Brian Boyle in a recent interview with Jim Cerney for BlueShirts United, said that he is again working out this offseason with figure skating champion Barbara Underhill.
Barbara Underhill was a Canadian pair skater. who skated with partner Paul Martini. Underhill and Martini were the 1979-1983 Canadian national champions, the 1984 World champions, and the 1978 World Junior champions. They represented Canada at the 1980 Winter Olympics, where they placed 9th, and at the 1984 Winter Olympics, where they placed 7th.
In 2009 Underhill skated with former NHLer Ron Duguay in the Canadian television show, Battle of the Blades. They placed sixth out of eight teams in the competition.
Underhill worked for 16 years as a skating commentator until 2006. She then began working with hockey players to develop their speed and power, taking advantage of her background in figure skating. Underhill was named in the 2011 edition of The Hockey News's list of the 100 most influential people in ice hockey due to her power skating coaching.
Here are a couple of very good videos that show Underhill coaching and using video software to emphasize proper skating technique.
From 2010:
related:
Wall Street Journal [Nov 20, 2010]:
Figure Skater Refines This Ranger's Stride
God Bless Barb, she's a sweetie and so right about keeping the upper body in check and real power coming from solid push offs.
Good coaching is priceless at any level. Hope BB gives us another good season.