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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
CRAIG LUDWIG

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is a man who played one of the least glamorous and most demanding roles in professional hockey – the physical, stay-at-home, defensively sound defenseman.

Craig Ludwig’s specialty wasn’t end to end rushes, blistering slapshots or even crowd-pleasing heavyweight fights.

He played a physical brand of hockey but what sets him aside to this day is the painful and self-sacrificial technique he practiced in becoming the universally regarded best shot-blocker in NHL history.

Over 17 seasons and 1,256 games, Ludwig put his body in front of pucks better than any player before or since, and showed remarkable durability for a man who was constantly being struck by frozen vulcanized rubber traveling at up to 100 mph.

Ludwig’s contributions led to a great deal of team success as well, as he played a major role in winning two Stanley Cups in 1986 and 1999. The playoff success his teams enjoyed is attested to by his 177 career playoff appearances.

To this day, he is recognized as one of the best American-born players to ever skate in the NHL, and one of the few men to earn this status by a means other than prolific scoring.

TODAY: TBD (Fast Tempo, 90 Second Rests)
and CARDIO

TBD

TRAINING NOTES

Total Sets (TBD): TBD

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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
BOBBY SMITH

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is a man who was drafted first overall in the 1978 NHL entry draft, then went on to fulfill that promise by winning the 1979 Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year), playing in four All-Star Games and scoring over 1,000 points in an illustrious career.

Bobby Smith had generated a great deal of hype as a teenager in the late 1970s, and rightfully so. In his final year of junior hockey, he scored 69 goals and 192 points in only 61 games.

The Minnesota North Stars took him with their top pick and the rest is history. He was a very consistent performer, scoring 70 or more points in ten of his fifteen seasons in the NHL, while peaking with 43 goals and 114 points in 1981-82.

He would help lead the Montreal Canadiens to the 1986 Stanley Cup, and upon his return to Minnesota, play a strong role in that team’s 1991 run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

In his 1,077 career games, he scored 357 goals and 1,036 points, and performed equally well when the chips were down in the postseason, scoring 160 points in 184 career playoff games.

TODAY: TBD (Fast Tempo, 90 Second Rests)
and CARDIO

TBD

TRAINING NOTES

Total Sets (TBD): TBD

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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
ROGATIEN VACHON

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is a man who is considered by most to be the best goaltender from the classic era of hockey to be on the outside of the Hall of Fame looking in.

Rogatien Vachon was a star goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, postinga 31-18-12 record in 1969-70, but he was ushered out to make room for Ken Dryden and spent most of his playing years (1966-1982) minding the goal for mediocre teams.

That didn’t stop him from accumulating some of the best totals in the game and raising the quality of his teams substantially.

He was a workhorse, playing in 70 games for the Los Angeles Kings in 1977-78, one of ten seasons where he would play more than 50. He would appear in 795 contests in all, earning 355 wins against 291 losses and 127 ties, while posting 51 shutouts in a career that saw him rise among the all-time leaders in virtually every notable goaltending category.

Vachon did win two Stanley Cups (back-to-back) with the Canadiens in the late 1960s, and posted a very respectable 23-23 playoff record, given that his teams were almost always overmatched. He would appear in three All-Star Games, be a post-season 2nd All-Star Team selection twice, and win the 1968 Vezina Trophy.

TODAY: TBD (Fast Tempo, 90 Second Rests)
and CARDIO

TBD

TRAINING NOTES

Total Sets (TBD): TBD

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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
MAURICE RICHARD

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is a man who would crash the internet if I were to attempt to list all of his accomplishments in this one post.

Providing a strong example of focus and dedication, Maurice “Rocket” Richard was known as unquestionably the most intense hockey player of his era, approaching the game with a steadfast refusal to quit or cut any corners.

This refusal to compromise on the ice earned him an incredible 8 Stanley Cups as a player, including five in a row from 1956 to 1960.

Richard led the league in goals five times during his 18-year career. A testament to his fiery style of play and willingness to mix skill with physicality, he also led the league in penalty minutes in 1953. He was among the league’s top eight players in penalty minutes in nine different seasons.

Richard scored a remarkable 544 goals in 978 career games, and achieved the rarest of feats when he scored 50 goals in 50 games in the 1944-45 season.

He had 82 goals in 133 playoff games, played in 13 consecutive All-Star Games, and was a post-season All-Star 13 times (and the league MVP in 1947).

To commemorate his virtually unparalleled contributions to the game, the NHL now awards the Rocket Richard Trophy to the league’s leader in goals scored every year.

TODAY: TRICEPS (Fast Tempo, 60 Second Rests)

DUMBBELL HAMMER SKULL CRUSHERS (5 sets)
35 x 5
35 x 5
35 x 4
35 x 4
35 x 3

TRAINING NOTES

Total Sets (Triceps): 5

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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
BOB GAINEY

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is a man who was the greatest player of all time at one of the most unglamorous and team-oriented jobs in hockey…defensive forward.

For 16 seasons between 1973 and 1989, Bob Gainey wore #23 for the Montreal Canadiens, and he was the best in the league at preventing the other team’s top talent from scoring.

