If all goes according to plan, when Joe Gambardella’s season with the Bakersfield Condors concludes, he’ll be a Calder Cup champion.
But regardless of whether or not the 25-year-old former UMass Lowell forward, who’s in his second full professional season toiling in the Edmonton Oilers organization, holds the glorious American Hockey League trophy later this spring, the first place he’ll go when the campaign ends is home with his girlfriend, Jenna, to unwind and let his body rest, recharge and refresh.
The Staten Island, N.Y., native also will eat some of the foods he doesn’t get to enjoy during the season.
“We don’t have New York pizza in California and Edmonton, so that’s a really big one,” he said. “I like to get to a couple of famous places back home.”
In addition to that Italian specialty, Gambardella will devour roast beef sandwiches, Philly cheesesteaks, Buffalo wings and Chinese food. Dessert consists of ice cream, specifically chocolate and vanilla sundaes.
What you won’t see on his plate is chicken and pasta.
“We eat a lot of that throughout the season, so I try to stay away from that for at least two weeks,” Gambardella said.
Those aren’t the only things he’ll avoid. The 5-foot-10, 200-pounder also will steer clear of the gym for the first three weeks of the offseason. Instead, he’ll visit his family, his girlfriend’s family, and his friends, with several trips to the golf course mixed into his schedule.
“It’s important that you get away from the rink and away from the weight room,” Gambardella said. “Your body needs the mental rest just as much as the physical.”
Once those three weeks pass, Gambardella’s annual summer grind kicks off, gradually at first.
“It’s only a matter of two to three weeks before an athlete’s body wants to get back into it,” he noted. “I start off with very light stretching just to get back into the swing of things. Then we do light workouts. The first week is just a few good days of stretching, warming your muscles and making sure you’re not pulling anything.”
Slowly but surely, Gambardella ramps up his workouts as the offseason progresses.
When he’s at his peak, he’s in the gym five days a week, entering the facility at 5 a.m. and leaving by 7:30 a.m. He focuses on training and lifting for four of those days, and on the other day he prioritizes recovery — soft tissue and soft muscle work, rolling out and helping parts of his body that feel sore. Part of the recuperation process includes wearing NormaTec boots, which help rid his body of lactic acid and get him “feeling good again.”
The heavier days include workouts that concentrate on speed and power.
“I’m doing a lot of cleans, bench pressing and rear-foot-elevation split squats,” Gambardella explained. “Afterward, I’m doing explosive workouts such as shuttle runs and very short distance but explosive running. I also like to get to the field at least twice a week to do ladder work, short explosive running, lunges and sprints. We aren’t marathon runners, but it helps to do short-distance running to get that big burst.”
The benefit of summer workouts vs. those that take place during the season is it’s the perfect time to focus on what Gambardella is trying to attain.
“Last summer, my focus was on getting faster, so I was doing a lot of short-distance bursts,” he remembered. “At the same time, I wanted to improve my shot, so I was strengthening my forearms.”
Gambardella aims to do cardio workouts at least twice a week during the initial stages of his program, since that’s how many times he did it in the offseasons of his four-year college career at UMass Lowell. In the heart of his summer workouts as a pro, in July and August, he does cardio at least four times per week.
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Of utmost importance when it comes to offseason training is giving his body what it requires. For example, loading up the weights and doing squats might seem like an ideal decision, but it potentially can be more detrimental than beneficial.
“Over the years, many people emphasize a lot on squats, but many studies have shown that it’s not necessarily seeing how much you can do on a squat machine that’s going to help your game get to its maximum potential,” Gambardella said. “It’s more so doing the right amount of weight at the right amount of reps to give your body what it needs. Every athlete’s body needs different things. One may need speed. Another may need endurance. Another may need muscle built. Every athlete is different.”
What’s also different is Gambardella’s music list at the gym, which features quite a variety.
He doesn’t pick individual songs, instead assigning his trainer, Mike Cuccinello, with a genre from which he can select tunes. There’s a method in place for this, too.
