{"id":84297,"date":"2025-08-15T08:23:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T08:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/84297\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T08:23:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T08:23:24","slug":"the-modern-nhlers-offseason-routine-plus-why-do-hockey-games-have-three-periods-%cd%8f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/84297\/","title":{"rendered":"The modern NHLer\u2019s offseason routine. Plus: Why do hockey games have three periods? \u034f\u200c"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red Light newsletter\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s hockey newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning, hockey fans. It\u2019s mid-August, but to me that\u2019s as good a time as any to talk about some puck, no? If only to remind us how close we are to September and training camps.<\/p>\n

What exactly are NHL players doing now?<\/p>\n

We put out the call for your top hockey questions a few weeks ago, and there were a lot of great, thoughtful queries in there.<\/p>\n

One of them asked about this very point of the offseason and how it works for NHL players. Are they mostly sitting beside a lake somewhere, waiting for camp? Or on the ice every day, grinding away?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Jordan K.\u2019s question:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m interested in what an NHLer\u2019s training schedule is like during the offseason. When in the summer do they resume skating? Do they come into camp 100 percent in shape or does the camp itself get them into shape?\u201d<\/p>\n

I can speak from experience after watching them for more than 15 years that NHL camps are very high-intensity right from the first day. The coaches want to implement their game plan, superstars are ready to go and the up-and-coming kids and minor leaguers are anxious to win jobs. It\u2019s fast and physical \u2013 and really fun to watch.<\/p>\n

To get more specifics for Jordan\u2019s questions, however, I reached out to a former NHLer to explain how the summer works. Here\u2019s Frankie Corrado \u2014 former Canucks\/Leafs\/Penguins defenseman and a frequent contributor to our hockey podcasts at\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0\u2014 on the general timeline involved:<\/p>\n

Phase 1: Recovery.\u00a0After a few weeks totally off, players start to work on undoing bad patterns from the season and get in the gym to work on repairing their bodies from the damage done throughout a grueling schedule.
\nPhase 2: Strength and power.\u00a0Not much skating here as you start to lift heavy in the gym, to regain lost muscle or, if needed, bulk up. But the first significant on-ice sessions are often early July, right after free agency.
\nPhase 3: Speed and explosiveness.\u00a0Start skating more and lifting less weight. In August, players are on the ice at least four times a week already.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys are basically ready to go around Labor Day to start camp,\u201d Corrado says. \u201cThey should be 100 percent (well beforehand) unless they had an injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Ethan Miller \/ Getty Images)Will there be a flurry of long contracts?<\/p>\n

One more reader question here, from Pat S.:\u00a0\u201cDo you expect a major run on eight-year contracts between now and the new CBA taking effect next summer? What other impacts to GM behavior do you expect with the ratification of that CBA?\u201d<\/p>\n

I checked in with some teams on this and one thing they said to keep in mind is that barring a negotiated change, the newly-agreed-to CBA actually doesn\u2019t take effect until September 2026, meaning there is still plenty of time for teams to sign players to eight-year deals.<\/p>\n

So that goes for Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Kirill Kaprizov \u2014\u00a0the whole class of elite talent<\/a>\u00a0that\u2019s in the final year of their deals this season. If they want eight-year deals, they\u2019ll get them.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s been more notable of late is some lower-tier players have also been getting eight-year deals. Trent Frederic landed the max term from the Oilers to play in their bottom six. The Hurricanes gave all three of K\u2019Andre Miller, Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake eight-year RFA deals, in a bid to find some value by going long.<\/p>\n

With the cap rising rapidly, it makes sense to stretch things out. The players get the security of the term, but the teams get the lower AAV and could hit serious home runs if we\u2019re talking about the cap going beyond $120 million and those three becoming core contributors.<\/p>\n

As for other impacts,\u00a0I think we\u2019ll see star players starting to get a bigger chunk of the pie. There are so many teams that have money and want top talent right now that there\u2019s going to be a lot of upward pressure on salaries for the league\u2019s best players. Being a top-two center or top-pair D is about to be even more lucrative for players willing to go to July 1.<\/p>\n

The new CBA\u00a0decreasing term limits and diminishing frontloading and bonuses<\/a>\u00a0will put even more pressure on teams to simply pony up to keep their best players. Without creative contracts, all that\u2019s left is the bottom line.<\/p>\n

You can read more questions and answers here in my latest NHL mailbag<\/a>, the first in a series over the offseason.<\/p>\n

MirTrivia, Offseason Edition\"\ud83d\udca1\": With other sports typically split into quarters and halves, why the heck do hockey games have three periods? And did they always?<\/p>\n

Coast to Coast<\/p>\n

Even in the offseason, our army of hockey writers is cranking out the hits. Here are some of our top items from the past seven days you may have missed.<\/p>\n

\"\ud83c\udfd2\"\u00a0Fluto Shinzawa has the story of\u00a0an NHL mom\u2019s quest to make \u201cthe best neck guard.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0I\u2019m all for any innovation that improves these things from the ol\u2019 scratchy sweatsock design.<\/p>\n

\"\ud83d\udcb0\"\u00a0The Senators are one step closer to getting their much-needed downtown arena built,\u00a0with the $30 million purchase of some nice real estate<\/a>\u00a0near the War Museum. I, for one, will not miss taking the long bus ride to Kanata in 25-below to watch from the nosebleeds as\u00a0Mika Noronen lets in seven goals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\ud83d\udcb8\"\u00a0Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is spearheading\u00a0a massive deal to buy the NBA\u2019s Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>. As with the Canes, the intention is to keep the team in the market.<\/p>\n

\"\ud83e\udd14\"\u00a0\u201cThe Athletic Hockey Show\u2019s\u201d How To Fix\u2026 series with the two Seans and our beat writers wrapped up this week after\u00a0four deep dives into how to turn around<\/a>\u00a0the Sabres, Penguins, Red Wings and Flyers.<\/p>\n

\"\ud83e\udd47\"\u00a0One fellow who never takes a recovery phase is our newsletter teammate DGB, whose latest piece digs into building the\u00a0worst possible roster of NHL contracts that\u2019s still somehow cap compliant<\/a>. And, no, it was not co-authored by the terrible GM your favorite team finally got rid of.<\/p>\n

Who will rise and fall?<\/p>\n

For the hardcore Red Light Racicots who made it this far in a mid-August file, I wanted to get your help for a section of this newsletter next week.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a survey where you can offer your hot takes<\/a>\u00a0on which NHL teams will be the most improved and which ones will take a step back next season.<\/p>\n

Will be interesting to see who you pick.<\/p>\n

Your MirTrivia answer\u2026<\/p>\n

Early hockey games had \u2014 like basketball, football and soccer today \u2014 two halves with a break in between. But starting in 1910-11, they decided to go to three periods\u00a0for a few reasons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One: to improve ice conditions in the pre-Zamboni days. Two: to keep players fresher and the pace of play higher. Three: more fans would visit the concessions and spend money.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fascinating that 115 years later, all three reasons seem to still apply and make sense. NHL ice is pretty beat up after 20 minutes of play, requiring a flood, and players are able to exert themselves more with two intermission breaks instead of one. Plus, fans definitely need more than one in-game beer break.<\/p>\n

Pro hockey\u2019s first three-period game was played in December 1910, in the old NHA, the precursor league to the NHL. Earboy Sport\u00a0has more on that game<\/a>\u00a0and some of the legends who played in it.<\/p>\n

\"\ud83d\udceb\"\u00a0Love Red Light?\u00a0Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(Top photo of Devon Toews: Raymond Carlin III \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Light newsletter\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s hockey newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox. Good…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-84297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}