How does Chelios keep doing it?

Glad you asked.

Mountain biking and wind surfing in the Pacific Ocean near his Malibu home are two staples of the Chelios conditioning program. He’s been known to take the stationary bike into the sauna and go for a lengthy ride, turning his teammates into jaw-dropping onlookers.

Chelios spends 10 weeks every summer working with his longtime trainer, T.R. Goodman, at a Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, Calif., where Goodman runs a punishing boot camp that stresses core strength — power and stability in the hips, groin and abdominals. The workout features hour-long circuit training sessions with limited rest breaks, sending heart rates skyrocketing.

Chelios doesn't merely survive this cruelty, he thrives on it.

"I used to do a lot of offseason biking and running, the same as everybody," he said. "It was a lot of just hard work, with a lot of grinding on the joints. Now there's a lot more injury prevention. You no longer build the upper body without compensation in the core."

The benefits are obvious to the No. 1 student of the regimen. "I don't have the hands of a top player," Chelios said. "But my legs have managed to keep me in the league and in my early years they kept me ahead of everybody."

Roenick marvels more at what Chelios puts himself through during the offseason than anything he accomplishes at the rink. "He has a better body than most 23-year-olds in this game," Roenick said. "Actually, to tell you the truth, this is his offseason. This is easy for him. His summer workout program is 10 times more arduous than anything that hockey can put him through.

"He wants to play until he’s 50 and with his type of personality, I think he’ll do it. He goes out and enjoys himself. This isn’t work for him, this is fun. The guy never gets tired. That’s what’s unbelievable about him. He’s a great man, a model of consistency, a role model of how people should enjoy what they do. Somehow, he just keeps on rolling through."

How old is Chelios?

Old enough to know better. Chelios is adamantly against steroid use in sports. "Hopefully, they’ll come down hard on these guys and do something to clean it up," Chelios said of the major-league baseball players named in the Mitchell Report that looked into performance-enhancing substance use in the sport. As to his own amazing longevity in the game, Chelios insists he utilizes two performance-enhancing substances. "Flintstones vitamins and Gummi Bears," Chelios said.

How old is Chelios?

Old enough to have played in the Olympics in three different decades. He’s represented the United States at the 1984, 1998, 2002 and 2006 Games and is already looking ahead to the next Olympiad with a hopeful eye.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock, who like his Stanley Cup finals counterpart Michel Therrien of Pittsburgh is younger than Chelios, chuckled at news that the defensman wants to play for the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. "Cheli’s got a passion for playing the game, but that’s a long way away," Babcock said. "Let’s take it day by day and see how it goes."

How old is Chelios?

So old that his athletic hero from childhood days growing up in Chicago retired in 1973.

"The Chicago Bears had a linebacker by the name of Dick Butkus," Chelios said. "He was the toughest, meanest, nastiest competitor I've ever seen. Every kid on the south side of Chicago wanted to be like Dick Butkus.

"I try to play hockey the way Dick Butkus played football."

Only the foolish would suggest he doesn't.

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