AUGUST 2022 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM
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OCKEY, AT ITS HEART, is a
child's game. It's a sport whose
fundamentals build character,
leadership, friendships and,
most importantly, it's fun.
W h i l e m o s t p l a y f o r t h e
love of the game, those who
h ave r e a c h e d t h e p i n n a c l e
of the sport in the National
Hockey League it becomes
so much more.
It's a job.
"Your summer is a lot different from even when you were a
teenager," says New York Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller.
"This was my first full NHL season, so to come home, see my
friends and my family, get a home-cooked meal, those were
some of the first things I couldn't wait to do in the offseason.
"But now, it's back to work."
Like with any professional sport offseason, players know
that they need to strike a balance between kicking back during
the summer months, and kicking their offseason workouts
into high gear.
Every players' offseason looks different. Rookies and veter-
ans, bubble players and top-six forwards, starters and healthy
scratches—it all depends on the goals and workload you know
you have ahead of yourself in the summer months. Some
players are recovering from injuries or surgeries. Others look
forward to spending time at the family cabin. And a fortunate
few spend the summer traveling the country with Lord Stanley
in hand (congrats Colorado Avalanche).
So while all of those factors like offseason length, age, and
skill level may dictate what a player needs to focus on and
when, for the most part, you can break down an NHLer's off-
season into three parts.
H
AFTER COMPETING IN ALL 82 REGULAR
SEASON GAMES WITH THE NEW YORK
RANGERS, DEFENSEMAN K'ANDRE MILLER
WAS EXCITED TO SPEND SOME TIME AT
HOME IN MINNESOTA BEFORE GETTING
READY FOR HIS THIRD NHL SEASON.
