Summer: Where Hockey Players Are Made

For hockey players, summer isn’t just about downtime or casual skates. It’s the most critical period for real development. Why? Because it’s the only time we can truly shift focus away from skating and dedicate ourselves to building the athletic ability that underpins every single skill on the ice.

Think about it: if your body can’t move efficiently or isn’t strong enough for the demands of the game, even the best stickhandling or shooting coach will struggle to help you unleash your full potential. The “off-season” and preseason are when we build that engine – transforming potential into powerful, game-ready performance.

We’re currently deep into the preseason phase for our youth and junior hockey players. This cycle builds directly on the foundation laid during the off-season, and this is where we really crank up the intensity and refine all that hard work!

Inside Our Preseason Training Cycles

While every athlete’s program is custom-tailored, here’s a glimpse into the general progression our athletes follow to get primed for the season:

Ages 8-12: Building the Hockey Engine

For our youngest athletes, the preseason is all about mastering fundamental movement and gaining confident body control.

• Weeks 1 & 2: We focus on movement quality and basic body control through fun agility drills, engaging movement games, and simple plyometrics like hops and bounds. It’s about learning to move well, first.
• Weeks 3 & 4: We progress to more coordination-based activities and explosive play. Think light medicine balls, quick sprint starts, and reactive footwork drills that make training feel like play.
• Week 5: Peak Intent! This week is all about short, explosive sprints, powerful skater bounds, and various jump variations, always with full recovery to maximize output.
• Week 6: The Deload. We keep things fresh and fun with low-fatigue, high-energy movement games like tag, light sprint relays, and short reactive drills, ensuring athletes are energized, not exhausted.

Ages 13-17: Power, Speed, and Game Readiness

At this stage, we’re focused on translating raw strength into explosive power and undeniable quickness on the ice.

• Week 1: We dive into max strength with lifts like trap bar deadlifts, combined with perfecting acceleration mechanics through wall drills and resisted sprints.
• Week 2: The focus shifts to lateral movement and power development. We introduce lateral bounds, medicine ball slams, and sharp change-of-direction (COD) drills.
• Week 3: This is where we get advanced with contrast training – for example, pairing a heavy squat with a vertical jump. This technique supercharges the nervous system, directly boosting power transfer.
• Week 4: We build on speed with high-velocity work like sled pushes, short sprints, and sport-specific footwork, often under slight fatigue to simulate game conditions.
• Week 5: The Power Peak. It’s all about maximum intensity at low volume, emphasizing clean, truly explosive movements to peak performance.
• Week 6: Taper Time. This deload week keeps the intent and sharpness high but significantly reduces load and volume. It’s the final polish, getting them absolutely primed for Game 1.

Ages 18-21: Unleashing Elite Performance

For our most experienced and advanced players, the preseason is about fine-tuning every aspect of explosive power, top-end speed, and advanced hockey-specific agility.

• Weeks 1 & 2: We push max strength and acceleration output even higher, incorporating velocity-based lifts, sled sprints, and loaded jumps for maximum power.
• Week 3: We blend in advanced contrast complexes (think a heavy hex bar deadlift immediately followed by a broad jump) and highly hockey-specific agility drills like lateral cuts with stick movement or swift pivot-to-sprint sequences.
• Week 4: This phase dominates with top-speed mechanics and high-intensity, game-like drills, alongside demanding anaerobic conditioning circuits to build late-game endurance.
• Week 5: The Performance Peak. Fast, intensely focused work with ample rest is key here. It’s about activating the nervous system for peak performance without any risk of draining the tank.
• Week 6: Taper & Priming. This is the ultimate prep phase – very low volume, focusing on fast-twitch activation, razor-sharp short sprints, and precise movement work. The goal is to ensure they are absolutely firing on all cylinders, ready to dominate from puck drop.

Training programs will vary from player to player depending on needs, however, foundational this is a baseline for intensity and intention of the athletic training program.

Written by:
Kirill Vaks
BA, CSCS

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Voorhees Flyers Training center.

The Hollydell ice arena, in the main building.