Clarkson hockey fans
hockey fans, resources, plus moreDry Cleaners Can Even Freshen Hockey Equipment
Posted on July 20, 2010Almost everyone has had some experience with the dry cleaning industry, whether to have a favorite blouse or shirt cleaned, or to preserve one’s wedding gown after the celebration and honeymoon are over. This process is an important part of the laundry business in most areas.
The simple definition of dry cleaning is to clean clothes and fabrics using a solvent other than water. Unlike normal laundering which uses some type of soap and water, the objects being dry cleaned are immersed in a liquid solvent, a process that has been around for quite some time. In early times, the solvents used included gasoline and kerosene. After World War II, the solvents used were carbon tetrachloride and trichloroethylene.
Besides being very volatile, these chemicals were difficult to work with. Today, the majority of dry cleaners use a solvent called perchlorethylene. This solvent has been found to be much easier to work with, better at cleaning, and able to shorten the process needed to clean various fabrics. Because it is easy to work with, many more dry cleaning establishments have been able to enter the laundry business.
Today, a good amount of clothing is marked dry clean only. Although it is possible to wash some of these items by hand, for the most many familiar objects benefit from being dry cleaned. As mentioned before, a good majority of brides have their wedding gown dry cleaned and boxed to preserve it after the wedding. Other items that are commonly dry cleaned include those made of leather and suede, even including the popular boots, UGGS.
Drapes are another item that benefits from a good dry cleaning every year. Any type of gown should be dry cleaned only to preserve the shape and color, making it fresh for the next use. Athletes make use of the process to deep clean their uniforms, especially bulky items. Even carpeting, including car floor mats can be dry cleaned, and come out looking new.
Although dry cleaning is a common tool used to preserve the life and beauty of clothing as well as other objects, there are changes coming. The emphasis today is on preserving the environment, and if one can clean without using solvents, this would be of great benefit to the environment.
Studies have shown that there are certain items that could benefit from dry cleaning, but without the solvents used today. These include sports equipment such as hockey gear. These items are difficult to clean and sanitize using simple dry cleaning methods. Those cleaning establishments that deal with sports equipment are now cleaning with ozone, a colorless gas that is present in nature. One can recognize the scent in a thunderstorm with lightening.
An important part of cleaning sports equipment involves destroying any bacteria that might remain on the equipment after its use. Because the athletes are usually perspiring when in the uniforms, it becomes a breeding ground for germs. It has been shown that the inside areas of hockey gloves, as well as those used in other sports can have a much higher bacteria count than other pieces of equipment, and those with cuts or scrapes on their hands are at risk of infection.
This is where the ozone cleaning can be put to use. Because of the chemical makeup of the ozone used in these dry cleaning systems, it is able to kill up to 97% of the bacteria in the gloves, as well as the other parts of a uniform. This is not possible when using the usual solvents. In addition, when the ozone cleaner is used, it is not necessary for the equipment to get wet or heated, and there is no toxic residue left behind.
This process can be used for cleaning all parts of the hockey uniform, including the helmet. Other sports that can benefit from this process include football, lacrosse, and baseball, to name a few. Even objects such as sleeping bags, paint ball equipment, and pillows and bedspreads from hotels can be cleaned and sanitized in this manner.
Dry cleaning has been a part of the cleaning process for many years, but it is now catching up to the rest of the technological advances that we see each day. Being able to have items cleaned properly, as well as sanitized, without putting people or the environment in danger by using toxic chemicals, will hopefully be one of the goals for those in the dry cleaning business, thus helping to make our world a much safer world to live in.
For more than 70 years, Pilgrim Cleaners has been proud to be your family-owned and operated complete Edina MN dry cleaners. We offer same-day service at the same price and you can always expect the finest quality dry cleaning and laundering services.
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Do Draft Status and Combine Results Really Matter
Posted on July 20, 2010We often hear about young hockey players that perform really well at team tryout camps and combines in the summer months. In my opinion players and parents spend far too much time and money trying to attend these things. Most often people do these things in an attempt to get noticed or discovered. However, the most important thing a young player can do to get recognition is to perform well on your regular, winter ice hockey club. Scouts and managers are not going to use summer time performance to make decisions about players over regular season performance. Remember, the best players in the world do not play hockey in the summer months. They train to improve their hockey playing ability.
