Being "ripped" is not going to help you 90% of the time in hockey, in fact it may slow you down. Upper body strength for these guys at the combine, most of them being 15 to 17 years old, means NOTHING. I'd like to know the squat numbers though because lower body strength is everything in hockey.
Skating, balance on your skates and hockey sense are the most important factors for these KIDS. Most, if not all of them play between 65-80 junior games a year as well as go to school as well as practice every other day. Getting "pumped up" is not even on their minds. If your future possible career depended on your legs would you spend time so you could be a weight room wonder or would you work on what you NEED to work on to function in your sport? If you are either playing a game or at practice 200 times a year and working with a tutor to keep up with your school work (because you are 15-17 years old) are you going to "hit the gym" everyday so you can look sharp on the bench?
That is also why 95% of the kids drafted by the NHL come with the "has to work on his upper body strength" tag. That is also why 99% of these KIDS won't sniff the NHL for 2-3 years, until they are 20-21 years old, when they have filled out a lot more and have had time to get stronger and have been put on the proper diet and program by professional weight trainers. These are natural athletes, all of them, but most of them are just skinny KIDS that have not filled out yet.
As for the "hockey is the toughest sport in the world and these guys are gods and all :rolleyes2" comment, obvious sarcasm, do not insult things you do not know about and from the negative tone of this thread NONE of you know enough about the game to comment on it.
