I was surfing online last night and came across an interview where members of our gold medal winning Finland U20 National Team (2016 World Junior Championships) listed their favorite exercise/drill in a pre-tournament interview back in December of 2015.

A few that stood out to me:

* Patrik Laine (Winnipeg Jets): "2-on-1"

* Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes): "Goal scoring drills"

* Mikko Rantanen (Colorado Avalanche): "Shootout competition"

* Jesse Puljujärvi (Edmonton Oilers): "Goal scoring drills on the ice and speed drills off the ice"

* Roope Hintz (Texas Stars, AHL): "Small area games"

* Aleksi Saarela (Charlotte Checkers, AHL): "Any​ activity that takes place on the ice is ​a good option"

Looking back at those names, Finland had quite a talented roster that year. They beat Canada, Sweden and Russia in the playoffs on their way to ​the championship.

 My boy Kasper Björkqvist was also a part of that gold winning World Junior team.

And, to my personal delight, he listed power cleans as his favorite exercise.

When I started working with him in the summer of 2015, he was p​ower cleaning fives with 110 pounds (50 kg). By the end of that summer, he got up to 155 pounds.

Next off-season, he was lifting 200 pounds for sets of 5. That's when he was drafted by the 2016 Stanley Cup champs, Pittsburgh Penguins.

And after another successful summer training hard and heavy in the gym, he ended up power cleaning 250+ pounds for five reps - with a few pounds shy of 300 for a single.

So he more than doubled what he could lift in two years.

He also dominated pre-season fitness tests at Providence College as a sophomore, posting the highest results on the entire team by quite a margin on front squats and standing broad jump.

Can't say I'm surprised, though.

I would expect nothing less having had Kasper run my Next Level Hockey Training System for two years.

To discover how to become the strongest, most powerful player on your hockey team, have a look at:

http://www.NextLevelHockeyTraining.com

Yunus Barisik