Mustangs get crash course in conditioning from pro hockey trainer

Participants in the first-ever Mustangs off-ice conditioning sessions can be forgiven if they are a little sore today.

Participants in the first-ever Mustangs off-ice conditioning sessions can be forgiven if they are a little sore today.

Approximately 50 players, ranging in age from 10 years to 18 years old, took part in a three-day course, taught by fitness guru Doug Crashley.

Crashley is president of Crash Conditioning and has been in the business for nearly one decade.

Crash Conditioning has a wide range of prominent clients, including NHL stars Duncan Keith, Mike Green, Tyson Strachan, Brent Krahn and NHL prospects Thomas Hickey, Zach Boycuk and Jordan Eberle.

Sessions this past weekend were held at the Canada Games Centre and the Better Bodies Cross Training Centre. The opportunity was available for atom to junior players.

The drills and intensity varied for the different age levels, but Crashley said he went through a lot of the basic dynamic athletic movements and some conditioning. He said he also worked a lot on preparation on mental side of the game.

“I was actually really impressed with the groups,” Crashley said. “The big thing was their work and their openness to coaching. Obviously with some of the younger groups we were working with some more beginner type exercises.”

He said the big thing was that kids from all of the levels improved from the opening day, adding he was impressed with the ones that made it through and continued to come back even though they were sore and tired.

“There were some awesome kids,” Crashley said.

Crashley said the sessions were pretty grueling and didn’t allow for a long rest period.

“They were very impressive as far as their ability to handle that much load in a short period of time and how intense it was.”

Gerry Perrier, director of Mustangs Hockey Club, said there the program recognizes the need for specialized skill development . Some of the other skill development have included a four-year partnership with World Pro Goaltender and a scoring clinic put on by former NHLer Morris Lukowich.

“Through these partnerships we established with professionals outside we can bring the level of our program up to the standard that most of our competition has,” he said. “When you bring a guy like Doug up here, he’s able to get a lot more out of them because he’s a stranger and he obviously knows his stuff and they want to work hard to impress.”