Attack Players Clean House at the 2026 NHL Combine Fitness Testing
Attack Captain, Pierce Mbuyi, and forwards, Cole Zurawski and Wesley Royston were invited to represent Owen Sound at this year’s NHL Combine which features 90 of the best draft eligible players for the upcoming NHL Draft in Buffalo. The Attack players showed impressively at the combine, managing to finish within the top ten on ten different NHL fitness tests, being named a total of twelve times combined across the leaderboards.
Below is a recap of the individual tests including the top results from the three players.
Grip Strength
The athlete adjusts a hand grip dynamometer to his hand size, fully extends his arm and squeezes the dynamometer as forcefully as possible.
Left Hand
Cole Zurawski – 5th
Aerobic Fitness – V02Max
The capacity of their cardiovascular and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to their muscles — is assessed by measuring “the amount of oxygen utilized during maximal exercise employing volume determination and analysis of expired air.”
VO2 Max (ml/kg/min)
Cole Zurawski – 10th
Standing Long Jump
The athlete stands with feet slightly apart with toes behind the jumping line. Using an arm swing to assist, the athlete jumps as far as possible.
Horizontal Jump
Wesley Royston – 2nd
Jump Station – Force Plate
An AccuPower Dual Force Plate system will be used to objectively measure the direction, strength and timing of the three-dimensional (3D) forces that the athlete produces during hockey-related movement.
Vertical Jump
Wesley Royston – 2nd
Bench Press
Using a standard padded bench press, the athletes lift 50 per cent of their body weight, laying on their back and gripping the barbell with thumbs roughly shoulder-width apart.
50 Percent of Body Weight
Pierce Mbuyi – 2nd
Welsey Royston – 6th
Pro Agility – Shuttle Run
The 5-10-5 yard shuttle (or 15-30-15 feet) evaluates multi-directional speed, agility and whole body reaction, plus control.
Left
Cole Zurawski – 3rd
Right
Cole Zurawski – 8th
Pull Ups
Athlete does as many consecutive pull-ups he can while maintaining the correct technique.
Consecutive
Pierce Mbuyi – 7th
Wesley Royston – 10th
Anaerobic Fitness – Wingate Test
The athlete warms up by pedalling at a low resistance for two minutes. When given the start command, the player will perform the following intervals while seated.
Isokinetic Squat
Pierce Mbuyi – 1st
10m Sprint
Cole Zurawski – 1st
