From the article “Training: Building a Hockey Body” by Ryan Kennedy:
…But building the perfect hockey player is about more than just exercise. For trainer Charles Poliquin, the man who resurrected Gary Roberts from his career-threatening neck injury, diet is a key element for post-lockout players.
“Body fat is the best predictor to determine training camp (shape),” Poliquin said. The ideal body fat rate for an NHLer is 10 per cent, and every percentage point either way has an exponential affect. “Al MacInnis had six-and-a-half per cent,” Poliquin said. “He played a long time and hard.”
Not only does body fat slow you down, but going to training camp out of shape can be dangerous. “Give me four months of strength training and you’ll never have a groin pull,” Poliquin said. “The porky pigs are the classic injury guys.”