WORKING ON HIS FITNESS

The Fittest Flame didn't get that way by letting complacency creep into his off-season training.
He earned that title thanks to years of hard work and by discovering new ways to fine-tune his now 30-year-old chassis.
After switching things up and working out with a new trainer for the first time in "forever," Michael Frolik is entering his fourth year as a Flame on the heels of one of his most productive summers yet.
"I always used to go to Montreal to work out about a month before camp starts," said Frolik, who unseated perennial Fittest Flame Mark Giordano at training camp last season. "Did it for years.
"But with my birth of my second daughter back in April, I spent a lot more time - about two months - in Florida before heading home for the summer.
"I didn't want to get home and turn right back after only a few weeks with my family, so I looked around and found a guy by the name of Marian Voda.
"It was a great experience."

Voda, a 36-year-old Slovak native, spent the past eight years as the conditioning coach with KHL and Czech Elite League teams, and is beginning to gain notoriety as one of the preeminent fitness gurus in Europe.
Frolik discovered him through his connection with Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, who he spent the past month-and-a-half training with on Czech soil.
Draisaitl's father, Peter, worked with Voda in 2013 when he was the head coach of Hradec Kralove in the Czech League, and has recommended his services ever since.

And it isn't hard to see why.
"It was tough," Frolik said with a laugh, "but really rewarding.
"We focused a lot on lower-body stuff - a lot of speed and quickness drills to work on our explosiveness. Leg work, quick feet, long jumps and hurdles, on ground, on sand - everything you can imagine to help improve the legs, core strength and agility.
"Stamina was a big part of it, too. We know how young the league is now and how important a big tank is to not only keep up, but push the pace.
"That said, I'm happy to be done with it. I was going pretty hard and with the season getting close, I know I'm ready."
Frolik has always taken his physical fitness seriously.
The results on the opening day of training camp last year reflect that, when he finished with the top score among the veterans.
The testing was comprised of three, high-intensity workouts that examined the players' energy stores, including aerobic and anaerobic capacity, and others that analyzed their mechanical power, including the vertical jump, along with the usual balance and body composition evaluations that accompany an annual physical.
"It's important to me," Frolik said. "I don't see it as a competition, so much.
"I just want to be the best I can be."
Frolik, a dependable two-way forward, had 10 goals and 25 points last year, and endured a month-long absence due to a broken jaw midway through the campaign.
While he admits that set him back and hampered his ability to contribute at his usual level, he isn't making any excuses.
He's just ready to hit the ice and help the Flames get back to the playoffs.
"We're all excited," Frolik said. "None of us think we played to our potential last year and have more to give.
"That goes for me, too.
"But I think we're a stronger team this year. We've added a few new players and obviously with the coaching change, we need things to click right away.
"A challenge, for sure.
"But we're all ready for it."