Dealing with the Bauer Bump, preventing shoulder injuries

Continued from Page 8 based on the size of the athlete. — Eat a well-balanced meal within two hours of the activity.

Chris Phillips is an athletic trainer and strength and conditioning specialist with over 30 years’ experience in professional hockey, football, soccer and the Winter Olympics. Chris is the owner of Compete Sports Performance and Rehab in Orange County and can be reached through www.competeperformance.com.

The Bauer Bump

If you play hockey, you’ve probably heard the term “Bauer Bump” at some point, which refers to a bony prominence that can form at the back of a player’s heel.

But what exactly is that? Is it a problem? How do you get rid of it?

The clinical term for the condition is Haglund’s Deformity, a bony prominence that can begin to form at the heel when skates are worn extensively or if shoes are ill-fitting. Though it is commonly called a Bauer Bump in the hockey world, it is not specific to Bauer skates, as any brand of skates can cause the condition.

Do you need to do anything about it? Well, that depends. Is it bothering you? For some, the bony protrusion can become symptomatic, either from excessive friction in the skate, increased pressure on the Achilles tendon, or pain when wearing shoes.

If it does become symptomatic, there are a couple of things you can do:

NSAIDs: Trying ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatory OTC drug can help bring down the inflammation and pain. Just keep in mind that this is not a long-term solution, as NSAIDs should only be used for a short amount of time.

Check your skates: If the skate is either too big or too small, this can cause issues for your foot. Too big and you have excessive movement, which leads to friction. Too small and you have excessive pressure, which can also cause irritation.

Ice: Using ice after skating can help relieve immediate pain, and is easily accessible.

Padding: If the bump is small enough, then sometimes using a donut pad in the skate can take some of the pressure off and give it enough time to bring the inflammation down. Manual therapy: If the Achilles tendon is becoming irritated, then sometimes a massage and stretching can help relieve the pain.

As always, if you are experiencing pain or injury, your best bet is to check in with your doctor or athletic trainer, especially if the above solutions do not provide relief.

Shoulder injury prevention

The shoulder: all sports use them (some more than others), and they tend to be prone to injury.

The shoulder is a very mobile joint, and it has the ability to move in multiple directions. While the increased mobility is necessary for the shoulder to function, it comes with a higher injury risk. As the season approaches for each sport, we tend to see prehab, including for the shoulder, neglected.

When athletes take proper care of their shoulders, less injuries will occur, which means more playing time during the season.

Here are a few simple tips for shoulder injury prevention:

1) Improve rotator cuff strength

Strengthen the muscles that do internal/external rotation and make sure the shoulder can move easily through its full range (AKA being functional), strengthen at all degrees of motion, and you’ll be ready to go!

2) Maintain shoulder mobility

Ensuring that the shoulder can move through its full range of motion will not only reduce injury risk, it will improve your performance.

3) Have a proper warmup

Yes, you need to warm up, it’s good for you and especially for your shoulder. A simple five-minute routine can oftentimes do the trick!

4) Have a proper recovery routine

You just did an intense workout, game, practice, etc., but you didn’t do any recovery work afterwards. Your body will lock up and won’t move as freely. A little arm care, foam rolling, and stretching can go a long way after doing intense work.

5) Don’t overdo it!

Listen to your body. If you are sore, tired, and feeling miserable all the time when doing any type of exercise or sport, that’s your body sending you a message. You need to back off, recover, and give your body the time it needs to get back to 100 percent.

For more information, visit the Compete Performance website at www.competeperformance.com.

Rubber Hockey

Ten champs crowned to finish ‘23 IHAAZ campaign

Continued from Page 5

18U Gold

Top Goalie: Keegan Tinsdale, Outlaws

Sniper: Nick Nunez, Outlaws

Fastest Skater: Daniel Madia, Outlaws

All-Star Games were also held within all divisions each weekend.

“The makeup and landscape of Arizona roller always changes slightly from year to year,” Boyarsky said. “Going into every new season, we look at what worked and what didn’t from the past season and how the next season numbers and divisions may bounce out to put together a better experience for all our current and new teams that may be playing.

“We’ve got some truly exciting changes in the works. More to come on that as we approach the 2024 season.”

For more info, visit IHAAZ.com.

Greenwood Village native Rakowski signs

NAHL tender with first-year Grit organization

BY MATT MACKINDER COLORADO HOCKEY HUB

As the NAHL’s Colorado Grit continues to shape its roster for the 202324 season, the team has been adding Colorado natives to the lineup.

The latest tender signing was Greenwood Village’s Ben Rakowski, who signed in May.

“I think this opportunity came to a tender because of all the hard work

Continued on Page 13

Gilbert native St. Clair tabbed new head coach for NAHL’s Wilderness

It did not take long for the NAHL’s Minnesota Wilderness to fill its coaching vacancy.

The team has announced that Colten St. Clair as the sixth head coach in team history. His hiring comes just one week after Brett Skinner departed to lead the coaching staff of the Fargo Force of the USHL.

The 30-year-old St. Clair has spent the last two seasons as associate head coach of the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. In his first season with Sioux City, he helped guide the team to a Clark Cup championship. Before the start of the 2022-23 campaign, the role of assistant general manager was added to his duties.

“I’m really excited,” St. Clair said. “Mr. (Barry) Bohman (Wilderness owner) and Mr. (David) Boitz (Wilderness general manager) gave me the chance to learn and grow to carry on the tradition and bring another championship to the Wilderness.”

Prior to joining the Musketeers staff, St. Clair spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL, one season as a volunteer assistant with the University of Maine and was introduced to the coaching ranks with the Phoenix Knights of the WSHL.

In Phoenix, he started as an assistant coach and skills instructor in 2016-17, before being promoted to head coach the following season. In his first campaign as a bench boss, St. Clair took a team that won five games the year before to 28 wins in 2017-18.

That turnaround, when he was only 25 years old, made history, as it earned him the distinction of being the youngest coach ever to win the WSHL’s coach of the year award.

St. Clair also spent time working with the Arizona Hockey Union youth hockey program.

“Colten is an outstanding young coach,” said Boitz. “We are extremely excited to bring him in to be our next head coach. Based on his passion for the game, commitment, and organization, we felt that Colten was by far our first choice among a very talented group of applicants.”

A Gilbert native, St. Clair spent almost his entire adult playing career in North Dakota. His junior tenure was spent in Fargo where he played three seasons with the Force.

He then went north to the University of North Dakota where he played five seasons of NCAA hockey, which included helping the Fighting Hawks win a national title in 2016. St. Clair was an alternate captain on that championship squad.

St. Clair also had a short professional career - six games in 2016-17 with the Arizona Outlaws of the Mountain West Hockey League.

St. Clair’s resumé shows some similarities to Skinner’s, as both won NCAA championships in their playing careers (Skinner with Denver in ‘04 and ‘05) and both were on the coaching staff of Clark Cup winners (Skinner with Sioux Falls in 2019).

St. Clair said he spoke with Skinner over the last few days and the former Wilderness coach encouraged him to pursue his old job.

“I respect him a lot,” said St. Clair. “I talked to him for about 45 minutes about his experience with the Wilderness, and he’s been nothing but a great help.”

Continued on Page 20