Also, I feel that combine results are of very low value. First, it is generally accepted that the tests performed at combines are not accurate indicators of athletic ability or hockey playing potential. Exactly what do grip strength, sit-ups, and bench press for reps have to do with hockey performance anyways? Patrick Kane went to the NHL draft combine and performed one rep on the bench press test. Yet, he was still the first pick overall due to his hockey ability.
What does matter at the combine is the way a player carries himself and interacts with those around him. We have many NTDP players that attend the NHL combine every spring and they all have the same things to say when they return to Ann Arbor. Nobody really cares how we performed on the tests. They just wanted us to try hard.
Here is a very good quote from an article published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning
Research in September of 2008. “It has also been suggested that because scouts already have a good idea of how players are ranked on the basis of game play, if deciding between two equally ranked players, scouts may actually choose a player who scores lower on a given test. In theory, if a player has significant room to improve on a particular physical attribute compared with an equally ranked rival, he can be coached to work on his weakness, thus raising it to a level equal to or better than, the other player “(1). This study analyzed the draft combine results of 853 players collected over several seasons. Also, it is interesting to note that one of the article’s authors is EJ McGuire, Head of NHL Central Scouting.
After I present people with these facts they often ask “How do I train to improve hockey performance?” The answer to this is simple. A good strength and conditioning program geared towards making you faster and stronger. Develop some strength in the torso and back musculature along with lots of hip and leg power. Forget the Bench press for reps, sit-ups, and writs curls. Do things what will fill out your frame to athletic proportions such as Olympic style lifting, squatting, and pulling exercises. Also, you can skip the spinning classes and jogging. Instead, perform some intensive interval training for cardiovascular endurance. Here are some more good facts from the combine data analysis. “The ability to generate high amounts of power was universally related to hockey success…Body index (height, lean mass, muscular development) was a significant predictor in all four models, which is likely associated with the full-contact nature of ice hockey” (1).
With all this being said, don’t be in a hurry. Too often players and parents want to accelerate the process. There is no need to play up in age group or travel all over the country for tournaments. Very few players are ready for junior level hockey by age 15. In fact, these things often stunt development rather than accelerate it. Instead, take time to develop and grow. Put in the time training to gain size, strength and power. These very important traits take time to improve. It takes several years of good strength and conditioning training for a player to attain good levels of muscular size and strength.
In fact the average age of an NHL rookie was 22.66 years old in the 2009-10 season. There are very few 18 and 19 year olds in the NHL so why hurry. You only reduce your chances of making it as a player. Graduate from high school and play 4 years of college hockey and you will be 22 years old. Play a year of domestic junior hockey in the USHL, EJHL, or NAHL and then attend college and you will finish at 23 years of age. It is no coincidence that the average age of a NHL rookie falls right into this time frame. Most NCAA hockey programs have elaborate strength and conditioning facilities with full time strength and conditioning coaches. This will only increase your odds of success.
So let’s take a look at some of the best NHL players that developed after the age of 17 or 18 when draft eligibility occurs. This is a list of the top NHL players that entered the league as undrafted free agents and where they played college/junior hockey:
Ed Belfour Univ. of North Dakota
Dino Cicarelli London Knights
Curtis Joseph Univ. of Wisconsin
Joe Mullen Boston College
Adam Oates RPI
Peter Statsny Univ. of Denver
Dwayne Roloson UMass Lowell
John Madden Univ. of Michigan
Rene Bourque Univ. of Wisconsin
Chris Kunitz Ferris State
Jason Blake Ferris State/North Dakota
Andy McDonald Colgate
Martin St. Louis Univ. of Vermont
Niklas Backstrom HIFK (Finland)
Brian Rafalski Univ. of Wisconsin/HIFK
Dan Boyle Univ. of Miami, OH
1. Relationship of Physical Fitness Test Results and Hockey Playing Potential in Elite-Level Ice Hockey Players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Volume 22. Number 5. September 2008.
By Darryl Nelson
Darryl Nelson has been the strength and conditioning coach with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program located in Ann Arbor, Michigan since the 2000-01 season. During this time the program has seen success winning multiple U17 World Challenge gold medals and IIHF U18 world championship gold medals. Before his stint with USA Hockey, Nelson worked at International Performance Institute in Bradenton, Florida and Mike Boyle’s Strength and Conditioning in Winchester, Massachusetts. Nelson has a Masters degree from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine at Presque Isle. He is also certified by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association.
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