There was a scare for The Monster today at the opening of Maple Leafs training camp.
Jonas Gustavsson, the club's much-publicized new Swedish goaltender became dizzy while on a stationary bike doing a V02 test at the MasterCard Centre in Etobicoke. The 24-year-old was taken by ambulance to an area hospital for a precautionary check-up.
"He's fine," general manager Brian Burke told Sun Media. "This happens to a couple of players every year on the first day of camp."
The test involves gradually pedalling the bike from a standard position up to maximum endurance and is one of the players' least favourite parts of camp medicals. Goaltenders usually fare the worst and this is Gustavsson's first NHL camp.
Gustavsson, nicknamed The Monster for his 6-foot-3, 192-pound frame, played well at the Leafs rookie camp in Kitchener earlier in the week. The Leafs are to begin on ice workouts Sunday.
Has anyone here ever done one of these tests? They look brutal!
I have attempted one of those at the hospital for a certain test and I couldn't make it to full resistance, I knew something was wrong and I told them to stop.
Not a major concern, thank god. That test is downright awful. Never done it, but I know at the draft combine and training camp, it's often followed by puking and the like. It's intense.
Are those the test where your nose is plugged & riding the bike as fast as they can for a number of minutes? (I've seen it on TV, if that's the one)
__________________ FLASHPOINT (based in T.O.) Tuesday @ 8 pm on CTV. // It's not how they died that made them heroes, it's how they lived, putting others safety 1st, each & every day. Thanks Toronto police for keeping us safe. -RIP Sgt. Ryan Russell, Const. Garrett Styles.
My girlfriend helped put some prospects through this and other rookie/prospect camp and draft combine tests. She said it was not too fun to watch from her end and must have been hell for the players. As part of the training for it, she actually had to participate in all the tests too and said it was even less fun than it looked.
So I can imagine this stuff is pretty common, just happens to have happened to one of our big off-season signings
FLASHPOINT (based in T.O.) Tuesday @ 8 pm on CTV. // It's not how they died that made them heroes, it's how they lived, putting others safety 1st, each & every day. Thanks Toronto police for keeping us safe. -RIP Sgt. Ryan Russell, Const. Garrett Styles. 
