Feb. 4, 2016
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" More than halfway through the regular season, the Penn State men's hockey team (16-7-3, 6-4-0 Big Ten) is poised for another season of growth on the ice thanks to preparations that begin months before the teams hit the playing surface. It all starts in the summer before the fall semester, with workouts run by strength and conditioning coach Cam Davidson.
Behind the scenes, Davidson's job is to prepare the players prior to the first game, and ensure they maintain their endurance throughout the grueling six-month season. It's a tedious process, but one Davidson enjoys.
The job of a strength and conditioning coach is to develop workout plans for players off the ice in order to prepare their bodies physically for the demands that college hockey places on them.
Each player is different, Davidson explained, and workouts are often developed specifically with one player in mind, depending on the individual improvements the staff believes the player needs to make.
"The season is built largely around what we do in the offseason," said Davidson. "Obviously we don't need to be the biggest athletes out there, some guys do have to gain weight sometimes but we want our players to be more lean, so the way we train is not really getting people huge, it's getting as strong as we can while getting faster at the same time."
Additionally, workouts can vary depending on the player's position.
For goaltenders, the focus is more on explosive lateral movements, which mimic their job in the crease. In contrast, for forwards the workouts revolve around developing the speed and strength necessary to support long shifts and end-to-end action on the ice.
As part of preseason workouts, Davidson presents a "Preseason Top Athlete" award to the player who demonstrates the most physical prowess during the offseason tests. Every year since the 2012 season, defenseman Connor Varley has taken home the trophy.
"The more time you put in here, obviously you're going to get better at it," said Davidson. "Varley the first couple years he really got by on strength alone and what he's really gotten better at is the speed part of it, which is why he continues to win that award. He's understanding of his strength, but what makes him a better hockey player was recognizing his weaknesses and working on them."
While fans see the result of Davidson's training when the players hit the ice, what separates him from other strength coaches at the collegiate level is what he does when not with the team.
Davidson is a senior-level competitive weightlifter and has competed at both the local and national levels. Davidson truly lives what he teaches and uses that experience to push his teams to do better.
"I love the fact that he's a competitor, that he competes," said head coach Guy Gadowsky of Davidson. "He's in the weight room training as well, so that's a great example."
Davidson credits his ability to effectively coach student-athletes from his ability to know exactly how a workout is going to feel, since he's put himself through the same workout routines he gives his athletes.
Growing up in Colorado, Davidson has always been a fan of hockey. Prior to the Avalanche moving to Denver from Quebec, Davidson followed the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL.
Davidson graduated from the University of Wyoming in 2005, and spent the following years working for several universities within their strength and exercise training programs.
While working for the College of Charleston, Davidson met his wife Kaleena, a former standout women's volleyball student-athlete at Penn State. Kaleena later had an opportunity to move to State College and work as an assistant coach for Penn State women's volleyball, transplanting the Davidsons to Hockey Valley.
Now in his third season working with men's hockey, Davidson is very proud of how far the team has come, both on and off the ice.
"I knew I wanted to work in hockey, because of the speed of the sport, and it's a really intense culture and I knew I wanted to be around that. It's very rewarding to see how far some of these guys have come over the years," said Davidson.
With his passion for not only hockey, but also for his role within the team, Davidson has become a core team member for the Nittany Lions. Davidson looks forward to the rest of Penn State's season and is eager to help the Nittany Lions in the weight room and beyond.
Penn State will faceoff at Minnesota on Friday night at 8 p.m. and again Saturday at 5 p.m.