The Estevan Bruins are keeping their players accountable when it comes to physical fitness.
The SJHL club held fitness testing for players on Thursday at Spectra Place, with on and off-ice tests taking place to determine strength and conditioning.
Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood said the sessions included the vertical jump, standing broad jump, bench press, core testing with curl-ups and the beep test. On the ice, the players worked on sprints and agility with and without the puck.
Thursday's testing served as a baseline for each of the roughly 20 players for further improvement.
"At this point, it's not about what they've done till now, it's more about what we're going to do going forward. It's humbling for some of these guys. Some of these guys that consider themselves big, strong guys are finding out that they're not so strong after all, not productive strength, anyway," said Lewgood.
"Going forward, we're going to advocate to them that they gotta learn how to use their strengths in a productive manner and build the appropriate muscles and be fit for hockey. We're surrounded by all sorts of good people who can help with that.
"Today's Day 1. We're not really keeping score yet, but today's the baseline and we'll grow from here and hopefully see improvement every time we do this."
Lewgood said he was happy with the player turnout, with some coming from the U.S., Alberta and Manitoba.
"It's just a baseline, so I'm not putting too much emphasis on it, but I'm actually very impressed with some of the smaller guys and how fit they are and how strong some of them actually are. The days of discriminating against small hockey players are long past, but that being said, it's nice to see the smaller guys can keep up in the heavy going with some of these other guys. That's one thing that stands out to me," Lewgood noted.
Team scout Cole Zahn and former player Matt Dochylo helped Lewgood monitor the testing.
Dochylo, who played his last season in 2011-12, will be working with the team in a yet-to-be-determined capacity this year.
Lewgood said the 21-year-old will bring important attributes from his playing career to the table.
"He leads by example. He's a guy that, when he was playing in the league, players looked up to his work ethic and he's just a good role model for the guys. We gotta make sure we surround our group with positive leaders, and he's definitely that."
