LaBarbera, on his summer
I sat down with Jason LaBarbera this afternoon and talked about his summer. LaBarbera spent part of the summer recovering from the surgery he had to repair a sports hernia and also took the opportunity to get in much better shape. Here's what LaBarbera, who clearly looks trimmer, had to say about his offseason improvements...
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Question: I've heard that you did a lot of work during the offseason. How did that go?
LABARBERA: ``It was good. I think getting hurt was kind of a blessing in disguise, almost. You don't want to get hurt and miss any games, but it kind of gave me a chance to refocus and recover and just get in better shape. It was never about how I worked, because I always worked hard. I always gained weight during seasons before, and then when I got to the summer I just tried to work my ass off to get back to where I was. Last year I never gained weight, so I had a good starting point. Then having that nutritionist thing, for me, was unreal. I never ate that bad, but you know how it is. I just ate too much sometimes. That's just the way it was when you were growing up. You just ate until you were full. I had someone make me food (this summer) and it was seven meals a day. They were all small meals and well-proportioned. Every two hours I would eat, and it was the best I've ever felt. I just felt clean. You just feel better. I wasn't as sore and dragging and tired as much as I used to be. It was night and day. It's tough to describe how it is. You just feel like a different person.''
Question: Was there some weight training on top of that?
LABARBERA: ``I've always done that kind of stuff. I just would always be behind the eight-ball. I could never do it at a high level. This summer I was able to do that on a high level. I did lots of running this summer and sprinting, lots of weights and circuit training. That makes a huge difference.''
Question: Do you know how much weight you lost?
LABARBERA: ``I probably dropped about 10 pounds and six or seven percent body fat, which is pretty good. The thing was, like I said, feeling that good, I was able to train at a higher level. I feel stronger and way better about myself. Like I said, not gaining any weight was just huge for me.''
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Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews.com.
cool... sounds like this was at least a year past due. I would've liked to see Labs figure it out a bit sooner and come into camp LAST year this way, but hey beggars can't be choosers. now's the time, the time is now so let's see what he can do.
Is this guy for real! Your in the NHL! you should be in shape at all times. I wish these guys would think.
That's all part of the winning atmosphere, that has been missing for a while.
Glad to see him put forth the effort to improve. That's what competition does, it raises your game to another level. Thats a good thing.
One can only hope he has worked on his rebound control and watched a few past games when Ersberg was in net.