CALGARY - Core strength is a sledge hockey players money maker. Wilson Ramos Jersey . When Canadas players go into the gym, they expect to leave with their stomach muscles aching.If you go to where your muscles literally cant go any more, youll make real big gains, says forward Greg Westlake. You want to fail every time. Part of being an elite athlete versus a weekend warrior is pushing yourself to failure.Back and arm strength matters in a sport where hockey players propel themselves on sledges using two picks, but the hard, about-face turn when the puck changes possession requires a powerful trunk to re-direct the sledge.So those battle-rope drills so popular on sports drink commercials now are part of the sledge teams dryland training routine. From their wheelchairs or on their prosthetic legs, they whip the ropes above their heads and yank them down.Another drill is using one arm to pull a rope attached to a heavy chain while in a push-up position, and then switching to the other arm.One of the best things right now is theres a big trend for the battle ropes, Westlake says. We have real heavy ones.The most important muscle groups in terms of just power would be your back, triceps and your core. Your whole upper body is important because you need the balance and you dont want to get injured.The Canadian sledge team has two titles to defend in 2015. Canada will compete Feb. 1-7 in the World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Leduc, Alta., followed by the world championship April 24 to May 2 in Buffalo, N.Y.The Canadians won bronze at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.At a training camp in Calgary this week, strength and conditioning coach Chris Osmond put the 19 players from Summerside, P.E.I., to Quesnel, B.C., team through circuit training at Canada Olympic Park.It was Osmonds first time working with the national team. He wanted to send each athlete home knowing exactly what muscle groups require attention.The big thing is core, upper-body strength, upper-body power, Osmond said.But before the athletes even got to the power part of their workout, they spent a lot of time stretching out their upper bodies. The wheelchair athletes put strain on their shoulders just wheeling around in daily life.So the first piece of equipment forward Billy Bridges grabs at the gym is a foam roller to roll out his shoulder and back muscles. The second item hell pick up is an elastic rope to loosen up his rotator cuffs.It seems like every day is a battle for posture and getting your back realigned, Bridges says. Theres so much strain on your shoulders that if you dont keep those strong, were not going to have much longevity in this sport.As in able-bodied hockey, the sledge player needs the aerobic fitness to quickly recover from one shift to the next. Westlake, a 28-year-old from Oakville, Ont., is an advocate of lean muscle mass.Its a cardio-based sport. Youve got to be in shape to play, he says. Weve had guys who have made this team who are muscle-bound ... and maybe their cardio isnt up to par. Maybe theyre too heavy and its hard to pull yourself.Youve got to find the weight that works for you and then youve got to build off that. Get as strong as you can at the lightest weight you can be.Adds Osmond: Sledge hockey is no different from able-bodied hockey. Sure youre using your anaerobic system, but thats all driven by your aerobic system. You need a big engine. If you cant keep it going, then youre not going to be an impact player for your team.Bridges is bulkier than Westlake, which the 30-year-old from Summerside says fits his power forward game.When I was first on the team, I was 14 and 95 pounds and that was fine, he said. There was hitting, but we werent moving that fast. Now people are joining this sport at a younger age and training hard at a young age, so we have guys like Ben Delaney pushing the boundaries of whats possible.With me, I like being big. I play a big game and I feel the stronger I can be, the harder it is to knock me off the puck.Bridges plays wheelchair tennis and Westlake kayaks as cross-training for sledge hockey.Both are veterans of the national sledge team having won Paralympic gold in 2006. They say competing at that level requires three to five sessions a week in the gym in addition to almost daily on-ice practices.The athletes are getting better, the technology is improving and the sport is becoming more competitive, Westlake says.Just because its team sport, its hard to quantify how good everybody is. Its so much faster and so much better than it was 10 years ago. Im finally at that point where young guys are coming in and pushing me. Theyre fast and fit and its a really fun thing to be a part of. Desi Relaford Jersey . NORRIS COLE (Heat): Its funny, you watch a guy play and now really produce and it just jumps off the page at you - why? You put a young player with potential in a winning environment where there is veteran leadership, outstanding coaching and management and a way that things are done and its a wonderful environment for growth, improvement in a climate of constant accountability and expectation of achievement/production. Gary Gentry Jersey . Wawrinka, who is seeded fourth, is in the top half of the draw with Serbian Novak Djokovic. The Swiss star outlasted Djokovic in a five-set quarterfinal thriller last year and stunned Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the final to capture his first-ever Grand Slam title. