Professional Hockey

Look below for the very latest announcements in all levels of ice and roller hockey plus floorball...

Puck Protection Moves

As CoachChic.com members know, I love working with players on their puckhandling skills. And, what I see as a major part of a skater's game is the need to develop certain puck protection moves (one reason I'm tackling this topic for at least the third time). Also, since this area of play takes a while to master, and because it can be developed both off and on the ice, it makes sense to work on developing puck protection moves during the spring and summer months.
-- Dennis Chighisola

Puck Protection Moves

I think the funny thing is that some hockey folks believe that puck protection moves come naturally to the players. And, from a distance, it may appear that way -- mainly because a top young player or two has figured it out on his own. In reality, though, an entire squad needs to be taught these skills, with goaltenders included right along with the skaters. puck protection movesNow, to start things off here... The inline player in red (off to the right) should be anticipating the approach of a nearby checker in white. Ya, "anticipation" is important in our sport, and thinking about shifting the puck to protect it has to always be on a puckcarrier's mind. Do all of our players instinctively think like this? Naw -- as I suggested above, it's likely only a few sharper kids will figure it out on their own. What they'll figure out -- and what we coaches have to help everyone else with -- is the need to shift the puck far away from an oncoming checker, and also place the body between the puck and the checker. And, in order to get the puck as far away from that checker as possible, the puck needs to be extended far out in the one hand that's away from the opponent. puck protection moves The adjacent photos show exactly what I just described -- with a puckcarrier tossing the puck far out to the side away from the checker, and controlling the puck with just the one hand. I've flipped the photos for my members' sake, so that it's easily seen how a puckhandler must be adept at carrying the puck in either hand -- be it their dominant one or not. However, since these things don't necessarily come naturally to our players, I've developed a number of simple drills to encourage basic puck protection moves:
Drill 1 - I was able to do one drill in the driveway with my grandson... Going kinda slomo, he'd handle a ball in front of me, and then turn away from me as I approached or reached with my stick. Right there, he was beginning to develop the instincts or reactions to protecting the puck as this "bad guy" tried to poke at it.
I next told him to try grabbing my stick with his free hand, so that I couldn't get to the puck. Grabbing my stick isn't an ultimate aim, but it does help a player gain control of the situation.
In that sort of atmosphere, it's easy for a dad or granddad or coach to gradually help build a young player's confidence in his puck protection moves, including using one hand and then the other.
Drill 2 - The beauty of the first drill is that a player is somewhat confined by the driveway and being in shoes. That form of practice should ultimately be brought to the ice, however, with the coach trying to find other ways to slow things down. What I've done is ask my puckhandlers to stay in one small areas if they want to get better at these skills, and most kids have done okay with that.
Of course, instead of a coach working with the players, I'd have my players work in pairs, and then take turns -- as puckcarriers or checkers -- maybe every 30-seconds or so.
Drill 3 - In the next drill, I put 5 players at each face-off circle. Three of my kids will puckhandle slowly around the outside of the circle, while two players will act as stationary checkers as they stand inside the circle -- one checker on each side.
As skaters circle clockwise, they'll shift the puck far out to the left hand as the nearby checker pokes towards them. They'll also use the inside/right hand to fight off the checker's stick. The skaters get to relax for a few glides until they repeat their puck protection moves against the next checker.
And, of course, players will need to eventually skate counterclockwise, and also switch roles as checkers and puckhandlers.
puck protection movesDrill 4 - This last drill is really more a game of keepaway, done at a game-like speed, and in a larger area.
I encourage my kids to work on their puck protection moves as much as possible here, because there can be a tendency for them to worry more about other things once they're off on their own.
Okay, one more thing... A lot of players -- and I'm talking about older, better ones, too -- often think they're doing something they're not. puck protection movesAnd, in this regard, the success of a player's puck protection moves all boil down to his placing his body between the puck and the checker. The player in the nearby photo seems to be doing exactly that... Can you see it? On the other hand, a lot of players believe they're protecting the puck just because they're holding it in the opposite hand. What happens to those who lose the puck, though (like in Drill 3), is that they actually carry the puck out in front of their bodies, and don't really hide or protect it off to the side at all.
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Here are a pair of older posts that should help even more:
puck protection moves

