Borden whips Caps into shape

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Sunday, April 19th 2009

Borden whips Caps into shape
Strength and conditioning coach is integral part of team

SUMMERSIDE
JASON SIMMONDS
The Journal Pioneer

He’s stays in the background and seeks no fanfare, but make no mistake about it, Joe Borden is an integral part of the Summerside Western Capitals’ coaching staff.
Borden, who resides in Summerside with his wife Claire, is the Caps’ strength and conditioning coach.
“Joe Borden is an invaluable part of our staff,” said Caps head coach Kenny MacDougall. “He’s been the driving force in getting the players in the great shape they’re in today.”
A member of the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame, Borden has trained young athletes for years.
He began working with the Caps four years ago.
“There’s an old saying that you can be the best athlete in the world, but if you’re not in shape it’s not much good to you,” said Borden, who oversaw the Caps’ off-ice workouts on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights at Credit Union Place during the Maritime Junior ‘A’ Hockey League season.
“It was never any heavy lifting or anything,” said Borden. “I’m big on high-cardio workouts because hockey is a high-cardio sport — stops and starts and hard 45-second shifts.”
Borden’s training focused on a lot of speed and high-intensity training.
“To carry a 20-pound medicine ball up and down 200 feet going real fast is a real good exercise,” explained Borden, who also oversees the team’s pre- and post-game stretching.
“You play hockey in spurts and you go hard in spurts.
“You take a kid like Trevor Carmichael, who works with me all summer, and he knows what it’s all about. He encourages some of the guys to keep training and go harder.
“I used to say to some of the boys, ‘Look at Trevor, when he comes off the ice after a 45-second shift, he takes two or three deep breaths and is ready to go again.’
“That’s because that guy’s in shape.”
Borden, who is well respected and has an excellent relationship with the players, also has the Caps do a lot of push-ups, sit-ups and run a lot of stairs at Credit Union Place.
“I’m big on push-ups because that’s upper-body strength,” said Borden. “To get the boys to buy in wasn’t hard because most of them want to do it.
“There was the odd one or two who go easy and we’d speak to them or speak to Kenny and we’d crack the whip a bit.”
And the results were evident on the ice, said MacDougall.
“All year long, our best period was the third and that’s a credit to Joe and the condition the players are in,” MacDougall added.
“He has an expertise in training people and he’s second to none.”