Brick road paves way for Wolski

Avalanche forward hopes tough program in offseason pays off

Aaron J. Lopez

Published December 12, 2007 at 12:45 a.m.

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Photo by Chris Schneider / The Rocky

Wojtek Wolski spent his summer sprinting up one particular red-brick street in Toronto in an effort to avoid losing his strength at the end of the NHL season.

Wojtek Wolski was 18 when the Avalanche took him in the 2004 NHL entry draft.

Photo by Chris Schneider / The Rocky

Wojtek Wolski celebrates one of his 11 goals this season, during a home game in October against the Dallas Stars.

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His legs still wobbly and his heart rate slowly returning to normal, Wojtek Wolski strained to summon the strength to turn the key in the ignition of his black Escalade.

The swelter of summer was in full effect in Toronto and Wolski had finished another difficult workout aimed at paying dividends when the snow started falling in Denver during the dog days of an 82-game NHL season.

“It's to the point where you don't feel well because you exhaust yourself,” the Avalanche forward said. “You don't have any more fuel in your body. When I get in the car, I don't even want to drive home.

“At the time, it sucks, but when you get home it's a good feeling because you know you worked hard.”

While some people - pro athletes included - spent much of the summer vacationing abroad, standing in lines at amusement parks or lounging by the pool, the 21-year-old Wolski channeled his inner Rocky Balboa.

Determined to improve upon a solid, yet uneven, rookie season, he put the golf clubs in the closet and threw himself into a training program that kept him sweating, sprinting and skating for the better part of 21/2 months.

At the beginning of the summer, Wolski sat down with Emile John, a former world-class sprinter and long jumper, and Ray LeBlanc, the head of off-ice strength and conditioning at the SK8ON hockey school in Toronto.

Wolski spent Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings in the weight room. Those same afternoons were dedicated to track work with John and Edmonton Oilers forward Andrew Cogliano.

Tuesdays and Thursdays were reserved for specialized agility, balance and stability exercises with LeBlanc, while each weekday featured plenty of time on the ice, with the emphasis on skating, stick-handling and shooting.

Offseason? What offseason?

“He's committed to being the player that he wants to be and the player everyone wants him to be and expects him to be,” Avalanche assistant Tony Granato said. “It just doesn't happen overnight. You've got to pay a price.”

Foundation for success

Wolski, selected 21st in the 2004 NHL entry draft, always has been considered a “can't-miss” prospect - a label that can be a confidence boost or a curse, depending on the player.

At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, he has size that makes scouts salivate, and his scoring ability spoke volumes while compiling 130 goals and 198 assists in 253 games as a teenager in major-juniors.

For prodigies not named Sidney Crosby, the adjustment to the speed, physical play and sheer mental grind of the NHL can be difficult, and Wolski was no exception.

After scoring 17 goals and recording 20 assists in the first four months of his rookie year, Wolski managed only five goals and eight assists in the final two-plus months.

The 22 goals and 28 assists put Wolski fourth on the rookie scoring list and virtually guaranteed him a roster spot entering 2007-08.

Even so, he sought to avoid the late-season drop-off that prevented him from being mentioned as a Calder Trophy candidate alongside teammate Paul Stastny and Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin.

“In previous seasons I tried to peak in September during training camp, trying to make the team,” he said. “I heard somebody say, 'You had a slow training camp (this year).' It's not that I had a slow training camp. That's how I planned it.

“I didn't want to come into training camp at my best and then fall off. Towards Christmas, January, February, that's where I start peaking and getting better every game.”

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat and Wolski's production is modest. Heading into tonight's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, he has 11 goals and nine assists, putting him on pace for 31 goals and 25 assists.

Can he maintain - and even pick up - the pace as autumn turns to winter and winter gives way to spring? That didn't seem to be a problem five months ago.

Tracking progress

Closing his eyes and clicking his skates together three times surely would draw some strange looks, so when Wolski needs motivation, he mentally follows the red brick road.

The road, named for its distinct masonry work, rises at a steady incline as it cuts through a residential neighborhood in suburban Toronto.

