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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In this episode, I examine the physiological profile of elite ice hockey goaltenders through the lens of a 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis published in the International Journal of Exercise Science.

While much of the goaltending literature focuses on perceptual and psychological performance — anticipation, reaction timing, and decision-making — this paper compiles the limited but growing body of research examining the physical and physiological characteristics of the position.

• Why goaltenders are often excluded from broader hockey physiology research

• The structure of a systematic review and what PRISMA means

• Anthropometric comparisons between professional and amateur goaltenders

• Aerobic capacity (VO₂max) differences across levels

• Anaerobic peak power findings

• Grip strength, abdominal endurance, and flexibility

• What standardized fitness testing captures — and what it likely misses

• Professional male goaltenders were not meaningfully taller than amateurs in the pooled data.

• Amateur male goalies showed higher VO₂max values than professionals.

• Professional goalies demonstrated greater relative peak anaerobic power.

• Grip strength and core endurance appeared stronger in professional goalies.

• Flexibility distinguished goalies from skaters but did not clearly separate levels.

• Standardized lab testing may not fully capture position-specific performance demands.

This episode focuses on physiological profiling within the goaltender position.

Part 2 will zoom out to examine physiological differences between forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders at the NHL level.

Marcotte-L’Heureux, V., Charron, J., Panenic, R., & Comtois, A. S. (2021).
Ice Hockey Goaltender Physiology Profile and Physical Testing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
International Journal of Exercise Science.

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Next week: positional physiology at the NHL level.

In this episode, I walk through a recent doctoral dissertation from the University of Alberta examining the rise of independent (non-sanctioned) youth hockey in Alberta.

Rather than debating which system is “better,” this episode takes a slower, more deliberate approach. The goal is to faithfully unpack the research as it was written, section by section, and understand how parents, coaches, and directors explain and justify their involvement in independent hockey environments.

Only after working through the paper in full do I offer my own reflections—clearly marked as opinion—based on a decade of experience coaching and directing within the sanctioned hockey system in Alberta.

• What “sanctioned” vs “non-sanctioned” hockey actually means in Alberta

• Why independent hockey has expanded in recent years

• How development is understood, marketed, and justified across different stakeholders

• The role of prolympic values (performance, efficiency, optimization) in youth sport

• How parents navigate uncertainty and responsibility in pathway decisions

• Why coaches experience both autonomy and constraint in independent systems

• How directors frame hockey as a market and a product

• Why development language can coexist with performance-driven practices

• The risks of silo-fication and diluted competition environments

The episode is based on a 194-page PhD dissertation completed in 2025 by Dallas Ansell at the University of Alberta:

From the Outdoor Rink to Development Incorporated: Parent, Coach, and Director Navigation of Player Development in the Prolympic Field of Independent Youth Hockey

The study uses:

• Qualitative interviews with parents, coaches, and directors

• Observations of practices and games

• A sociological framework grounded in Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital, and doxa

Importantly, the paper:

• Does not measure performance outcomes

• Does not claim one system develops players better

• Does not assign blame to any single group

It focuses on meaning, justification, and structure, not solutions.

In the final section of the episode, I share my own concern—not about the existence of alternative hockey options, but about the fragmentation of elite talent across multiple parallel systems.

When top players rarely encounter true best-on-best competition, match quality suffers, assessment becomes noisy, and perceived skill can become inflated.

As one downstream signal, I reference my own long-term tracking of Alberta-born representation on Canada men's national junior ice hockey team rosters. While not evidence of causation, the trend raises questions worth asking—especially when considered alongside increasing population share and growing pathway fragmentation.

World Junior selection reflects player cohorts from nearly two decades earlier, and population growth does not translate cleanly into hockey participation—particularly in immigration-driven provinces. This is not a one-to-one comparison, but a signal that merits further examination rather than a definitive conclusion.

This episode is not about defending or attacking any league, association, or governing body. It’s about understanding how youth hockey systems evolve, how choices are justified, and what unintended consequences may emerge over time when development and performance become increasingly intertwined.