“I like to set up the days, so on Monday, the hardest day of the week to get up, I tell him to put on some EDM,” Gambardella said. “On Tuesday I have him throw on rock. Wednesday is a light recovery day, so I have on light hip hop. Thursday we are back at it with EDM. Friday is the last day before the weekend, so I tell him to put on some country.”
While the musical theme changes each day, Gambardella’s diet remains consistently healthy once his workout sessions begin.
Every summer day includes drinking at least a gallon of water. They also start off with a protein-packed breakfast before his morning workout.
“I have three eggs in the morning, half a cup of yogurt and some oatmeal,” Gambardella said.
He tries to eat within 30 minutes of his workout’s conclusion, with protein again being a prominent nutrient in his food selection.
“I have grilled chicken, beans and salad, or some other source of protein, whether it’s quinoa, kale, steak or anything along those lines,” Gambardella said. “Sometimes I even make eggs again.”
Two or three hours later he has his next meal. Then comes dinner. Finally, before going to sleep, he has a peanut butter and banana sandwich.
While this process and his trips to the gym repeats daily throughout the offseason, one place Gambardella doesn’t visit for a long time after season’s end is the one where he does his most exciting work: the rink.
After avoiding the ice as if he would fall through it for at least six weeks, Gambardella skates at Protec Ponds Ice Center in Somerset, N.J., once a week for two weeks and then bumps his visits up to twice a week. In the middle of July, he skates three times a week, and in August he goes four times per week.
While his training mates at the gym include mostly junior and college players, for a good part of the summer he has company during his skating sessions in the form of San Jose Sharks right wing Kevin Labanc and Pittsburgh Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese, the only players from Staten Island other than Gambardella to have played in the National Hockey League since former New York Rangers legend Nick Fotiu became the first in the 1970s.
Speaking of his company, it’s one of the biggest differences in his summer training over the years. Before he went to college, he trained with Tony Samms in New Jersey, since that’s where his summer team, the Elite Hockey Group, played. Once he headed to UMass Lowell, he spent his summers in Massachusetts with his teammates.
“In college, there were 25 of us in the gym at once, and everybody fed off of each other,” Gambardella explained. “The workouts were intense throughout the entire summer because our team trainer, Devan McConnell, was and still is one of the best in the business at what he does. And when you train with your team in the summer, you’re not only working individually, but also working for a team goal.
“As a pro, it’s more individual work. I don’t have the ability to train with my teammates because when contracts are over guys don’t know where they’re ending up. You’re on your own and you have to hold yourself accountable. It’s very easy to slack off, but my trainer does a good job of making sure I’m intact and in line all the time.”
Throughout his career, Gambardella never has had an issue as far as giving his all, even in the dog days of summer with no games in sight. The reason is simple: “Every morning I feel so blessed that I have the ability to work and go to the gym,” he said. “Going to the gym is part of my job. Not many people can say that. I get to wake up and go to the gym, knowing this is what I need to do to have a chance at success in my career. That’s how I look at it. And I put on the NHL Network almost every morning in the gym while I’m rolling out and stretching to see any news. All that stuff keeps me motivated throughout the summer.”
While Gambardella’s work ethic is evident and allowed him to reach hockey’s highest league for the first time this season with the Oilers, he has a word of caution for parents and young kids when it comes to working out in the summer.
“Make sure that kids are getting away from the rink when their seasons are done,” Gambardella proclaimed. “Make sure they’re getting outside and enjoying time with their families and friends. It’s so important for your body to rest. You can’t let this game change who you are. I see kids at 11 years old — they aren’t even teenagers or young adults yet — training seven days a week during the summer. It’s hard to see and hear things like that. I want them to go out, try other sports, go to the beach and go to their friends’ pool parties. I want them to be kids, because when you hit juniors and your young teenage and young adult years, you might realize hockey has a chance to become your full-time career, and then you won’t have the ability to do those things you missed out on.
“And when you are in the gym in the summer, make sure you’re giving it 100 percent every time. You never know who’s watching.”