Beautiful Dribbling Ideas for Hockey

Members might wonder about the following videos, and how I relate them to beautiful dribbling ideas for hockey. Hear me out, though, and maybe you'll ultimately agree.
-- Dennis Chighisola

Beautiful Dribbling Ideas for Hockey

As I get around and talk to various hockey friends around the world, I find that they're all at various stages in their seasons. I mean, the pro guys still have a ways to go in their schedules, while most of my youth hockey friends seem to be winding down, and starting to look towards their off-seasons. And, it's the latter that causes me to post the following videos...
Let me share an odd habit I found myself into in the earliest years of my hockey career. For, very early-on, as I helped manage a couple of rinks, I found it necessary to always be planning far in advance of a coming season. In other words, with a rink's year-long schedule split at least into about five or six segments, it was absolutely necessary for me to plan ice usage many, many months in advance.
Running my own hockey schools and clinics in ensuing years required much the same approach. For example, brochures had to be printed and in distribution far in advance of a given program. And that meant that ice-time had to be booked even earlier, staff had to be considered, as did the nature and description of a given program.
So, don't you know, that way of thinking always influenced the way I viewed planning for my hockey teams. Actually, it was absolutely necessary to coaching in college, mainly because a good deal of recruiting for the next season's team had to be done while a current season was in process.
Anyway, the idea behind my showing members the following video is to encourage a similar mentality. Those who have been with me for a long time know that I'm big into straying outside the proverbial box, or in places that others would never venture. With that, do a once-over into at least one of these clips, and then I'll make some further suggestions right after. Hopefully, you'll gain a sense of why I referred to these videos as containing "beautiful dribbling ideas for hockey"... I'm sure that had plenty of food for thought for most members, and one might want to hold on getting into the next video until the first is digested -- or milked -- to its fullest. For sure, not everyone is used to seeing the things some of us do. Practice might help, though. I sense that my article on "Puckhandling Is A Mentality" might help a coach or parent, as well. * Again, I'm kinda doing this as a warmup for my members, because I'm going to soon shift into thinking and planning for off-season work. With that, I would love members to review a couple of old but very appropriate articles and videos...
In the beginning, I'll be talking a lot about my idea of a "bunker" to do most of my planning, so please get a sense of that. (I did an update on that sometime later, getting "Deeper Into My Hockey Bunker".)
I also have another video to show -- one that I absolutely love, and it's also based on a different sport. But I think it's even better at suggesting some beautiful dribbling ideas for hockey: "Outside the Box Stickhandling Training".
So, I'm hoping that members will think along with me from here on, and see if you can see what I see.

Developing Team Play in Young Hockey Players

Long time CoachChic.com members know I love fielding questions -- because trying to solve them tends to make me really think, and to perhaps even become better at what I do. As I joked to the coach who sent me the most recent one, though -- via Ask The Coach, he didn't have to start his membership with such a toughie. Yup, developing team play in young hockey players can be a slow and tricky process.
-- Dennis Chighisola

