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Training and recovery are areas NHL players would like teams to spend more on. Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic, with photos by Bruce Bennett and Alexandre Simoes / Getty Images
NHL players aren’t wanting for much. There’s a massive food spread everywhere they go. They fly on private jets with all first-class seating. They regularly stay in five-star hotels like the Ritz-Carlton or the Four Seasons. And the minimum salary is nearly a million dollars.
They’re doing fine.
Twenty years ago, there was still a big gap between the haves and have-nots of the league. Some organizations were known among players as “first class,” and others made you stuff your equipment in a black trash bag at the end of the season rather than give you a team-branded hockey bag. Now, every team spends beaucoup bucks on pampering players and ensuring they’re at their best physically and mentally when they play, even if some spend more than others.
But just because things are great doesn’t mean they can’t be better.
So what do players want owners to spend more on? As part of our player poll this year, The Athletic asked 118 NHLers that question and left it open-ended. The majority of the answers fell under the umbrella of health, recovery and training.
Here’s a sampling of the answers we received, split into general categories.
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We'll split the comments on player health and training into four categories: food, training, recovery and staff, though many of the players polled mentioned different combinations of those or even all four.
There’s only so much grilled chicken with brown rice and sweet potatoes an athlete can eat. So a little variety couldn’t hurt.
"It's a long season, and I think, just speaking for guys in here, it's tough (to eat) the same thing over and over again,” one player said. “So I think if you could spend a little bit more, not on quantity, but maybe different quality. There's so (many) different kinds of foods out there. It gets repetitive eating steak, chicken and salmon for eight months of the year."
"People say, chicken — where is the chicken coming from?” one player said. “The beef, is it grain-fed or grass-fed? You can upgrade a lot of food areas."
"It would be great if there was food everywhere,” said another. “Food waiting for us as soon as we got into the hotel, so I don't have to think about where to order from or where to go."
"We're pretty good here, but there's some places around the league that aren't.”
Another area in which players are looking for an upgrade is in training — techniques, equipment, anything it takes to be a little bit better than the other guy.
"Anything high-performance, anywhere you can find an edge,” one player said.
"We spend close to half our day at the rink,” another said. “Some rinks are nicer than others. All those amenities, from treatment rooms to cold tubs to hot tubs, those should be very elite. You look at soccer teams — obviously they make more money and more revenue — but some of these stadiums and practice facilities are off the charts. ... Those little things matter, especially (to) free agents nowadays."
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"You spend all your time at the training center or at your game rink, so it's a massive thing to have them at the highest level," added another.
Recovery means different things to different players. But it’s been at the forefront of just about every player’s mind this season, as the Olympic break has necessitated a compressed schedule that is wearing players down. Moving to an 84-game season next year only underscores the need.
"Especially with how fast the game is and even more games,” one player said.
"If you're (winning) one or two (more) games over the course of the season (because of it), that's maybe a few percentage points that you get, and you invest in that, you make the playoffs and you make it all back anyway,” another said.
"I think that's an area guys are really conscious of — making sure you have the elite taking care of guys to get them back on the ice," said another. "Everyone is so health-conscious now, understands their body so much better. It's not just put a piece of ice on them and away they go. Not to say there's anything wrong now, but I think it's an area every team can get better in."
"Anything for our bodies to keep us healthy,” one player said. “They pay a lot of money in salaries. Keep us on the ice, right?"
Among the requests were hydrotherapy rooms, more cold tubs and hot tubs, hotel spa access on the road, red-light beds, saunas — even a hyperbaric chamber.
“I know that's pretty ballin', but it works,” said the player who wanted the hyperbaric chamber. “We're taught as athletes you want to take care of your body the best you can, and in that regard, that could be something."
Athletic trainers, strength coaches and massage therapists are the unsung heroes of locker rooms. And players want more body experts to help them along.
"There’s really good athletic trainers and all that,” one player said. “Then there’s some individuals who are on top of (things) treatment-wise and all that. Obviously, they cost more. I think the game is going to go that way. Every team is going to have more (about) treatment, how to have your body ready and all that stuff. … When I think about how much money teams spent for the players, how much they pay us, (I think) it’s kind of understanding how to get the best out of them. Trying to get the absolute best in their field to the teams, I think that would be really beneficial for a lot of organizations. And it’s already going in that direction.”
"Like chiropractors and hands-on secondary athletic training,” said another.
