The Columbus Blue Jackets are a team on the rise, both on the ice and in the community. And also, apparently, in the kitchen.

Every NHL team that has hosted a Development Camp this month offered conditioning and training exercises, but as Blue Jackets Development Coach Chris Clark notes, an NHLer’s play on the ice is only the tip of the, well, iceberg, when it comes to being a professional athlete.

As such, Clark organized a unique Development Camp regimen for camp invitees, which included (among other sessions) cooking lessons. FOX Sports Ohio reporter Alison Lukan has the scoop:

When Blue Jackets first round draft pick Kerby Rychel dreamed of being a professional hockey player, he never thought he would end up in a kitchen. But that’s exactly where Rychel and the 30 other players invited to the Blue Jackets’ 2013 Development Camp found themselves.

In addition to on-ice work, this year’s schedule, put together by Blue Jackets Development Coach Chris Clark, included sessions on financial management, social media, nutrition and cooking classes.

“It’s something I’m going to need to do”, Rychel said. “I’m going to be living on my own, I’m going to need to learn how to cook and manage money and stuff like that. It’s really important. You don’t realize that as a young player. You just want to get to the NHL, but once you mature, you realize what you need to do on and off the ice.”

For today’s hockey player, the concept that your body is your career is becoming more and more apparent. “A lot of them are leaving home for the first time”, said Clark. “Being young and starting early, you want to have the array of what to cook, what’s the best thing to cook to optimize performance.”

In addition to practicing slap shots, puck handling, and defensive drills, this past week had camp invitees spend an hour with a nutritionist and then, over the course of two nights, cook dinner for themselves and their coaches with the help of Nationwide Arena chefs.

To prepare the guys for a night in the kitchen, local Wellness Coach Alexandria Ianni spoke with the players about what to eat, when to eat, and how to prepare their food. Ianni taught the Jackets prospects how to fuel their body pre- and post-workout, and addressed the differences in diets focused on gaining size, maintaining weight, or reducing body fat.

To make sure that they are consuming lean proteins and carbohydrates at the times when its important and fats when it’s important, especially those pre, during, post-workout meals is the one take away Ianni stressed after answering questions from the group.