Innocuous to those driving the stretch, the hill served as a proving ground of sorts as Wol ski spent many a 95-degree day running the bricks with Cog liano and John, a member of St. Lucia's 4x100-meter relay team that qualified for the finals at the 1999 Pan Am Games.

The three would jog from the bottom of the hill to the start of the red brick, then sprint to a stop sign approximately 60 yards away.

With hearts racing in excess of 170 beats per minute - the average resting heart rate is 60 to 100 - they would jog back to the bottom and repeat the process 12 to 14 times.

“I remember coming home and my roommate would be like, 'What are you (complaining) about?' “ Wolski said. “I was like, 'You have no idea how hard we went.' “

When they weren't running the hill, Cogliano and Wolski were sprinting while carrying 10- to 12-pound medicine balls and doing interval work that included multiple sprints from 30 to 200 meters.

“I'm not going to lie. I blew him out of the water a couple times,” Cogliano said with a smile.

“He's got a little better endurance than I do, and I beat him in the speed aspect.”

The workouts - often performed in what John termed “an oppressive type of heat” - typically lasted about 90 minutes from warm-up to cool-down. They also came on the same days Cogliano and Wolski lifted weights in the morning.

“I'm proud of those kids. They've done a lot work,” said John, the vice principal at St. Michael's College School in Toronto. “I'm not really a hockey fan per se, but I watch them every chance I can.”

When Wolski finds himself frustrated on the ice or seeking motivation in the dressing room, he reflects on that hard work.

“I say to myself, 'You worked hard this summer. If you keep working hard the opportunities are going to come and success is going to come with that,' “ he said. “It's something I think about before every game.”

Body by LeBlanc

The parents who bring their children to the SK8ON hockey school are keenly aware of the NHL stars who train there.

Wolski took private lessons in the summer alongside Ottawa forward Jason Spezza, Columbus forward Manny Malhotra, Los Angeles Kings forward Mike Cammalleri and Minnesota Wild defenseman Brent Burns.

Rarely a day goes by when Le- Blanc does not get an update on one of SK8ON's marquee members.

“The parents see the NHL guys on the ice,” LeBlanc said. “They'll come in and say, 'Wolski scored a goal last night. Did you see it?' “

LeBlanc, who has worked at SK8ON since 1993, can't help but feel a sense of satisfaction when Wolski plays well.

He spent countless hours this summer building a foundation for Wol ski's strength program and guiding him in a regimen focused on improving reaction time, quickness, agility and balance.

In trying to describe the drills, LeBlanc sounds like an physiology professor, which is understandable, given his status as a certified exercise physiologist.

“The drills are so different, so unique,” he said. “Training the nervous system, training the synergy of contraction and relaxation - getting the muscle to contract and relax at the right time - it's so complicated.”

Wolski said he gained about 12 pounds in a few off weeks after the season. It didn't take long to drop the weight while working with LeBlanc.

“Guys are improving over the summer,” LeBlanc said. “They're taking the opportunity to rehab injuries, strengthen up and improve their game. Any advantage you can get, right? The guys are really seeing the benefits of it.”

Sakic influence

For young players such as Wol ski and Stastny - who also worked hard in the summer - the role model for hard work is a 38-year-old who wears No. 19.

Avalanche captain Joe Sakic has a reputation as one of the most diligent superstars in the NHL, and his influence in the dressing room is immeasurable.

“He's the guy that everyone looks at and his work ethic and how he's able to play at the level he's played at for so long,” Granato said. “It isn't just because Joe's good; it's because Joe puts in his time. That's what our young guys see and that stuff's contagious.”

A natural-born scorer with a wicked wrist shot, Sakic has become a more well-rounded player through the years. The Avalanche coaching staff is hoping Wolski can follow a similar path.

“He's improved his defensive game,” coach Joel Quenneville said.

“That's the area we wanted him to add. Offensively, his upside is still strong.”

Wolski still needs to be more physical in front of the net and utilize his size to consistently win battles along the boards.

After watching Wolski's development - on and off the ice - for the past few years, Granato believes he is on the right track.

