Dec. 20, 2006

The Notre Dame hockey team went into the finals and holiday break with a 14-3-1 overall record and were ranked fourth in the nation in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com/CSTV polls. There are many reasons for the success of the Irish, but one of them has to be the strength and conditioning program that the Irish have dedicated themselves to this season under the guidance of strength and conditioning coach Tony Rolinski. Irish left wing Josh Sciba talks about the program and its impact on himself and his teammates.

Breakfast With Tony
By Josh Sciba

There is no question that our team has benefited from the strength and conditioning program that we started last spring, following the end of the 2005-06 season. Coach (Jeff) Jackson told us at the end of last year that we got pushed around by Alaska in the playoffs and he wanted everyone to put on weight, put on some muscle and build our stamina for this season. He wanted us bigger, stronger and faster for this year and it's obvious that what we did in the off-season has really been one of the keys to our success this year.

In my opinion, we have one of the best weight instructors in the nation in our Strength and Conditioning Coach Tony Rolinski. He really prides himself in making us better every day and he is very passionate about his job. That translates into our success in both the weight room and on the ice. I think that our weight-training program is one of the most rigorous and most intense programs that I have ever been involved with. Tony and Coach Jackson have laid the groundwork for us to be stronger and more physically fit. The program is tough and intense, but the results have been very positive as far as our team is concerned. Most of the guys on the team put on seven to twelve pounds of muscle during the off-season program. What we did prior to the season shows a great deal of personal discipline because not everyone was here all summer. We all took pride in focusing on what had to be done in the weight room and that has had a hand in our success so far this season.

Notre Dame strength and conditioning coach Tony Rolinski talks to the Irish hockey team to close out an early-morning workout this fall.

The real work really started at the end of last season. We are probably the only team in the nation that wakes up at 6:00 a.m., five of the seven days of the week, including weekends. Our team made a commitment back then and it's been a credit to the coaches and players for the discipline that we've had in carrying through with it. During the off-season most of the work was dedicated to muscular endurance and muscular strength as we worked to bulk up for the upcoming season. Now we are down to lifting two days a week where we are just trying to maintain our weight, maintain our strength and composition and keep our conditioning at a high level. Most of the program that Tony has put together for the hockey program is hockey-specific training that is dedicated to building power and preventing injuries. With our season going from September through March and early April, I really believe that the things we do on Monday and Tuesday each week are helping us a great deal. The more hockey-specific you get, and the more power lifts you're doing are going to translate into success on the ice.

Tony Rolinski works one-on-one with junior forward Mark Van Guilder.

During the season, the entire team is at the Gug, (the Guglielmino Center) at 6:15 a.m. We break into four groups and we'll do an active stretch, some high knee lifts and some jogging just to get the blood flowing in our legs to help wake us up before any lifting. From there, we do some bar bell warm-ups and then add some weight. We'll do clean pulls, some cleans, a little power lifting, followed by some bench and some squats. Then we break down into two or three subset weights from dumb bell row, we do some walking lunges with dumb bells and just a bunch of active-moving stretches that are also injury prevention drills. Finally, we stretch out and do some abdominal work. The big emphasis is on injury prevention and power lifting to build your power at the beginning of the work out. We do a lot of core work with abs and lots of squats to build muscles in your thighs and legs to add power to your skating.

It's 6:15 a.m. Do you know where your hockey team is??? The Irish stretch for a summer workout.

The real key to the whole program is Tony Rolinski. He has an unbelievable passion for his job and I know that rubs off on us and makes us want to work harder. I think everyone on the team would tell you that. He is one of the most humorous guys that we deal with on a daily basis. Believe it or not, he makes it a pleasure to wake up early and lift at 6:15 in the morning. He has some great sayings that motivate us. He'll tell us that he's the sexiest man alive under six-feet tall and we call him the dog-faced gremlin. His humor is off the wall and he makes it fun. He always has something funny to say, a word here or a little joke there at 6:15 keeps us going. We really have the best of both worlds - a great instructor like him with an incredible passion for us to be successful. It's a great combination to have working for us.

Notre Dame's Haggar Fitness Center in the Guglielmino Athletics Complex.

Personally, he's helped my all-around game. It's no secret that when I came in as a freshman, I was a little bit overweight. I think that in the three-and-a-half years that I have worked with Tony, his strength and conditioning program has made me a lot stronger in my lower body and has definitely helped my skating as I have more power in my legs. My conditioning level is a lot better and that's an important aspect. Tony works to get you to a certain weight and conditioning level that's ideal for you. I'm at that level right now and I hope I can maintain it all season.