This role never padded Gainey’s stats. There were no million dollar bonuses for broken up offensive rushes, a statistic that was never even recorded. The backs of his hockey cards showed only the moderate offensive numbers he was able to put up by having a decent measure of scoring ability in addition to his phenomenal defensive play.

Bob Gainey won four Frank J. Selke Trophies, the award given each year to the league’s best defensive forward. In addition, he won the 1979 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, for his performance in winning one of his five Stanley Cups.

Gainey was one of the legendary team captains of the Montreal Canadiens, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame shortly after his retirement. Notably, during the Cold War era in which Soviet teams would periodically square off against the Canadians in diplomatic tournaments, many Russians considered Gainey to be the best hockey player in the world for his attention to all aspects of the game.

Gainey played 1,160 games in the NHL, scoring 501 points. He would add 73 points in 182 playoff games.

He would later go on to successful runs as an NHL coach and general manager, a natural transition for a man who had so carefully studied the game. In 1991, he coached the Minnesota North Stars to the Stanley Cup Final.

TODAY: SHOULDERS (Fast Tempo, 60 Second Rests)
and CARDIO

ARNOLD DUMBBELL PRESS (5 sets)
30 x 10
50 x 8
60 x 4
60 x 4
50 x 6

DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISE (3 sets)
25 x 8
25 x 7
25 x 7

DUMBBELL FORWARD RAISE (3 sets)
25 x 8
25 x 8
25 x 8

DUMBBELL BENT OVER REAR DELT FLYES (3 sets)
25 x 10
25 x 8
25 x 8

STATIONARY BIKE
- Resistance 15/25
30 Minutes / 10.59 Miles / 417 Cal
- 5.37 Miles at 15 Minute Mark

TRAINING NOTES

Total Sets (Shoulders): 14

Pretty slow on the bike today but the legs are worn down and I’m not surprised in the least.

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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
KEN DRYDEN

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is a man who proved himself to be one of the NHL’s most effective goaltenders when the stakes were at their highest.

Furthermore, he also demonstrated himself to be one of the most intelligent professional athletes of all time.

Ken Dryden first rose to prominence in hockey as he was attending Cornell University, where backstopped the university to an NCAA Championship and three ECAC Tournament Championships. One season, Dryden had a record of 26 victories, no losses and one tie. Two other years with Cornell, he was 25-2.

He then followed his college career with one of the greatest NHL careers the game has ever seen.

In only eight seasons, he led the league in wins four times and goals against average four times. He won six Stanley Cups in his eight years and five Vezina Trophies as the NHL’s best goaltender. To this he added a Calder Trophy as rookie of the year and a Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Following his retirement at a young age, the Hockey Hall of Fame wasted no time inducting him.

Notably, Dryden took a year away from the game in the midst of his prime and Stanley Cup playoff runs to finish his law degree, a choice that would serve him well in his later careers as a celebrated author, NHL team president and national politician.

It was, of course, Ken Dryden who stood in the Canadian net in the on-ice embodiment of the Cold War – the 1972 Summit Series. Dryden squared off against legendary Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak…and emerged victorious.

TODAY: CARDIO

STATIONARY BIKE
- High Resistance, Medium Effort
30 Minutes / 12.9 Miles

TRAINING NOTES

The beginning of this training period is called the Tree of Woe after a point in Conan the Barbarian where Arnold Schwarzenegger gets tied to a giant oak and must remain immobile as he is trapped in a mental prison.

I am in a period of inactivity as I let my back and other nagging injuries heal, so in my case, the challenge for the moment is to not be a physical entity…

Today marked a no-impact gradual re-immersion into my normal ways…

INSPIRATIONAL CLIP

The following clip features some highlights from the Game 6 of the legendary eight-game 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, a sporting event that took the Cold War and placed it on ice.

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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
HENRI RICHARD

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is the greatest winner the National Hockey League has ever known.

Henri Richard, the “Pocket Rocket” played much of his career in the shadow of his famous brother, Maurice “Rocket” Richard. But by the time his career was said and done, he had skated his way out of that long shadow and set perhaps the most enviable record one can hold in the game.

Henri Richard played a total of 1,256 regular season games, scoring 1,046 points during an era where the 1,200-game and 1,000-point barriers were even harder to break through than they are today.

He played twenty seasons, all four of them with the Montreal Canadiens, and contributed greatly to the legacy of the legendary team. He set and NHL record by winning 11 Stanley Cups with the team as a player, a mark that nobody is likely to ever equal.

He scored 49 goals and 129 points in his playoff career, and played in 10 All-Star Games. He won the Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication in 1974, and was named the post-season All-Star Team four times. In 1957-58, he was 2nd in the NHL in scoring.

TODAY: LEGS (Fast Tempo, 90 Second Rests)

LEG PRESS (HORIZONTAL) (5 sets)
300 x 12
500 x 10
500 x 10
500 x 10
400 x 10

SINGLE LEG SQUATS (per leg) (3 sets)
Body x 8
Body x 8
Body x 8

QUAD EXTENSIONS (5 sets)
150 x 12
180 x 12
180 x 12
180 x 12
210 x 12

SEATED HAMSTRING CURL (5 sets)
150 x 12
150 x 12
150 x 12
150 x 12
150 x 12

TRAINING NOTES

Total Sets (Legs): 18

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