Developing Team Play in Young Hockey Players

Before I really get going, members should know that I could have named this piece quite a bit differently, or I could have just pointed the coach in question towards an article (or two or three) I've done as "More on the Puckhog, Puck-hog or Puck Hog!" ( :) As I explained in the linked post, I wrote several pieces on that topic over many years, and found myself spelling a certain term differently each time.) That said, I kinda like the way the following was expressed by the sending coach...
"I have a young group of kids I'm working with.
developing team play in young hockey playersI have one child who is competitive and individually talented. Certainly the best skills player on the team. But he doesn't play a team game, I'm trying to figure out how to teach him to trust his teammates, pass the puck and spread out.
I have them performing a basic breakout and he is fine implementing it in practice but as soon as we get into the game he forgets everything he has been taught and chases the puck often compete I get with his own players for it , and once he gets it he tries to stickhandle through the entire opposing team. Do you have any drill ideas which will help to teach the whole team to pass more but more importantly this player I've been speaking of?"
So, ya, I could have referenced the "puck hog" thing and been done with this one. But something in the above told me this post should really be more about developing team play in young hockey players. Okay, so here are a couple of fleeting thoughts that came to mind as I read (and reread) the coach's situation...
Up front, a youngster as he's described is almost always "the best skills player on the team". And, as such, he's likely the model -- at least skills-wise -- for most other kids that age.
Carrying that a bit farther, I really like it that the coach sounds like he's understanding, and only looking for the best way to help all involved. (I know some coaches would demonize such a youngster, and make him miserable for doing some things that will be pretty desirable a few years down the road.)
One other thing I bring up often in these kinds of discussions... We all have to wonder what a young Wayne Gretzky went through in his earliest years. I mean, the eventual Great One racked up hundreds of goals in his earliest years, yet it seems no one along the way destroyed his confidence, or punished him for being better than others. I have seen kids beaten on mercilessly in my many years in the game, with some of them turned off to a sport they previously loved, this most often due to a coach's or the team parents' jealousies.
Okay, I had to get that out of the way, because that "puck hog" thing was probably the first thought that came to mind for many of my readers. I think I'd much prefer, though, to frame this more as a matter of developing team play in young hockey players -- and I do mean in all of this coach's players...
If I was able to talk with that other coach right now, I'd ask him what he thought of the latter statement -- about it possibly being a team problem, more than just an individual one.
I mean, while we all know his young hot-shot feels the need to do it all himself in the heat of battle, I wonder how many teammates are able to actually keep up under such conditions. I know from my many years of observation, teammates at the younger levels tend to stand back and watch as their puckhandling mate takes off. (And, while I can almost guarantee that's what is happening with the team in question, I'm hoping that team's coach is nodding to the affirmative right now.)
Let me say that all again, in a slightly different way... In that I believe the real problem -- or maybe the course that will best handle the coach's concerns -- calls for raising the skill level (and confidence?) of all players, so they can actually engage in better team play.
Okay, so if the coach can go along with me here, I have a few suggestions for developing team play in all his young hockey players...
developing team play in young hockey playersMy first thought is that keepaway skills put the hot-shot ahead of most others. Some remedial work on handling the puck (covered quite well in our "Puckhandling" category) is probably necessary for the other kids. At the same time, however, I'd address the overall challenge by holding a good 8-ish minutes of 1 versus 1 games of keepaway all over the ice -- every single practice. Stickhandling drills are nice, but nothing helps the kids put those skills to game-like use like short (maybe 10-second long) bouts of keepaway.
My second suggestion brings those keepaway skills even closer to game-like team play, because 2 versus 1 keepaway is a lot like the little guys' game is played, and I think it's a lot like what the coach is looking for in his players. I hope the coach and readers are thinking along with me on this one, too, in that this kind of competition brings out what the coach is likely hoping for in his star player. In other words, his little puckhandler is forced to continuously look for an open teammate in these competitions, and even learn that his mate is likely to give him the puck back in a few seconds.
Really, though, I think the coach has to concentrate more on his less skilled players in these competitions, by especially teaching them to stay moving and to keep trying to get open. Using modern day jargon, we could say that all the kids should be learning to "support the puck".
I would really, really dwell on those two "drills", because I think they're going to go a long ways towards developing team play in all his young hockey players. I might not abandon either drill over the rest of this season, although some variations could be used weeks down the road, just to prevent boredom.
I'd urge the coach not to forget the need for remedial work. For sure, lots of skating and puckhandling work will bring the rest of his roster closer and closer to their star teammate. My guess, though, is that many of his less skilled players could use the very methodical help I provide in "Passing Basics in Hockey". (Trust me, that having coached and observed lots of little so-called puck-hogs over the years, nothing will put a halt to their passing than teammates flubbing the passes they do send.)
Then, something the coach might put on his back burner for sometime down the road... I did a rather methodical video on "Troubleshooting a Hockey Breakout" some years ago. I doubt I tell the coach anything new in that post, but I do have a way of reminding even advanced level hockey folks about some very basic things that tend to spell the difference between success and failure. One other thing, this having to do with the other end of the rink...
developing team play in young hockey playersI'm not exactly sure where the coach's young 7- and 8-year old kids are but, I've held "timed attack plays" to encourage teamwork among my players.
With young kids, I wouldn't have them skate too far between thrusts -- so maybe I'd start the drill about 20' from the goal. In other words, a coach can have a ton of pucks collected at a spot out there, with two (or three) lines of attackers behind him.
A group of attackers would have something like 20-seconds to score as many goals as possible (against rotating goalies). In other words, a pair might take off, score a goal as soon as they can, so they can quick return to the starting point for another puck, etc.
The hitch: each player must handle the puck a given number of times (twice?) in order for a goal to count.
Coaches of older teams might like to know that I've used this competition on the night before a game -- having older players start and return to the near blue line, with the 3-man forward unit scoring the most goals getting to start the next game. I knew that wasn't such a big deal to me, but my players went nuts trying to win -- as a unit.
Finally, I really like this coach -- even long distance, just from the way he rather compassionately phrased his question. My only hope is that he and others don't think I've designed an overly simplistic approach to his problem without good reason. I truly believe the solution I've outlined is the right approach for young ones, or the best way to help both sides of his team's problem. For sure, Rome wasn't built in a day, and my approach might not bring immediate results. Still... Of course, I'm always looking for more input here, and welcome comments down below.

