Sean Skahan on Modern Hockey Strength & Conditioning, Youth Development, and Avoiding Burnout

Host Jason Jacobs interviews longtime NHL strength and conditioning coach Sean Skahan, former Minnesota Wild and 2007 Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks coach, now owner of Skahan Sports Conditioning and author of Total Hockey Training. Skahan describes entering hockey after playing football and interning with Mike Boyle, and explains how hockey training shifted from heavy aerobic work to a year-round focus on strength, speed, and power. He argues youth players often overdo summer ice time, limiting recovery and gains, and outlines an offseason model of four sessions per week with alternating high/low intensity, power work twice weekly, and conditioning twice weekly, emphasizing coaching technique and injury prevention. He supports multi-sport participation to avoid burnout, discusses limited but useful performance tracking, critiques overreliance on sports science apps, and shares his move from the NHL to youth development and resources for in-person and online training. 

00:00 Show Introduction 

00:16 Meet Sean Skahan 

02:34 From Football to Hockey 

03:48 How Training Evolved 

06:48 Building Player Programs 

09:04 Youth Offseason Confusion 

10:28 FOMO and Summer Priorities 

15:22 Four Day Training Blueprint 

17:16 Choosing the Right Coach 

19:11 What Makes Coaches Great 

22:57 Injury Proof Training 

24:25 Coaching In The Gym 

25:04 Basics Plus Evolution 

27:12 Tracking And Testing 

29:11 Tech Versus Communication 

31:08 Avoiding Early Burnout 

35:14 Holistic Athlete Balance 

38:53 Dreams And Backup Plans 

40:37 From NHL To Youth Training 

43:34 State Of The Game 

46:44 Work With Sean 

48:02 Parent Sideline Advice 

49:23 Closing And Signoff

Note: Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).