While most returning university students use the summer as a chance to unwind, recharge, and make some much needed money at a summer job; Lakehead hockeys boys of summer are hard at work honing and perfecting their hockey skills and personal fitness as well as working. Members of the Thunderwolves defending Queens Cup Championship squad have been working at a wide variety of summer jobs and all have been working out intensively in preparation for the 06-07 season.
Junior goaltender Chris Whitley has been working at Executive Pools in Thunder Bay building swimming pools and also doing some odd part-time shifts at the Thunder Bay Play It Again Sports store. Whitley hits the gym about four times a week doing weights and cardio workouts as well as playing scrimmage hockey every Tuesday night at the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre with all the local Thunder Bay pro players who are back home for the summer.
Whitley said summer training is key for a goaltender. It's important to keep working hard over the summer to be ready for the start of next season because everyone will be out to get us because we are the defending OUA Champs.
Senior defenseman Mike Self also works with Whitley at Executive Pools in Thunder Bay as well as at the Lakehead Thunderwolves Summer Hockey Schools as an Instructor. Self said he gets his physical workouts through five hours a day on the shovel, five hours each day hauling cement in a wheelbarrow, and he also does weights at the gym five times a week.
Self hits the ice twice a week to keep his skating in shape. He said his summer workouts keep him in shape for the upcoming season. My summer training is very important to me in the summer as it helps me to improve on my on ice performance and stay healthy during the season.
Fellow blueliner Drew Kivell works for a irrigation installation company, Summers Irrigation, alongside his brother based in his hometown of Lakeside, Ontario. Kivell said he enjoys the job as he has learned a lot about irrigation, pipe, and sprinkler systems as well as the fact that he gets to operate some heavy machinery such as backhoes and bulldozers. The junior defenseman is also taking a summer distance Education course from Lakehead to keep up with his studies.
A lot of the time Kivells summer job takes him on the road in Southern Ontario so he has to be creative in his workouts. My brother and I often work out in our hotel room doing push ups, sit ups and skipping for our cardio. When we are home, we get to the gym after our 12 hours of work and use more of the gym equipment. Also when we are home we get on the ice once a week with a local old timer's team.
These Wolves know that summer means fun but it also means hard work for a CIS student-athlete. Their dedication, sweat, and effort will hopefully be rewarded with another successful season for Thunderwolves Hockey.