If there is one thing that could be the difference between Mark Fraser spending the year with the Marlies or giving himself a chance at making the NHL with the Maple Leafs, it comes in the form of a 4-foot-11 blonde dynamo on skates named Barb Underhill.

Canada’s former world champion figure skater (in pairs, with Paul Martini) has worked all summer on skating skills and drills with the top prospects in the Leafs system.

“She’s fantastic,” says Fraser, a defenceman. “She understands we’re all professional athletes. It doesn’t take us too long to pick things up. We’re here in the summertime because we want to learn.

“She’s very easy to talk to. A lot of her techniques, she’ll demonstrate and we’ll sit back and analyze and talk things over, and what works and what doesn’t. It’s very easy having a coach when you can break things down in such a way. It helps us move forward.”

Underhill got a taste of coaching skating to hockey players when her husband became co-owner of the OHL Guelph Storm and the coach, Dave Barr, asked for her help.

Sufficiently hooked, she ultimately quit her job as a TV figure skating analyst and cut her ties with that sport to dive headfirst into coaching junior and professional hockey players. The Leafs hired her in the spring to work with their players.

“I love being on the ice,” says Underhill. “I love sharing my knowledge. I love seeing guys improve. That’s the biggest kick for me. When I see a guy make the NHL for the first time, a guy that has been in the AHL for six years and then gets the call, or when I see a kid get drafted and I know that maybe in a small way I’ve helped that kid achieve his dream — that’s the biggest rush, to feel you’re a part of that.”

On this particular August day, she’s working with Fraser, who’s played 98 games over four years in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils. He joined the Marlies midway through last season in a trade for Dale Mitchell and re-signed a two-way deal to stay in Toronto.

With Luke Schenn traded, there’s a spot open on the Leaf roster for a defenceman and Fraser figured if he skated better — particularly laterally and backwards — he could land a job in the NHL again.

“I’ve played in the NHL with my skating abilities as they are,” said Fraser. “If I could just clean this up. Everyone has things to work on and mine is skating. If I could add certain aspects to my stride, it would add a whole other level to my game that I didn’t have before.”

Among the players Underhill has worked with this year are Greg McKegg, Jamie Devane, Tyler Biggs, Sam Carrick and Ryan Hamilton. She also has a working relationship with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Guelph Storm.

“I’m just trying to get around to seeing each of the guys, videotape them, analyze their stride,” said Underhill. “Find little areas that we can work on. Tell them what they need to do and send them home with some homework.”

She works in tandem with Anthony Belza, the Leafs’ strength and conditioning coach: She’ll note a flaw in a player’s skating and how it can be improved. He’ll note what muscles need more work to support the new skating technique.

‘It’s very rewarding when you see a guy improve,” said Underhill. “It’s a real team effort.”

She’s noted a particular flaw with many hockey players’ skating ability, one that the best figure skaters don’t have.

“When figure skaters skate, we skate from our core,” says Underhill. “Our core is what keeps us so still and so efficient and so controlled. If we don’t use our core, we’re flopping all over the place.

“What I’ve learned with hockey players, when they skate, they’ve never learned to use their core. So a lot of times that body is just flying all over the place and doing too much extra work. When I can help a player understand how to skate and use their core, everything gets so easy, so much less effort.

“And they can’t believe how much more controlled they feel and how much easier it is to change direction and transition. That’s the big trick.”

It’s still a jarring, almost comedic sight to see the tiny figure skater bossing around 6-foot-plus, muscle-bound young men.

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“She’s like a foot and a half shorter than I am,” said Fraser. “But when you watch her, she doesn’t look like a figure skater on the ice. She understands the difference between a figure skater and a hockey stride. When she demonstrates the drill, she looks like the most fluid hockey skater I’ve ever seen.”

Asked if it’s a bit like listening to your mom, Fraser laughs.

“In a sense, but sometimes you don’t want to listen to your mom,” said Fraser. “She’s well proven. It’s in your best interest to listen to her.”

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