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/770l-joe-torre-jersey-mets.html . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Latvia won a four-man World Cup bobsled race Sunday, while the U.NEW YORK -- After sun reflecting off the ice delayed the first hockey game at Yankee Stadium, the New York Rangers and pinstriped goalie Henrik Lundqvist beat the New Jersey Devils 7-3 in snow and cold Sunday. Rick Nash scored for the fifth straight game, and the New York Rangers used a four-goal second period to take the lead for good. The Devils led 1-0 and 3-1 in the first, but New York got within one before intermission and then swarmed future Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur. After Dominic Moore and Marc Staal had goals in the first for the Rangers, Mats Zuccarello scored two straight to put New York ahead for the first time. Carl Hagelin and Nash found the net, too, behind the beleaguered Brodeur, who angrily swatted the puck away after one of the tallies. Nash has seven goals in his streak and 18 this season. A day after the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks played in 60-degree weather at Dodger Stadium, the NHL returned to conditions more fitting for hockey. Lundqvist, who sported stylish pinstriped pads for the occasion, stumbled through a difficult first but settled down and made 19 saves. He hadnt allowed more than two goals in his previous seven outings. The Devils took care of that in the first. Jaromir Jagr had two assists to excite the large number of New Jersey fans who made the trek to the Bronx for what was nominally a Devils home game. The teams played through the second period as the snow started and increased in intensity, not long after they were forced to wait around an extra hour to drop the pick because of bright sunshine that created a dangerous glare on the ice. The temperature was 24.9 degrees when the first puck dropped at 1:41 p.m. in front of a sellout crowd of 50,105. Yankee Stadiums second hockey game will take place on Wednesday night when the Rangers will again be the road team in a matchup with the New York Islanders. Zuccarello tied it 3-3 at 2:48 of the second when he redirected in a pass from John Moore, and put New York in front at the end of a three-on-one rush with 7:16 left. Benoit Pouliot chipped the puck ahead at centre ice to Derick Brassard, who sent a pass from the right side to Zuccarello for his 15th goal. Hagelin made it 5-3 just 1:09 later when he flipped a shot from the right circle that appeared to hit Devils defenceman Marek Zidlicky before getting through Brad Richards screen and by Brodeur. Dwight Gooden Jersey. . The Devils netminder was again victimized by an odd-man attack that Nash finished with 28.5 seconds left in the middle frame. Brodeur was serenaded with derisive chants of "Mar-ty ... Mar-ty" as Rangers fans in the stands made their voices heard. He watched the rest of the game from the bench, as Cory Schneider replaced him to start the third. Brodeur allowed six goals on 21 shots. Schneider gave up Derek Stepans penalty-shot goal with 9:54 remaining. The seven goals matched the Rangers season high. The Devils grabbed a 1-0 lead 5:36 in when Elias took a pass from Ryane Clowe at the Rangers blue line and came in alone. He snapped a shot that beat Lundqvist inside the left post. The early edge was short-lived as Moore tied it at 9:07 with his fourth goal. Moore got to a loose puck off a rebound of defenceman Anton Stralmans shot and flipped the puck into the net at the right post. But Elias struck again just 22 seconds into New Jerseys second power play, with help from Czech Republic Olympic teammate Jagr, and put the Devils back in front with 9:00 minutes left with his ninth goal. Jagr rushed the puck toward the net at the left post, and got Lundqvist to go down. But instead of shooting, Jagr found Elias driving to the net and fed him a perfect pass for a goal from the top of the crease. That pushed Jagr past former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Mario Lemieux for 10th place in the NHL career assist list. Jagr had tied Lemieux on Friday against Washington with another two-assist performance. Jagr notched assist No. 1,035 when Zajac made it 3-1 with 3:53 left in the first. Mark Fayne fired a drive that struck Jagr in front and bounded toward Zajac, who got the puck in front of the crease and scored his eighth goal. The Rangers got back within one when Staal turned a faceoff win in the Devils zone into a score when his shot squeezed in between Brodeurs pads with 3:01 remaining. It was Staals third of the season. NOTES: Schneider is 5-1-2 with a 0.96 goals-against average and .961 save percentage in his last eight starts, dating to Dec. 28. Brodeur had played in only two of New Jerseys previous eight games. ... New Jersey had won two straight. New York snapped a two-game losing streak. ' ' '