New Hockey Drill Options

Members might think I've been absent from this site for a short stretch. Well, that's only slightly true...
In reality, I've been working on two (or more) great new hockey drill options for CoachChic.com, but they're not about to show within these pages for a little while yet.
That said, let me quickly explain all this as best I can.
-- Dennis Chighisola

New Hockey Drill Options

Unbeknownst to most members, perhaps, I've been gradually building the first of those new hockey drill options over several months.
new hockey drill optionsWhat I created -- almost a year ago -- was a "Facebook Group" that's geared exclusively towards "Hockey Drills Only". (I'll explain shortly why that group didn't become active until just this week.) Few people know it, but Facebook groups of this type often get infiltrated -- and ultimately hijacked -- by people with their own agendas.
Little wonder, then, that I've made that a "members only" group. Ya, if I recognize any of the usual suspects, they'll be quickly dismissed, while I'll have little patience for anyone else who doesn't contribute in a positive manner. If CoachChic.com members have any difficulties there, simple contact me for easy access or help.
Then, before going any further, let me enter a short, fun video I made to introduce the first of the new hockey drill options...
http://coachchic2.s3.amazonaws.com/Welcome-to-Drills-Group.mp4 Hopefully, you found that both entertaining and informative.
Having already mentioned that page being stalled for close to a year, understand that my earliest hopes were to include a special kind of software that would allow every member to create drills rink diagrams. I had some great hockey people offer to help me with that, but the broadness of my aims really killed the idea.
On yet another not, members should notice that I've just recently acquired a number of a/v studio programs -- like the one demonstrated in that flick. More than anything, I hope these will new resources will benefit folks here in CoachChic.com.
new hockey drill optionsAs for the new hockey drill options group -- over on Facebook, here's how I see it helping you...
Once things get rolling there, I see it bringing us a great many ideas and questions that should find their way into CoachChic.com. And, while I promise to do justice to any questions coming from my Facebook friends, this CoachChic.com website allows me to go into far greater detail, and with far more resources.
Truly, I want CoachChic.com members to get involved over there in Facebook. Ask all the questions y0u want, help others if you choose, and see how things grow to ultimately help this site. Oh, and most especially, add your comments or advice down below to help this old hockey coach to develop that group even better.
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PS: I feel the need to keep the other (possibly two) new hockey drill options under wraps right now. I just don't like announcing anything I'm not absolutely sure about. Members can be sure, though, that at least one of those will come to fruition very soon, and that will especially benefit my coaching friends.

