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Sweat Justice: Why the Sauna Is a Quick Recovery Tactic for NHL Players

Posted on by Bobb
Sweat Justice: Why the Sauna Is a Quick Recovery Tactic for NHL Players

Dallas Stars landed in Helsinki, Finland several hours later than expected due to a flight delay at the start of their Global Series trip last week. This meant that the originally scheduled training session was cancelled. Instead, the team went straight to enjoy one of Finland’s proudest institutions: the sauna.

This has become part of the routine for teams traveling to Finland to compete in the Global Series. The Finns in the squad want to give their teammates a taste of what life is like in their home country. A visit to a Finnish sauna is unlike anything you’ll find in the United States. But the sauna itself is not something foreign to many NHL players.

“It’s growing a lot,” said the Finnish Stars defender. Asa Lindell. “It seems to me that even on our team a lot of guys take advantage of this. Even during other trips, the guys look for places where they can recuperate on the weekends.”

Last season, the sauna was an integral part of the Stars’ trips. On their day off they went to an indoor/outdoor/cold water sauna in Montreal. And it’s usually the goalkeeper Jake EttingerAmerican, researches where to find him as the team travels. So this was a group that was well versed in the benefits of going to Finland.

Maple Leafs Defenseman Jani Hakanpää, who played three seasons with the Stars, has noticed a change even since he started playing in Dallas. When he started playing there, there were Finns and Russians in the sauna, but there were few other players. When he left, it seemed like half the team was there.

“As a Finn, you say, ‘Well, we’ve been doing this all our lives.’ We already know it’s good!” – said Hakanpää.

Part of the change is due to growing research into the benefits of sauna use for both elite athletes and the general population. NHL players generally choose a dry sauna, which is typically between 150 and 200 degrees Fahrenheit. The lack of humidity makes the heat more bearable. According to researchUsing a sauna four to seven times a week reduces the risk of cardiovascular death, reduces the risk of neurodegenerative diseases and leads to a reduction in all-cause mortality.

But NHL players are among the fittest people in the population. They don’t necessarily contemplate their mortality when they step into a sauna. However, they are concerned about their longevity throughout the season and their careers. Some research even demonstrate improved cardiovascular function with regular post-workout sauna use.

Sabers Director of conditioning and head strength coach Ed Gannon said he views the sauna as an effective “micro-strategy” for recovery that relies on proper nutrition and quality sleep. The NHL is played so frequently that any strategy a player can use to gain an advantage is beneficial.

“The idea behind the sauna is there’s some research that shows it can increase blood flow, the heat causes the blood vessels to dilate and the blood flow increases so you can flush out toxins after playing or a little faster,” Gannon said. “A lot of players will be moving from cold baths to saunas. The sauna also has a feel-good factor. It’s nice to recover mentally and physically between games.”

The Sabers signed an experienced defenseman last season. Eric JohnsonPartly because his wisdom would be valuable on the league’s youngest team. One of Johnson’s first pieces of advice for Rasmus Dahlin was that he should buy a sauna for the house he bought. Dahlin took the advice of the man with the Stanley Cup ring, who is just a few NHL games shy of 1,000. Dahlin’s outdoor barrel sauna became part of his nightly routine, along with a cold bath. He was fourth in the NHL in ice time last season and missed just one game. The Dalina Sauna has also become an integral part of team parties as it is large enough to accommodate a group.

“You feel incredible afterwards,” Dahlin said.

Johnson first became interested in the idea of ​​using a sauna when working with Nathan MacKinnonCoach Marcin Goszczynski from Colorado. MacKinnon’s fitness and nutrition are legendary in league circles, so his teammates needed all the advice they could get.

“After a game, after practice, on an off day, it can really speed up your recovery, your immune system and all that stuff,” Johnson said. “He was the first one to really push it on us, and then I would say eight of us probably had saunas in our homes in Colorado.”