“He's still a young kid so we've got to keep that in mind as we watch him grow,” Granato said. “He's got everything it takes talentwise. He's got size, he's got speed.

“Some of the growing pains of being young is consistency and being at the top of your game every single game. That's when good players turn into great players - when they can do it every game. That's what Wojtek Wol ski can be and will be. He's certainly on his way.”

Two minutes in the box with Wojtek Wolski

* Considering you were born in Poland and speak fluent Polish, which language is spoken in your dreams? English.

* How often do you speak Polish? Whenever I talk to my parents.

* Being 21, do you remember life before the Internet? Actually, I do. We didn't have it because it was too expensive. I was never on the computer. If I was, it was because I was doing homework.

* The junk food you can't stay away from? Is popcorn a junk food? Probably ice cream.

* The show you absolutely have to TiVo during the season? There's a bunch. Prison Break, Heroes, Nip/Tuck, Chuck. That's one of my favorite things about coming home. I have a lot of shows to watch.

* The Canadian loonie and the U.S. dollar are on near-equal footing. Who has the better currency? Canada. It seems like the U.S. dollar is really falling off right now.

* But you get paid in U.S. dollars, right? Yeah, which really sucks.

* The one player who still leaves you star-struck. Not really anyone. All the players I watched growing up don't play anymore.

* Your celebrity crush? I'm not really into crushes. My girlfriend's an actress. (Ashley Leggat, below, who stars in Life With Derek on the Disney Channel).

Avalanche at Blue Jackets

* When: 5 MST tonight.

* Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio.

* TV/radio: Altitude 2; KEPN-AM (1600).

* Leading scorers

Colorado (16-12-1) G A Pts.

C Paul Stastny 13 26 39

RW Milan Hejduk 13 13 26

LW Ryan Smyth 9 15 24

C Joe Sakic 7 15 22

LW Andrew Brunette 5 16 21

Coach:

Joel Quenneville

Columbus (13-11-6) G A Pts.

LW Rick Nash 18 13 31

RW Nikolai Zherdev 12 12 24

C Sergei Fedorov 5 11 16

D Ron Hainsey 3 12 15

LW Jason Chimera 5 9 14

Coach:

Ken Hitchcock * Injuries: Colorado - D Jordan Leopold (wrist), D Kurt Sauer (neck) and Sakic (groin) are out. Columbus - LW Fredrik Modin (back) and RW David Vyborny (hip) are out; C Manny Malhorta (knee) and C Jiri Novotny (concussion) are day to day.

* Sidelight: The meltdown at Columbus one week ago - the Avalanche surrendered four third-period goals to turn a 3-1 lead into a 5-4 loss - was Colorado's second regulation defeat in 25 games at Columbus.

* Notes: Quenneville said Jose Theodore would start for the fifth time in six games. Theodore has posted a 2.76 goals-against average during that span while going 3-1. . . . Sakic did not practice Tuesday and will miss his sixth consecutive game because of a groin injury. . . . The Avalanche posted home wins against Philadelphia and St. Louis since its loss at Columbus. . . . The Blue Jackets are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss at home against Anaheim on Monday. . . . The Avalanche beat Columbus 5-1 at home Oct. 13. . . . Colorado plays at Nashville on Thursday and returns to the Pepsi Center for a rematch against the Predators on Saturday. . . . Hitchcock's next win will be his 450th.

Star pupils

* Anyone wandering through the SK8ON hockey school in Toronto during the summer might have stumbled upon some star-studded sessions. Among the skaters who take private lessons at SK8ON are Avalanche forward Wojtek Wolski, Los Angeles forward Mike Cammalleri, Minnesota defenseman Brent Burns and Ottawa forward Jason Spezza. In addition, Wolski and Edmonton rookie forward Andrew Cogliano were training partners on the track, and Wolski lifted weights alongside Columbus forward Rick Nash. How the group is doing this season:

Name Age Gms G A +/-

Burns 22 30 6 7 3

Cammalleri 25 29 14 12 -7

Cogliano 20 32 6 10 -3

Nash 23 30 18 13 4

Spezza 24 22 5 24 10

Wolski 21 29 11 9 7

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