"Hands-on treatment, chiropractor ... that gets guys on the ice,” said another.
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"You've got a $95 million payroll; they should bring the best treatment guys in,” one player said. “(Nathan) MacKinnon has got his own guy. (Jack) Eichel has got his own guy. Maybe a half million bucks, and what is that going to save you in man games lost?"
Some of the worst visiting locker rooms in the league are now defunct — Nassau Coliseum, Joe Louis Arena, Rexall Place — and some have been moderately renovated, such as Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., and Capital One Arena in Washington. But plenty of road rinks have a long way to go to meet the standards of a multi-billion-dollar league.
“Just to make it more consistent, I think we can invest in the amenities for away teams,” one player said. “Some places are a little tighter than others. When you get a nice away locker room, I feel like that shows that they put a lot of (thought) into it. It makes you imagine what they put for their own players.”
“Some places are really nice and some are just OK,” another said. “So maybe if everybody had to up their standards for the away room, and cold tubs and gyms, too. Some of the gyms are pretty small."
"Yeah, some of the visiting locker rooms are pretty average,” said another. “Some of those, going in there in the morning and it's freezing cold, it sucks."
“Carolina has improved,” one veteran said. “Boston has improved. Washington has improved. Columbus has improved. I think the locker rooms have been better on the road than when I first got in the league. They did some renovations that definitely helped."
Any frequent flyer knows first class is nice, but international first class is a whole different experience. And considering how often players are flying deep into the wee hours of the morning after a night game, an upgrade would be welcome.
"That'd be sick if we had Polaris-like pod seating on the plane,” one player said.
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"I wish we had a sick airplane where it’s just sleeper beds,” another said. “You know when you go on a Delta One flight and they have those little beds in there. We fly so many five-hour trips. I think that’d be sick."
"Like an Emirates plane or something,” said another.
Because this query was open-ended, some players got creative or had pet causes.
Increasing staff pay got five votes: "They work their asses off. Some teams have more staff than others. Seeing how much they work, that's the first thing."
Marketing also got five: "Just trying to grow (the game) as much as we can. Fill the ad space on the NHL app or whatever. You’re watching a game, and it just shuts down for commercial breaks. Throw in more ad space, like they do in some other sports like football and basketball. Commercials, whatever — just getting guys out there."
Equipment staff got four: "There's a lot of things organizations think matter that don't matter. But making life as easy on everybody as possible should be the main objective for every organization. That's what great organizations do. They make your life incredibly easy and so all you have to do is worry about playing."
On team apartments instead of extended-stay hotels for young players (two votes): "Like a dorm, it would be sick."
On tickets for players (one): "We don't get any tickets on the road, and even at home, we get two.”
On a staff member to handle family issues (one): "I've been in a few different organizations, and some have a designated person to do a bunch of different family stuff. That's a really cool idea. It's nice to have a direct contact for everything."
On community projects (one): "I think our team does a good job of spending money on getting the fans involved and doing charity stuff. Kind of growing the game that way. I think that’s probably the biggest key. Growing the game more and helping people in need. Like a foundation and community stuff."
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And the topic du jour in the hockey world with Olympic hockey opening Thursday, improving ice conditions: "I honestly think buildings should have a code that they have to abide by. Across the league. Some teams don’t have dehumidifiers. Some teams have dehumidifiers. (Some say) it costs too much money to put one in. Ice conditions, it’s been a big topic of discussion ever since I came in the league, and it’s only getting worse. Florida had the best ice. Why? They got one."
All the wishes aside, players are well aware of just how good they have it.
"We're treated very well,” one player said. “We fly pretty much everywhere. We don't have it too tough."
"I'm too spoiled already from what I'm used to in Sweden,” said another.
"You look around with the money that's coming in and stuff, a lot of teams are — not catching up, but their standards are rising,” one said. “Talking to the guys on other teams, too, including guys that have been here, I think we're getting treated well.”
Reporting for this story by Arpon Basu, Peter Baugh, Max Bultman, Thomas Drance, Matthew Fairburn, Jesse Granger, Joshua Kloke, Kevin Kurz, Mark Lazerus, Julian McKenzie, Vincent Z. Mercogliano, Aaron Portzline, Scott Powers, Michael Russo, Jeremy Rutherford, Fluto Shinzawa, Joe Smith, Eric Stephens and Josh Yohe.
Written by Mark Lazerus.
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