Creating Older Hockey Goal-scorers

I'd planned on working on another post this morning, until -- ya, until my buddy, Jerry Z, suggested I do something on creating older hockey goal-scorers. Those weren't Jerry's words, but what he sent me came pretty close to that.

As a PS to coaches and parents of younger players, I'll suggest you'll want to know the following, so you can start those young ones on the right course.

-- Dennis Chighisola

Creating Older Hockey Goal-scorers

Jerry's Facebook messages and emails usually do start me "reelin' at my writer", and his recent message was no different:

"hey Dennis, how are you? Here's what Ben Scrivens has to say about what makes an elite shooter. Some interesting stuff to put in your pocket and add to your bag of tricks... He talks about Galchenyuk, who now has 25 (but not 50) goals at age 22."

From there, Jerry added the following quote (garnered from an article I've linked below):

“First off, everybody in the league can shoot the puck,” Canadiens goalie Ben Scrivens said after Thursday’s morning skate. “Fans watch games and they say: ‘Aw, this guy can’t shoot the puck.’ Everybody in the league can shoot the puck — they can shoot the puck hard and, within reasonable expectations, they’re all pretty accurate, first line to fourth line. The difference between the elite shooters is how effectively they can get releases off. The guys who can pick their spots without giving any tells to the goalies about where they’re putting it. The less movement you can have pre-shot. “The big windup is a fossil in today’s game, except for on rare occasions,” Scrivens added. “It’s pretty difficult to beat guys with a big windup or the big stretched out wrist shot. What Chucky does so well is that he’s in a shooting position almost all the time that he has the puck. So he doesn’t tell when he’s going to shoot, so his release starts from the same place that his stick-handling starts and his passing starts. So you never know which one he’s going to do until the puck’s coming down on you. “Obviously he’s got a great shot, but it’s all the stuff pre-shot that makes him really elite.”

I wrote back to Jerry immediately, and told him that I'd known all that for a lot of years, and I'd been having my players perform specific drills to help them with everything in that quote. What I probably may not have mentioned is that this site is also loaded with articles and videos aimed at creating older hockey goal-scorers.

Oh, on my title choice, "creating older hockey goal-scorers"... I called it that to distinguish this from my long ago article and video called "Creating the Early Goal-scorer".

Before tackling this subject further, let me suggest that the resulting older goal-scorer is a product of doing a lot of things right on his way up the hockey ladder. I'm talking about having mastered the above linked early goal-scorer's skills. And I'm also suggesting a player be developed according to my "Building Blocks Approach to Offensive Skills", which helps ensure all the connected skills -- like skating, puckhandling and passing -- are in place. As for dealing with the long quote Jerry sent me, well...

For sure, Scrivens is right when he says that, “... everybody in the league can shoot the puck,” with power and with relative accuracy. Of course, the key word there is "relative", because the league's top goal-scorers are just a bit craftier than those guys who tally more often in the single digits over the course of a long season.

What most folks don't realize is the importance of the top goal-scorer's release. That's what an NHL caliber goalie is telling you, and that's what I've been saying for eons. If you can appreciate it, goalers are looking for clues -- like a puckcarrier dipping a shoulder, like the puckhandler shifting his weight to a given leg...

There's a guy over on YouTube.com who has been telling players they have to shoot off the so-called "right foot" (meaning the correct foot, that provides the most strength into a shot). He got ticked at me when I brought to his attention the fact that the most dangerous scorers are those who shoot off the "wrong foot", thus totally surprising the enemy goaltender.

What I just referred to as clues is what Scrivens calls "tells". I mentioned a few up above, but I think he's also suggesting that a potential shooter can give away his intended target area with his eyes.

Scrivens goes on to reinforced all the above, by suggesting that, "The less movement you can have pre-shot (the better)." And he adds that, “The big windup is a fossil in today’s game, except for on rare occasions.”

Why is it so difficult to beat high level netminders with a big windup or what he calls the big stretched out wrist shot? It's because players at their special position spend a lifetime learning and mastering their angles, and given the time to put the world's best equipment in the right location, there are hardly any openings.

Scrivens then goes on to describe one player who has made himself super-dangerous: "What Chucky does so well is that he’s in a shooting position almost all the time that he has the puck. So he doesn’t tell when he’s going to shoot, so his release starts from the same place that his stick-handling starts and his passing starts. So you never know which one he’s going to do until the puck’s coming down on you." Then, I think he puts it all into perspective with, “Obviously he’s got a great shot, but it’s all the stuff pre-shot that makes him really elite.”

Let me say that again (or let Scrivens say it again): "... he’s got a great shot, but it’s all the stuff pre-shot that makes him really elite.” As far as help for my member friends goes, I want to recommend everything ever posted under the "Shooting & Scoring" category. I'm not going to list them all, but within all those posts and videos, you're going to find some awesome drills and exercises that make it possible to pull the trigger without warning. I can't emphasize, though, all the lead-up -- skating and puckhandling -- skills that make it possible for a player to negotiate with the puck while under pressure, and deal with a ton of challenges while also focusing on the enemy goaltender. That kind of coolness under pressure is what Scrivens has been talking about all along, which eventually translates to an attacker being able to shoot under his own conditions. Throughout his piece about creating goal-scorers, Scrivens didn't specifically articulate two things that are kinda hidden between the lines. However, when it comes to the goaltender's needs, they're 1) sight of the puck, and then 2) time to react.

When it comes to seeing the puck, it should make sense that screening the goaltender can really help. Members might immediately think about putting a guy in front of the goaler to block his view -- and that's good. But a puckcarrier can also use other players on the ice as momentary screens, thus pulling the trigger without the goaltender even knowing it.

The previous point certainly has to do with whether or not a goaltender has time to react or not. However, most of what Scrivens has said relates directly to the amount of time the goaler has to react. I mean, if the puckcarrier keeps moving and doesn't provide any "tells" as to when or if he's going to suddenly pass or shoot or keep coming, the goalie is probably in big, big trouble.

Finally, this bit of advice to those working with young players... DO NOT SKIP A SINGLE STEP IN THEIR DEVELOPMENT. If you do, that or those flaws will follow players the rest of their hockey lives. Again, go back to my Building Blocks Approach, and make sure young players are developed completely.

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If you'd like to see the original article Jerry sent me, here goes... "Stu Cowan: Goal-chenyuk riding high with new stick and killer skills"