player Schedule
Monday and Tuesday, it’s more of the same: 11 AM practice, medical treatments, strength training, and rehabilitation that’s done before and after practice. Those who were not in the line-up or played very little stay on the ice for “extra work” and do extra off the ice in the weight room, etc.
Sometimes on Tuesday, players arrive at 9 AM for treatment from the trainers (most everyone has some injury that needs attention). From 10:30-Noon, there’s practice. At 3 PM, a flight to, say, Hartford (normally a charter). And, of course, there’s a midnight curfew.
On Wednesday, players arrive at the rink at 10 AM to prepare, watch (opposition) Hartford practice, and receive treatments. At 11:30, we practice. At 1 PM, the team meal. From 4:30 on, the locker room is open for medical treatment, rubdowns, and equipment (sticks, etc.) preparation.
Puck drop is at 7:30, then a midnight flight back to Buffalo that gets in around 1:15.
Thursday starts with an 11 AM practice. Most players arrive at 9:30 for medical treatments, physical therapy, etc. Often, players make personal appearances in the early afternoon or evening—from hospitals to card signing, they are very active in the community.
Friday, players begin arriving at the rink early for treatments. Practice runs from 10:30-Noon. At 3 PM, the charter flight departs for Montreal, where the midnight curfew is in effect.
On Saturday, players begin arriving at the Montreal Forum around 10 AM. At 11:30, practice starts. The team meal is at 1:15. At 5 PM, the locker room opens, and at 8 o’clock, it’s game time.
Bed down after the game? Not quite.
The midnight flight to Buffalo arrives at 1:30 in the morning, and then a morning media conference is required the following day.
Media interviews are often quite distracting for the players and are also required before games.
Is Sunday a day of rest? Well, no. But the 10:30 AM practice is optional.
Those needing treatments take it as required. Those who were not in the line-up or played very little the prior night hit the ice. Options are over at 11:45 when the team meeting is held.
At 4 PM, the locker room opens in preparation for a 7 o’clock home game.
Between traveling to and from arenas, airports, and their homes – along with taking the time to eat very nutritious, excellent meals (fuel in is fuel out!) – along with doing personal appearances, meeting with the media, working out with the strength coach, etc., there is very little time left for much of anything else.
Yet a home life has to fit in somewhere! Most players also have a wife and children.
What Does NHL Player Need to Withstand This Amount of Practice?
Pain tolerance is a player’s prerequisite.
NHL goalies are tough. They have bruises everywhere, even with the best of equipment. They play hurt and with pain. They have to if they want to keep their job.
And yes, it is a job. If you can’t play, someone else will. While they are team-oriented, players are always concerned about keeping their job and how they might do on their next contract.
Mental toughness is also required. It’s not easy “getting up” for every practice and all 84 games.
The best goalies in the NHL do. They can keep that demanding schedule and “come to play” almost every night. And when things don’t go right, they can bounce back immediately. They have great confidence levels. They believe in themselves and back it up with their performance.
Naturally, a strong work ethic is vital to success.
There is no “floating.” Too many others want your job. While some float, they often don’t excel over the long run. They come, and they go. The best players are on the ice early and stay on late.
True big-leaguers take responsibility. It’s easy to blame the defense, or the centerman, etc., when a goal is scored, but the best NHLers take full responsibility for each goal. Regardless of any mistakes in front of them, it’s their job to stop the puck.
They have a fire – a great desire to make a difference and never be content to give up goals that should go in. They want to be amazing. The best don’t dwell on goals. They don’t let the goals upset them but rather use them to get fired up and not give up another. They respond to coaching and never have an excuse.
The amazing thing?
These NHL players may be the best at what they do now – thoroughbreds with exceptional physical and mental skills and great athleticism.
How Do NFL Players Practice?
Warm-up
It all starts with a warm-up. No warm-up – no athlete.
First, they do a series of athletics exercises – running with a high hip lift, with an overlap, and so on; do a set of stretching exercises.
These elastic loops can stretch the limbs; for example, lying on their back and putting your legs through these loops, bend them and get as close as possible to the buttocks.
In a warm-up with TRX loops, an ordinary hockey stick also comes in handy for NHL guys: they take it in the middle with both hands and perform rotations in all directions with outstretched arms.
Throwing practice
Of all the possible skills that can be mastered, beginners and pros like to hone their throws the most.
And really: what could be better than a machine-gun shooting of empty goals with pucks?
The main exercise for practicing the throw is the throw itself. Players just shoot at the goal or simulate game situations. To do this, there is a defender imitator – a simulator that imitates two legs and a club.
They can go around the imitator and shoot from under it or remove the puck from him with a graceful shifting and shoot.
It is also important for players to work on the technique of receiving and passing the puck. As with shooting and dribbling, the main thing is to pass correctly.
Skating practice
Skating training often takes place in direct contact with the coach. The trainer will suggest a set of corrective exercises, interesting and energy-intensive.
As for something basic, players go around the cones differently, placed on the ice by different figures, either with their face or with their back, and throw at the goal.
They do accelerations (as an option – from the knees), sharp braking, and do them on the whistle (sharp braking and acceleration in the opposite direction when the signal sounds).
Players need to imitate game situations in training. Dribbling cannot be perfected by simply driving around cones; the defenders’ simulators help with this.
NHLers also perform a whole range of exercises as close as possible to game actions.
For example, short dribbling through a defender imitator, slipping and throwing; or taking the puck from the passer, shifting it under them, throwing or rolling past the board, bypassing the cone, “wall” with the passer, another rolling, throwing.