New Hockey Coordination Exercises

A lot of this month's focus has been on coordination exercises, and I'd like to continue that theme with a few fairly interesting videos.
-- Dennis Chighisola

New Hockey Coordination Exercises

I've known about this first video demonstrator for a lot of years. Actually, he's made a living performing all sorts of stunts with a simple sledge hammer. Most of his work in this area has to do with strength gains, but I was glad to see he also dabbles some in hand-eye coordination exercises... * Now, maybe some members are shrugging, and some are making the connection between a hockey player's use of his stick in much the same ways as demonstrated above. Hey, kids (and older guys) -- and especially the ones who really love the puck -- are always fiddling and diddling and keeping a puck or ball suspended in the air like this. Personally, I believe skaters and goalers would enhance their overall skills with those hammer-type coordination exercises. Borrowing even more from his ideas, though, I'd suggest trying them with both the dominant and non-dominant hands. And, I'd even suggest using the hockey in both ways -- holding it as a lefty for awhile, and then as a righty. For, to me, I sense there's an expansion of the brain's capabilities when doing such. Now, I think this next video offers a great idea for goaltenders... * Aaaaaah... Talk about one of the great hand-eye coordination exercises, especially for goalers. Now, like the first video, the demonstrated drill has some benefit. However, when it comes to netminders, I'd suggest two things: 1) set the ball a little lower, so that it moves in a range closer to where a goalie catches or blocks shots; and 2) I might do the exercise with the hands held in catching and blocking fashion -- one hand opened to catch, and the other turned to use the backhand like a blocker. Then, I wouldn't stop the ball, but keep tapping it rapidly with the proper hand, as if either catching or blocking a shot. Okay, this next one might help our goaltenders some, but it's mostly helpful in theory. In other words, listen to this guy's reasoning, and some of the scientific ideas he offers on speed and brain-related exercises... *
I hope members read a recent post on "Neurology 101 for Hockey", because a lot of the above video references the ideas explained in the past article and video. So, do go back and make sure you've digested all that's in that earlier post.
As for the boxing coach above, he's a pretty headsy guy, and he obviously is well schooled in the sciences. I'm not sure there's much usable in his coordination exercises, though, except for the theory I suggested earlier.

Why Hockey Goals Are Scored

I have an awesome video to show members today. To most observers, I'm sure it's seen as a highlight kind of flick, with the chance for viewers to marvel at all the great goals. Of course, I'm different than most -- I immediately start thinking like a coach, and I begin wondering something. I mean, as fascinating as some of the offensive moves are, I couldn't help thinking, "Why hockey goals are scored?"
-- Dennis Chighisola

Why Hockey Goals Are Scored

Okay, before I get going, I'll offer the following video for my members' amusement. For sure, it does demonstrate some awesome moves by many NHL players... http://coachchic2.s3.amazonaws.com/BarSouthNCelly%E2%84%A2-1.mp4 Now, although that had to be fun to watch -- and it was for me, too, it's time I get us back to the title question... Ya... Why hockey goals are scored? Hmmmmmmmm... If you haven't done so already, I'd really like members to rerun that video again, this time watching it from the defensive side. Actually, if you're a coach like me, you might start getting a little sick to the stomach as you do. In fairness to the goal-scorers, they made plenty of great moves. And, as the best of the best usually do, most of the goal-scorers in that video kinda mesmerized defenders into doing things that don't want to do. Ugh.
why hockey goals are scoredI grabbed the pic to the right as an example of what I'm talking about. Actually, all three players -- the puckcarrier and the two defenders have their eyes down and they're looking at the puck. And, while that might get the attacker killed, focusing too much on the puck ought to get the defenders permanent seats on the bench. Don't get me wrong: it's okay for a defender to use split vision to simultaneously poke at the puck. What one can't do is only focus down on the puck, thus looking foolish.
why hockey goals are scoredIn yet another screenshot I happened to capture, the last defender is getting turned inside-out and backwards, having initially looked down at the puck. You'll have to go back and watch the video (at the .43 mark) to see how badly that defenseman really looked. What that play really amounts to is three white defenders not doing a single thing to prevent a lone attacker from scoring the goal.
If there's something I'm trying to get across here, it's that we should watch exciting goals from both perspectives. For sure, I love wild puckhandlers, and I've spent a lifetime developing hundreds (or maybe thousands) of them in my skills programs. On the flip side of the coin, however, I kinda know why hockey goals are scored, and I almost always know that someone has created a major defensive mistake in order to allow the goal-against.
why hockey goals are scoredIn yet another freeze frame, we catch three defenders out-manning two attackers, and still ending up on the short end of things. If you recall, the dark attacker here walks away from the crowd, then comes right back to rip a wrister through a screen and into the net. In each case -- this one and in many others in the video, the defenders could have grabbed their own man, and shut down the attack.
In all honesty, a few of the goals scored in that video didn't show an obvious guilty party. Still, most of them did. In fact, the few goals I chose to highlight just above were pretty representative of most others -- defenders had their eyes down, they focused mainly on the puck, thus leaving themselves vulnerable to looking foolish. Anyway, I want to once again echo something I said above, in that we ought to study offensive players, and try to isolate the things that help the best goal-scorers do what they do so well. At the same time, try to study as much as possible, ask yourself why hockey goals are scored, and know that that's a biggie with us coaches.

