Florida Everblades Prepare for Season with Athletic Republic

As the Florida Everblades look forward to the upcoming season, an important aspect of their preparation is pre-season testing and dry-land training. For the second year in a row the Florida Everblades and Head Coach Greg Poss have turned to Athletic Republic for their expertise in player development.

The Florida Everblades of the ECHL are affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL and the Charlotte Checkers and Norfolk Admirals of the AHL. During the first two days of Everblades training camp, the players underwent physicals as well as off-ice and on-ice testing with the help of Athletic Republic-Germain Arena.

"The players have really taken to the testing and training.  We are able to the provide the coaching staff with player comparisons as well as team comparisons year over year." stated Athletic Republic Master Trainer Jake Laime. "The focus is to try and get a read on the players' athleticism, strengths, weaknesses and training capabilities." 

Head Coach Greg Poss has found the information to be useful when selecting talent and gaining insights into the training the players have done in the off-season.  Each player undergoes six off-ice tests including a 3PQ strength test, measured with a specialized force plate attached to Athletic Republic's plyo-press machine.  "The 3PQ is a valuable tool for assessing a skater's lower body peak power output while understanding a skater's symmetry from the right and left leg." said Tad O'Had, Athletic Republic VP of Hockey. "The information we gather from the testing provides our trainers and the coaches the ability to individualize each player's program. We might notice that a certain player has incredible lower body power yet is overcompensating on the left side as opposed to the right, which may have been the result of a prior injury or just a strength imbalance. These types of athlete assessment tools allow us to provide the very best training program to each player."
 
The Everblades also underwent testing on the patented Hockey Treadmill that can reach speeds of 17 mph and elevation of 35 percent. The players were rated on strides taken during a given time, while being filmed to better assess skating techniques.  Additionally, the players were tested on vertical jump, a single leg box squat, pull-ups and a core strength assessment involving grueling planks. 

Coach Poss has also instituted on-ice testing the past two seasons to allow him to compare off-ice scores with on-ice performance. The players all undergo forward and backward on-ice sprint tests to get a clear understanding of their top speeds and level of conditioning.  The final, and most grueling evaluation is a skate repeat test in which players undergo three bouts of  full-ice conditioning.  Coaches and trainers compare the first bout to subsequent bouts. 

All of these tests are focused on gathering a thorough understanding of the players' capabilities and physical potential. The Everblades will continue this process of athlete refinement by continuing to train at Athletic Republic-Germain Arena throughout the season. Players will participate in daily off-ice workouts consisting of strength, plyometric, speed, and core work to compliment their on-ice practices. "Our focus is not only strength development, but helping keep the players healthy throughout the season so they are better equipped to perform at the highest level." stated Jake Laime of Athletic Republic-Germain Arena.