For Blues, ’tis the season for healthy eating – STLtoday.com

Lunchtime, you say? There’s leftover Christmas ham someone, some stuffing or mashed potatoes and gravy.

From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, the holiday season is the overeating season for most. But in the world of Blues hockey? Nope.

In today’s National Hockey League, nutrition is almost as important as quick hands, a booming slapshot, or explosive speed.

So what do these Blues eat?

For center Ivan Barbashev, his pregame meal is almost always grilled salmon and sweet potatoes. Pasta? Never on a game day.

“My stomach gets upset,” he said. “On a regular day I’ll eat it, but game day, no.”

For defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, lots of veggies.

“I’ve learned over the years what works for me and how to keep my body where it needs to be,” Bortuzzo said. “So, heavy on the vegetables. I’ve watched enough and read enough about what those do for the body. Fortunately I enjoy eating that way.”

For Ryan O’Reilly, it’s salad and more salad. He’s a vegetarian.

“The main part of every meal would be a salad,” O’Reilly said. “I love leafy greens. Try to get as much raw stuff as I can.”

These guys could never survive on the sportswriter’s diet. And it’s a far cry from past generations of hockey players. Just ask Hall of Famer Bernie Federko.

Nutrition wasn’t a thing in his day — a 14-year NHL career that touched three decades (1976-90).

“To be honest, not at all,” Federko said. “I paid attention to the weight that I wanted to be. I mean, I had a steady weight that I wanted to be. And I made sure that I didn’t overeat or get to the point where I was gonna put on weight at all.”

Otherwise, no real restrictions.

“I wasn’t worried about what I ate, whether it was gonna be healthy or not,” he said. “If it was steak, pasta, potato, whatever. Cheeseburger, pizza. Yeah. No one really brought it up. No one really talked about it at all. So we just kinda ate what we wanted to eat.”

It’s a different world today.

“That’s just the new thing,” Federko said. “Nutritionists are part of the game now. Just like personal trainers. We never had any of those.”

During his playing days, Federko said players regarded their profession as seasonal work. They really didn’t train or skate much in the offseason. They came to training camp to get in shape.

Once the season started, formal practices were much longer than today’s version — about 1 ½ hours compared to about half an hour today, which doesn’t factor in starting early or staying late. In any event, Federko said when he played, he didn’t have days off, either.

“We weren’t making millions of dollars, so I think that we were a little more carefree about it,” Federko said. “But the guys now understand that they have a time frame to make as much as they can, and do as much as they can. So really, they train all the time.”

And eat healthy.

“The new generation of kids, they eat better, they’re much healthier,” Federko said. “They don’t eat the garbage that we always ate, if you want to call it garbage.”

Well, sometimes they do. But not very often.

Barbashev has been known to indulge in pizza on the road after a game.

On an off day, Bortuzzo has been known to grab a burger from Five Guys, or eat some wings or pizza.

“Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my junk and the odd couple beers here and there,” Bortuzzo said. “But generally, I think at the end of the day your body’s your No. 1 resource. So whether that’s nutrition or being in the gym or just stretching, taking time to get treatment — at the end of the day, it’s your asset.”

For players such as Bortuzzo and O’Reilly, good eating habits were almost a byproduct of their upbringing.

“I came from a family that valued nutrition, so I was fairly well-versed on it early,” Bortuzzo said. “If you ask anyone, everything works different for other guys. It’s come easy to me for some reason.”

O’Reilly didn’t eat a lot of meat growing up, in large part because there were usually several foster kids living at his house, stretching the family budget.

“So we had a bit of meat, but also tons of vegetables,” O’Reilly said. “So even at a young age, that was the majority of what we ate.”

Which must have made moving to a vegetarian diet six years ago a more natural transition.

“I lost like 10 pounds, over the summer,” O’Reilly said, speaking of his first days eating a plant-based diet. “I got much leaner, felt much better. And I noticed once I got into the season, my recovery was so much better.

“I just felt way more consistent. I stopped cramping. I used to cramp a lot, playing big minutes and stuff. It’s kinda completely gone away now.”

In case you were wondering, yes, he’s tried the Impossible Burger at Burger King, but found it tastes too much like beef.

“I don’t really like the taste of meat anymore, so it’s kinda tricking you,” O’Reilly said. “I prefer a veggie patty, like a black bean burger, or something like that.”

For proof, look no further than the menu at Frida’s, a University City plant-based restaurant, It features “The O’Reilly Burger” — named after you-know-who. It’s described on the menu thusly: Signature black bean burger, cheddar, tomato, red onion, romaine, vegan mayo, pita. (Price: $12)

Other Blues didn’t necessarily grow up in such healthy-eating environments, but developed better eating habits as they matured.

“As you get older, that’s kind of how things evolve,” Jay Bouwmeester said. “For me, I’m married. We have a family. My wife likes to cook. She’s actually a celiac, so she’s allergic to gluten. So at home, she’s kinda phased (gluten) out at home. So you learn different things about different diets.”

Bouwmeester, the Blues’ oldest player at age 36, said he ate all kinds of stuff growing up. But he no longer drinks soda, or “pop” as he calls it. And doesn’t crave sweets.

“I think as you get older and you do this (play hockey), you understand what you need to do to feel good,” Bouwmeester said. “Because you’re just not gonna roll out of bed and come here every day and feel good like you were in your early 20’s or whatever.

“So you want to kind of give yourself the best chance of feeling good. And a lot of that is how you eat and take care of yourselves.”

For younger players who are new to the NHL, there’s a lot to figure out, including learning how to eat right. For many, it’s their first time living on their own and fending for themselves. They’re used to eating out, where it’s tougher to eat healthy. But that’s where the team’s strength and conditioning coach comes in. (With the Blues, it’s Eric Reneghan.)

The team provides a healthy breakfast for players. A frequent sight on the road are containers of salads or wraps on a table in the locker room after practice. The strength and conditioning coach has evolved into a sports performance expert who can provide supplements or nutrition advice.

When Barbashev was coming up in the American Hockey League, that guy was strength and conditioning coach Evan Levy of the Chicago Wolves.

“He helped me to go through my first couple years, while I was in Chicago,” Barbashev said. “What to eat, how to stay healthy and stuff. … It just stuck in my head, what to eat and what’s healthy and what’s not.”

There was no Thanksgiving growing up in Moscow, so some of the seasonal favorites in the United States are foreign to him. For example, he’s never tried pumpkin pie. The closest he’s come was pumpkin spice coffee and emerged from that experience skeptical.

“I don’t know if I’m into it,” he said.

What about stuffing?

“What’s stuffing?” Barbashev replied.