Late last night 20 senior players took to the ice under the guidance of Nathan Baskier (previously mentioned as the new ice hockey power skating coach) & head coach Ronni Wood overseeing this pilot program.
Many were taken back by being taught "how to actually skate" by a guy wearing figure skates and for the first couple minutes some of the younger players were rather stubborn and closed-minded as their "know it all" attitude shone rather brightly.
However before they could joke around drills got underway and they soon understood that there was alot to be learnt when it comes to basic skating and power-skating. Nathan implemented simple but direct drills to help players grasp the concept of "finding and using their edges", moving on to more direct drills like low & deep strides concentrating on technique and pure power along with building muscle at the same time.
Supplementing his demonstrations with accurate and clear instructions had everyone on the right track. With some players however putting in more effort than others and just going through the motions, a comment from Russian, Ivan Tchekashkine, "I was surprised that we were doing this kind of skating as it worked my legs pretty well and its good to practice what works!", and in my opinion, this is coming from one of the most natural skaters and power-skaters in the country.
Ivan's skating style is that of a low stance, lots of knee bend and long full extended strides, and this is pretty much what power skating is all about.
Players' fitness started to show as after a couple of controlled laps as technique dwindled but overall Nathan voiced his pleasure after the 30 minutes that we were on the ice with him. Looking forward to seeing the long term results...
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