Gabbi Frederic likes to stay active, which is not uncommon for the mother of an NHL player.
“Good athlete,” Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic said of his mom. “Not a professional athlete.”
The former field hockey player does not train to the degree her son does. But as the owner of a water aerobics business, she works with bands and weights. Out of the pool, she runs, lifts and walks.
Gabbi takes her fitness and recovery seriously enough to have a cold tub installed at the family’s St. Louis home. She is addicted to her three-minute dunk.
“It’s good to wake you up,” she said. “It really is a great anti-inflammatory and a great wake-you-up, bottom line. It really is. It’s crazy, because I actually love, love, love it. I look forward to getting in it.”
In that way, she is replicating what her 26-year-old son does after every game for at least five minutes.
“The cold tub is great for me,” he said. “I can sense the recovery. I even do it before the game.”
Mother and son share their cold-water affinity to the point where Trent, who also lives in St. Louis during the offseason, regularly visits his childhood home for morning immersion. Gabbi Frederic jokes that it was the real reason she purchased the cold tub.
“He’ll come over for breakfast in the morning,” Gabbi Frederic said with a smile. “Then he’ll go downstairs, do the cold tub, do some stretching or whatever before he goes to train, because they never stop training. Then he comes up and we have our special time. I’ll make him breakfast. That is the impetus. He’s like, ‘Mom, I’ll come over every morning if you get this.’”
In a league stuffed with back-to-back tilts, three games in four nights and travel at all hours, recovery is critical for performance. But the steps the world’s most elite athletes take after games also apply to everyday folks who go to the gym after work, run 5Ks or ride bikes.
“You feel better when the body’s moving the way it should,” said the Detroit Red Wings’ Ben Chiarot. “Cold tub after a run would be great. Reduce inflammation on your joints. Same with diet. Brings the inflammation down. I find that diet is one of the biggest factors for inflammation in my body.”
Following are nine postgame recovery routines and why players prefer them. Answers have been edited for clarity:
Going in the cold tub
“I love cold tubs,” said the Bruins’ Pavel Zacha. “Today (an off day), I did one in the morning. I’m going to do a long one after practice. The morning ones are more to wake up. It’s full body. After practices, it’s more for my legs and my back, so I’m just kind of sitting there. Big fan of those.”
The Bruins’ sports performance department has informed players that five minutes is the optimal time to spend in the tub. The trick is to get past the initial shock.
“By minute five, you’re chilling,” said Andrew Peeke. “It’s the first 30 seconds you have to get through. Once you’re in there, you’re fine.”
Zacha’s legs feel better after a long tub. So does his mind. It may be why he is a regular visitor.
“It’s a little mental too,” said Zacha. “I believe in it. So it works. Especially when you do the full dunk in the cold tub, you just really wake up. Especially before games. You nap, then you drive to the rink. The full-body cold tub wakes you up. Being underwater in a cold tub, it gets you moving. I feel more refreshed. Your legs are lighter. But the most difference I feel after games when I do the cold tub — the next morning my legs feel better.”
Eating non-inflammatory foods
“As clean as possible,” said Chiarot. “Vegetables. Protein. Natural source of carbs. Sweet potato or something like that. Rice. Diet brings the inflammation down. I find that diet is one of the biggest factors for inflammation in my body. Making sure no sugars, breads, gluten — things like that that can cause inflammation. Stay away from those after a game.”
Emphasizing quantity as well as quality in postgame meals
“We have our postgame protein shakes and load up on electrolytes again after the game, even though you’re drinking that throughout the game too,” Peeke said. “Food, a lot of protein and carbohydrates for me. We burn so much on a daily basis. So we get a little bit of a free pass in being able to eat a lot. So just try to refuel as much as possible. The chefs here are great. They set up a good platter for us. Just try and get as much down as you can.”
Non-professional athletes might have to be careful about this approach, given how many calories NHL players are burning through games, practices and workouts.
Stretching
“I’ve got to stretch,” Chiarot said. “I’ve got to get the mobility back in my hips and back. That’s first. Hip flexors, glutes, groins.”
Specifically for his back, Chiarot uses ELDOA, a method targeted to decompress joints.
“Keep everything long and loose,” Chiarot said. “This is over years, knowing what works for me. Just the years, experience and seeing how my body reacts to different things. If I didn’t stretch, the body would feel tight and stiff.”
Wearing Normatec boots
Parker Wotherspoon doesn’t usually put Normatec boots on postgame. But the day after, Wotherspoon likes to wear them for about 30 minutes.
“Legs feel much better the next day,” said the Bruins defenseman. “And we’re flying all the time, so my legs and feet get swollen. So using those boots gets all the blood out of there.”
Using mouth tape while sleeping
“I love it,” said the Bruins’ Charlie Coyle. “You don’t know the whole science. People could be blowing smoke. But I think there’s something to it. A lot of people are mouth breathers. They say that’s not a good thing for some reason. But you have the mouth tape on, you’re breathing through your nose and everything’s fresh. It’s just a calm feeling.”
Coyle started wearing mouth tape last year. It didn’t go well at first.
“I used hockey tape my first time,” the center said. “I put it on and I had red all over my lips. Now I have this kind that’s almost breathable in a way. My wife thinks I’m a crazy person.”
Sleeping on a cold mattress
Upon the recommendation of former teammate James van Riemsdyk, Coyle bought an Eight Sleep cooling mattress pad. Coyle, who says he is a light sleeper, likes a cold mattress to help him sleep.
“It’s really nice,” Coyle said. “If you have it for your full bed, you can have yours be cold and the other one hot if your wife likes it hot. I like it cold enough so I can get under the covers. You can go to hotels, and sometimes those rooms don’t even get cold. They stay hot. You can’t even get under the covers. You’re sweating. You wake up a ton. You need it cold. They say there’s a lot of science behind that — that you need it at a certain temp to go to sleep and stay asleep. I just run hot. I tell my wife that it’s my sleep. It’s my job. It’s recovery.”
Using personal wellness technology
Seattle Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn likes to try new things. He has two go-to’s when it comes to personal tech: PowerDots and red light therapy.
“It circulates blood flow and kind of simulates a massage,” Dunn explained of PowerDots, which are electrical stimulation devices he places on his body. “I usually do that after my Normatecs. They basically stick onto your legs. It runs electrical currents through your legs. Just for about 20 minutes.”
As for red light therapy, Dunn uses Kala panels. The way Dunn understands it, red light therapy initiates recovery by reducing soreness and improving blood flow.
“I think scientifically, it is making a difference in making my legs feel good,” Dunn said. “I definitely think it’s a routine thing with where I’m at right now. So maybe it just kind of mentally makes me feel like I’ve done everything to prepare for the next day.”
Alternating cold and hot tubs the next morning
“That contrast will always make my legs feel better in the afternoon,” said the Bruins’ Brandon Carlo. “I’ll do a minute in each. A minute hot tub, a minute cold tub. Five sets of back-to-back, 10 minutes total. Just to flush the legs out. That always makes me feel better. Cold tubs have always made my legs feel better. I didn’t really start doing the contrast until I learned more from our trainers. It brings all the circulation to your legs, then flushes it out afterwards. The cold will compress and tighten everything up. Once you go in the hot, it reopens. So your blood starts pumping again. The first minute (of cold) sucks. But after that, it feels good.”
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic)
