The First Season After the COVID-19 Pandemic Cardiorespiratory and Statistics’ Performance in Czech Ice Hockey Players

Abstract

The study describes the cardiorespiratory and statistics performance of ice hockey players during the season of 2020 after the COVID-19 lockdown’. Eight elite Czech male players (4 non-COVID-19 and 4 COVID-19 groups) were evaluated before and after the competition season. Players performed a cardiorespiratory exercise test and the maximal oxygen consumption, ventilatory threshold, respiratory compensation point, maximal heart rate and test time were measured. The number of matches, goals and plus/minus statistics were retained. No significant differences between groups before and after the season for all cardiorespiratory responses were found, and the no-COVID-19 group played more games. The conclusion highlights that the cardiorespiratory performance place all players (with and without COVID-19 history) in similar conditions to be prepared for the next season. Due to a wide variation among players’ statistics, based on plus/minus parameters, cannot be established that the 2020 season impaired the players’ statistics.