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.
Now, 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.
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.
Drill 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.
And, 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
