In this episode of the Coretex Athletic Review, I head west to examine a 26-year longitudinal study tracking the physiological profile of one particular NHL franchise from 1979 to 2005.

The researchers followed the team through five Stanley Cup championships, collecting pre-season data on body composition, anaerobic power, aerobic capacity, grip strength, abdominal endurance, and flexibility.

The common assumption is that championships track with physiological dominance. Bigger, stronger, more powerful teams should win more banners.

But when we isolate the five championship seasons within the dataset, something unexpected appears.

Those dynasty teams were not at the top of the 26-year physiological distribution.

The largest players.
The highest peak anaerobic outputs.
The greatest absolute VO2 values.

Those all came later.

Without banners.

So if physiological escalation does not neatly predict championships, what does?

This episode explores:

• Longitudinal changes in NHL player size and performance from 1979–2005

• Positional physiological differences between defensemen, forwards, and goaltenders

• The relationship between pre-season fitness and team success

• And the question that remains when the engines are optimized… what about the drivers?

Research Article Reviewed:
Quinney, H.A., Dewart, R., Game, A., Snydmiller, G., Warburton, D., & Bell, G. (2008). A 26 year physiological description of a National Hockey League team. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 33, 753–760.

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