Gophers center Jordan Schroeder, who will be a sophomore next season, was one of eight Minnesotans at the NHL Combine last week in Toronto and he stood out.

U coach Don Lucia once referred to him as a “thick kid” last season after Lucia was asked if he was concerned when Schroeder crashed into the boards. He is also mighty strong.

Schroeder benched pressed 150 pounds 17 times in a row at the combine. Only three players did better with 18 repetitions (going at a required pace of 25 per minute — makes it a lot tougher). So Schroeder tied for fourth with one other prospect in a group of 104.

Edina senior Zach Budish did 16, tying him for sixth.

The average was 10.7, so both Schroeder and Budish crushed.

In pounds bench pressed compared to body weight, Schroeder was second at 14.3; the average was 8.4.

Schroeder was measured at 5-8 1/4, 175 pounds. So he is pretty small.

But in push strength, he pushed 351 pounds, finishing second in the combine by one pound. The average was 241.

Schroeder exceled at one more test, too. He did 34 push-ups, ninth best. Again, everyone had to do them at a pace of 25 per minute. No resting.

Erik Haula, a junior forward for Shattuck-St. Mary’s, did 38 push-ups for fifth. Haula is from Pori, Finland but has committed to the U. Goalie Mike Lee of Roseau, who played for the Fargo Force this past season and has signed with St. Cloud State, did 35 push-ups. That was good enough for eighth. Lee was also eighth best on the bike in the fatigue test.

Another standout in the combine was forward Josh Birkholz of the Force. He tied for sixth in the vertical jump, going 32 inches (the averaged was 26.1). Hockey players don’t jump quite as high as basketball players do.

When prospects were asked to do four jumps in a row, Birkholz finished in a tie for second, averaging 26 inches (the average was 20.1).

The Wild say the standing long jump is much more important for hockey players — Marian Gaborik exploded in this test — than the vertical jump. And guess who did great in this? Birkholz again. He tied for third, going just under 10 feet (115 inches or 9.58 feet). The average standing long jump was 103.3 inches, so Birkholz was about a foot longer.

In right hand grip, Birkholz tied for fourth with Eden Prairie defenseman Nick Leddy, another incoming Gopher hockey player.

Birkholz also tied for fourth in left hand grip. He finished fourth in overall pull strength, Leddy 10th.

In anaerobic fitness, Birkholz was second, generating 15.2 watts/kilogram. The average was 13.4. He also was fourth in peak power output on the bike.

In body fat measurements, Leddy tied for fifth at 8 percent (the average was 9.8).

There’s a web site which lists the top players in each test if you want more information. The NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau also lists the top performances in Toronto.

WILD AT COMBINE 

Based on their web site, the Wild was well-represented at the combine. Assistant GM Tommy Thompson went. Coordinator of amateur scouting Guy LaPointe was there. So were amateur scouts Paul Charles and Marc Chamard and team psychologist Charlie Maher.

The Wild team interviewed 68 of the 104 prospects in Toronto, and had 66 take psycholgical assessments.

And the Wild attention to detail doesn’t stop there.  

Strength and conditioning coach Kirk Olson and George Kinnear, his predecessor, both followed 37 prospects through the physical tests. That’s  74 total.

GM Chuck Fletcher arrived late, Friday afternoon; director of hockey operations Chris Snow was there early, helping to transcribe interviews.

Poor Schroeder met with 23 of the 30 NHL teams in a 24-hour period.

One of the curious questions he was asked by an NHL GM was, who would he rather have dinner with, president Barack Obama, Maria Sharapova or Sean Avery? He answered Avery. … Jordan, who is an 18-year-old, must still have a girlfriend. That’s the only way I can rationalize that answer.

Schroeder vomited a little after what is called the Wingate test. It’s a 30-second bike test which really stresses you. Prospects bike as fast as they can. There is  a bucket close by and afterward, players are asked to lie down down for 15 minutes.

* Budish was measured at 6-2 1/2, 229 pounds. One web site said he looked more mature physically compared to most of the other prospects.

MORE BLOGS 

Here’s a list of other WCHA hockey blogs (some of which delve into other sports, too):

Colorado College: Eye of the Tiger

Minnesota State Mankato: Puckato

St. Cloud State: Pucks and bats

Wisconsin: Badger Beat

This entry was posted on Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 10:09 pm and is filed under Gophers men's hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.