If you find yourself suiting up in a rec hockey league game in upstate New York, you might just end up taking a faceoff across from one of the Toronto Blue Jays’ biggest stars.
Ernie Clement, the 29-year-old Rochester, New York native who still lives in his hometown in the offseason, has kept himself busy by getting on the ice.
“I think, honestly, my best workout that I do is playing hockey in the offseason. I’ve admitted that to the coaches,” Clement said to host Dante Furco of the Hobby Never Sleeps podcast on an episode that was released in early December.
Clement grew up playing hockey among many other sports, before eventually going to the University of Virginia to kickstart his baseball career at the next level. And while he says baseball has always been his first love, the sport of hockey hasn’t gotten away from him, even through his big-league career.
“There’s nothing in the contract [that says I can’t play hockey]. It’s obviously a concern for [the Jays] because if I get hurt like it’s away from baseball… that would not be good for anyone,” Clement said.
And when he’s not in the gym or on the ice, Clement’s also kept himself busy with a local bowling league on Wednesday nights.
But Clement says that while he’s known for being a bit of a grinder on the baseball field, it’s not exactly the same mentality on the ice as he’s a bit more risk-averse.
“With how I play out there… I treat it like a workout. I’m not going digging into corners and being an idiot out there. But I’ve been doing it for the last few years and it’s really helped me get ready for spring and and it’s a big reason why I’ve stayed healthy throughout the baseball season,” he added.
Given that he led the Blue Jays with 175 games played this past year over the regular season and playoffs, his conditioning doesn’t exactly appear to be an issue.
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