Gannon is quick to point out that not every player will use the same recovery strategies. There is a large sign in the Sabers weight room that outlines the symptoms a player may feel and below it lists appropriate recovery strategies for that system. What’s important to Gannon is that every player has some sort of recovery program. He doesn’t want players to just play and leave the rink.

This is part of the appeal of a sauna. For many, this helps them fall asleep faster after games, which is crucial for athletes along with diet. But playing in the NHL doesn’t improve your sleep quality.

“The problem with hockey players is that they play at night,” Gannon said. “They take caffeine before the game, carbohydrates and simple sugars, and you get energy and excitement from the game itself.

“The sauna can be part of this. I think in a lot of sleep hygiene studies done in the general population, you’ll hear about taking a warm shower before bed. The sauna works this way. The heat of the sauna allows the parasympathetic nervous system to take on a little more work, which can help players relax. It’s a great strategic post-game to bring them back while also increasing blood flow and improving waste removal.”

But as Gannon noted, not every player has the same recovery process. Sabers forward Zach Benson discovered he enjoyed mobile work and the hot tub. Benson lived with Dahlin last season when he was a rookie but didn’t frequent the backyard sauna.

“I’m not going in there,” Benson said. “I’m afraid of these things. It’s too hot. I love hot tubs and only hot tubs. It has a hot tub, but it is covered in winter. I don’t do cold dives either. I usually just go to the hot tub here. I don’t want to take too long to recover. I have no problems sleeping. I would probably do this if I had trouble sleeping, but I have a problem with sleeping too much.”

Sabers goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen laughed when the topic of the popularity of the sauna came up. He and his friend Finn Henri Jokiharju joked about rush hour after training to get to the sauna. The rest of the league is catching up to what the Finns have always known.

“Back in the day in Finland, people gave birth in saunas, so some people were born in saunas,” Luukkonen said. “I wasn’t born in a sauna, but I guess I was very young.”

Having a sauna in your home is considered a luxury in North America. This is common in Finland. And objects such as those of the Stars and Florida Panthers visited last week are all over Finland. The experience can be compared to a golf club in the United States, where people get together and can enjoy a meal between sessions in the sauna.

“I remember that on Saturday night we always went to the sauna and the whole family was there: me, mom, dad and my sister,” Hakanpää said. “It was like a weekly event every Saturday. And then when I’m at my grandparents’ house in the summer, it will become more frequent. You would take a swim in the lake and then go to the sauna. This has been a part of my life since childhood. And that’s still the case. It’s nice to come home in the summer when we have it. We’ll probably use it four times a week.”

Using a sauna and cold water immersion together is the preferred tactic for many NHL players. Johnson said he would spend 15 or 20 minutes in the sauna, then spend three minutes in a cold plunge and repeat the cycle three times. Some players only use the sauna on training days, others use it more often. When Stars, Defender Ilya Lyubushkin played in Buffalo, he had a barrel sauna in his backyard. He would come at night after games and then lie down in a snowdrift, immersed in the cold. One of Hakanpää’s favorite parts of the sauna is how it makes him switch off.

“You just have to sit there with your teammates,” he said. “There are so many aspects. Of course, the physical part, but also the mental part. Even if you’re there alone. It’s nice and quiet and you have time to think about what’s going on.”

Gannon sees this as a continuation of the modern athlete’s increasingly focused focus on training, nutrition and recovery. He always gives the Sabers players a light warm-up when they land on the road. Now he’s seeing players using hotel spas for extra recovery. Johnson has been in the league since 2007, so he’s seen first-hand how the mindset changes.

“I would say the biggest difference is that when I got into the league, guys would just grab a case of beer in the sauna and drink beer and sit there,” Johnson said. “There is some of that now, but not to the same extent as before. It’s always been in the culture.”

(Illustration by Dan Goldfarb/ Athletic; photos: Eliot J. Schechter/Getty, Patrick McDermott/NHLI and iStock)