{
  "abstract": "Background: Ice hockey is an intermittent, high-intensity team sport, yet the transfer from preseason off-ice testing to tracking-derived in-game impact metrics remains underexplored in professional settings.\n\nObjective: To examine associations between preseason off-ice fitness and tracking-derived 5-on-5 in-game impact in a Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) team across three seasons.\n\nMethods: Retrospective analysis of 28 male professional skaters (N = 50 player-seasons after listwise deletion, up to three observations per player). Predictors were 30 m sprint, countermovement jump (CMJ), relative single-leg strength (Bulgarian split squat 1RM per body mass, SLS/BM), relative upper-body strength (bench press 1RM per body mass, BP/BM), estimated maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max), body fat percentage, and age. Outcomes were two team-relative share metrics derived from the league's official player-tracking system: the relative expected-goals-for percentage (xGF%Rel), defined as a player's on-ice share of expected goals minus the team's share with the player off the ice, capturing chance quality; and the relative Fenwick-for percentage (FF%Rel), the corresponding on-minus-off share of unblocked shot attempts, capturing territorial play. Ordinary least squares models included season fixed effects and player-clustered robust standard errors; multiplicity across predictors was controlled using the Holm procedure. Sensitivity models additionally adjusted for playing position.\n\nResults: Model fit was modest (adjusted R2: 0.16 for xGF%Rel; 0.21 for FF%Rel). After Holm correction, BP/BM was positively associated with xGF%Rel (β = .021, p_Holm = .011). For FF%Rel, CMJ was positively associated (β = .018, p_Holm = .012) and estimated VO₂max negatively associated (β = −.019, p_Holm = .035). Sensitivity analyses preserved the direction and approximate magnitude of all three associations. Statistical support was uniform only for CMJ–FF%Rel, which remained significant throughout; the BP/BM association did not survive allometric scaling and the estimated-VO₂max association fell just above the adjusted threshold after author exclusion.\n\nConclusions: In this single-team DEL cohort, preseason off-ice fitness showed metric-specific rather than global associations with 5-on-5 relative share outcomes. Relative upper-body strength aligned with chance-quality share, while lower-limb explosiveness aligned with territorial share; the inverse VO₂max association likely reflects role and deployment context rather than detrimental effects of aerobic capacity per se. Findings are associative, not causal, and warrant validation in larger multi-team datasets with explicit usage/context adjustment.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Fitness and Health, IST University of Applied Sciences, Düsseldorf, Germany",
    "Medical and Athletic Department, Schwenninger Wild Wings, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Peter Spornberger"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hendrik Kolbert"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Thimo Wiewelhove"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fnrnwjkgzcyah.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fspor.2026.1917193",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13710354/",
  "id": "fnrnwjkgzcyah",
  "issns": [
    "2624-9367"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2026.1917193",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2732|Sports Performance and Training"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221597350",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2026.1917193/pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13710354",
  "pmid": "42947873",
  "published": "2026-10-13",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fnrnwjkgzcyah.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:20Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13710354",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2026.1917193"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2732|Sports Performance and Training",
      "subfield": "surgery"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Relative bench-press strength and jump power are associated with distinct tracking-based in-game shares in professional ice hockey",
  "title_text": "Relative bench-press strength and jump power are associated with distinct tracking-based in-game shares in professional ice hockey",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:21:20Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fnrnwjkgzcyah",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Sports and Active Living",
  "versions": []
}