Fast, Larocque logging ‘exceptional’ ice time with PWHL Toronto

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At first sight, the ice time Jocelyne Larocque and defensive partner Renata Fast are logging for PWHL Toronto is alarming.

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Not to them and not to those around them like head coach Troy Ryan or the team medical staff or even the strength and conditioning coach, but outsiders see those numbers and it’s a little startling.

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It’s because they are both logging more minutes per game individually than even the busiest NHLer on a per-game basis.

Larocque is just ahead of Fast for the league lead at 28 minutes 37 seconds per game, four seconds a night more than her longtime D partner. By contrast, the top NHLer in terms of ice time per game is the Los Angeles Kings’ Drew Doughty, who is averaging 25:58 per game.

Neither Fast nor Larocque find their current workload burdensome nor too heavy. And that’s a very good thing because Ryan doesn’t sound like a coach who is prepared to alter that situation because he doesn’t believe either want it altered.

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“You would like to get in a situation where you maybe don’t quite have to play the amount of minutes they play,” he admitted. “But you’ve met them, you’ve seen them, you probably see how they are professionally and fitness-wise.”

Both are true professionals in how they prepare and how they conduct themselves on and off the ice. And if the minutes sound like a lot to an outsider, Ryan makes a few points that quickly bring one around to his way of thinking.

“One part that maybe people aren’t aware of is these women aren’t used to playing with three two-minute TV timeouts a period (like they get in the PHWL),” Ryan said. “So you get a six-minute break in a 20-minute period, so it looks a little different than what it would normally look like.

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“We monitor them closely and if we think they need a break from practice or a strength workout, then we give it to them. They’re exceptional athletes.”

Fast recalls a game in Montreal where neither she nor Larocque could even believe the on-ice numbers when they finished with in an overtime win.

“Jos and I might have played like 35 or 36 minutes and after at the post-game meal, Troy was like, ‘Just a casual 36 minutes, huh?’ And we were like, ‘No way we played 36 minutes,’ Fast said.

“Those TV timeouts, they save you so much. You can completely recover even if you were just on the ice, you can get right back out there.”

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Knowing their health is being closely monitored, Ryan sees no reason not to get as much as he possibly can out of his two cornerstone defenders.

“We want to play them,” he said. “They are two of the best D in the world, so we want them on the ice as much as they can play.”

And while neither Fast nor Larocque will ever complain about their usage, they admit it’s not always easy logging that much time.

Fast finds it particularly tough in weeks like the current one, when they will play three times finishing up with a Friday home game against Montreal.

“By the end of Friday’s game, I’m sure I’ll be feeling it a little bit more,” Fast said, adding the in-between work takes its toll in a game-heavy schedule.

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For Larocque, the bigger issue is the travel between games.

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“I know for me, travel takes a lot out of me,” Larocque said. “You just do the things within your control and take care of your body and I feel like I’ve been doing that. And I do feel good, but I’ve also definitely felt fatigued.”

Strength and conditioning coach Jeremy Steinbach is the man ensuring it never gets too much for the players. He tracks their jump and daily wellness scores and if there is any indication the workload is taking a toll on them, he adjusts their week to compensate.

Having worked with Steinbach at the national team level, both players trust Steinbach implicitly. That same level of trust also happens to exist between the head coach, who is also in charge of the national team, and his players.

“They are the least of my worries at all times,” Ryan said. “Just everything — decisions they make off the ice, the fitness they will do, the leadership they will show – I never have to worry or wonder if they are doing the right thing ever.

“I’ve coached a long time and I don’t know if two people, definitely two D, have ever given me that feeling.”

Toronto is back on the ice Wednesday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, where they will host Boston at 7 p.m., and again on Friday, when Montreal pays a visit at 7 p.m.

mganter@postmedia.com

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