Hockey Powerplays By Principles

This question actually comes by way of a coach from a hidden Facebook group to which I belong. He evidently is having some difficulties with his Under-20 team, and thought to ask group members for advice on some mandown plays. Of course, I expected that others would suggest plenty of dime-a-dozen plays, while I had a couple of slightly different ideas, including teaching powerplays by principles.
-- Dennis Chighisola

Hockey Powerplays By Principles

My first attempt at helping that coach wasn't about teaching a powerplay by principles at all, but instead...
Although that coach might have been looking for "plays", my suggestion was to revert to enhancing his players' skills. For, as I told him, "Once these improve, I think you'll find your powerplay works better (as will your team's 5 on 5's)."
hockey powerplays by principles- Games of keepaway in small and large areas are a lot like a powerplay, and these can be done as a 2 on 1, 3 on 1, 3 on 2, etc.
- Keepaway on a circle is great -- with "It" in the middle, and four players on the outside needing to make one-touch passes. (Members should know that there's a nice video of my old Mite team in this post playing "Circle Keepaway". They're not using one-touch passes at the stage, and the ice conditions when I shot that video prevented me from making it a 4 on 1. But, at least members will get the idea of the basic setup.)
- Then, shooting off the pass -- with emphasis on both the shooting and passing ends (passes must be in the shooter's wheelhouse), and I'd have shooters working while both stationary and moving in a small area before the pass comes.
A day or so later -- after a number of other coaches had offered their ideas, the coach reaffirmed his want for "plays". Hmmmmm... I've learned my lesson about arguing with coaches in those forums. By nature, I guess, coaches are head-strong (whether they really know much or not), so debating in such groups only tends to cause hard feelings. With that, once I see a point where I might bruise an ego or two, I rid myself of any frustrations by only giving the good stuff to my CoachChic.com members. :) Still, I did give that question one more try, by explaining my powerplays by principles method (trying to do it with as much tact as possible). So, here's my latest (and likely last) comment under that forum question...
"I'm going to throw something at you, (Coach), that's typical of my (off the wall and outside the box) kind of coaching.
A number of years ago I switched to a new powerplay "principle" rather than adding more "plays". I call it "out of sight, out of mind", and it applies to the thinking I want every player on the ice to constantly keep in mind...
hockey powerplays by principlesA simple example:
If the right halfback in my Umbrella gains the puck, he knows that the player most "out of the opponents' minds" suddenly became the left forward at the back door. The two might communicate with their eyes and connect on a quick play, or the halfback might decide to move the puck elsewhere. No matter where the puck moves next, though, the new puckcarrier and a teammate know there's a new out of sight, out of mind play possibility.
Frankly, with a little practice, I discovered a couple of things... First, opponents seemed to always be a split-second late in reacting to us; and secondly, I found this way of doing things encouraged more reading and reacting, and far less robotic movement."
Actually, I touched upon this concept of teaching powerplays by principles in an older post called "Using Deception In Hockey", which should give my members a leg up on anyone in that other forum. Nor do others have access to my articles on "On-ice Hockey Vision", "The Value of Keepaway Games in Hockey", or "Big Ball Keepaway for a Mental Distraction". For sure, I'll have to wait to hear the other coach's feelings on my advice. Still, it's awesome to have another place to vent -- and to make sure an idea such as my powerplays by principles benefits more open minded coaches.