panoo

By Kevin Mitchell
Sports Editor
Aug 10 2007

Chris Osgood wants to play five more years in the NHL. He would be 40. Shouldn’t be a problem considering Chris Chelios will be 46 and Dominik Hasek 43 next January. Age is not considered a weakness with the Detroit Red Wings.

To help him reach that pinnacle, Osgood takes care of his body year-round. He, and other pro hockey players who call Vernon home in the off-season, hire a personal trainer and get pushed hard enough to give them an edge going into training camp.

“I’m finding the older you get, the more you have to train to stay in shape and to stay quick,” said Osgood, moments after a dryland session with Rhonda Catt.

“I find you get new aches and pains that you never got before and you have to do more to keep up with all the younger guys. Now, these guys have been training since they were 10-, 12-years-old and they’re in shape and they’re quick so you have to take care of your body and make sure you’re doing a little extra and doing more than you’ve really done before.”

The former Medicine Hat Tiger net detective is surrounded by fitness freaks in Detroit, where Chelios actually rides the bike in the sauna.

“He (Chelios) works with somebody in L.A. He likes to ride the bike a lot. I don’t‑think he’s much of a runner, but he’s always been in pretty good shape. In the playoffs, he was one of our best players. He’s a great player and he stays around because he’s so competitive. He still hates to lose. He gets mad when he only plays 10 minutes a night and thinks he should be out there playing more. That’s‑the thing that’s kept him around first and foremost is his competitiveness, and obviously, he’s kept his body in really good shape.”

Ozzie’s good buddy and former Red Wing teammate Stacy Roest uses the training with Catt to prepare for mid-August camp in Europe.

“It’s gets harder every year,” said Roest, who led the Swiss National A League SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in scoring last year. “It’s interesting because she comes up with new stuff. It’s good because you feel good when you go to camp and you’re ready to go.”

Steve Kelly, a former Oiler first-round pick who recently signed a one-year deal with Minnesota Wild, hopes to parlay the conditioning sessions into a successful second stint in the NHL. He played the last three years in Germany, and is in his second off-season here.

“She’s good,” he said of Catt, a 35-year-old personal trainer. “She works us hard. We have a little fun out here. It’s not just the monotonous go to the gym and ride a bike and lift weights or whatever. You kind of do everything. I’ve had a lot of fun. She’s got a good program and knows what she’s doing.”

Calgary Flames enforcer Eric Godard, a Vernon minor hockey product, is upgrading his foot speed and agility through Catt’s program. He was giving the lighter and smaller Osgood and Roest a good run in the sprint drills.

FULL STORY