As often as I mention my beliefs on this topic, I always sense that there are some folks who don't quite get what I'm saying. As recently as in my last article, "Helping a Young Hockey Team Generate Offense", I was trying to convince Jeff W (and other members) that kids who struggle to move the puck -- or to even want to steal it from opponents -- need a special kind of fire within them.
With that, let me try explaining my puckhandler's mentality thing from yet another angle.
-- Dennis Chighisola
Reaffirming that Great Puckhandling is a Mentality!
Now, I'm guessing that most hockey fans have by now heard about yet another rising NHL star, Tomas Hertl. I'm also guessing most fans have seen the following goal, probably countless times. Still, I'd like members to watch it once more before I add my two cents worth... Okay, I don't blame an outside observer for calling that overkill (hot-dogging it in an 8-2 win), and I wouldn't blame the Rangers for taking offense. Still... I hope you can set that aside and consider where such a move came from. I mean, Hertl didn't just invent that on the spot.
Those who have watched pro basketball for a time might be able to envision a Larry Bird, a Magic Johnson, or a Michael Jordan heading towards the hoop. And, while we might all guess that such players have an idea of what they might do on the way, instincts soon take over and usually control the last few seconds. At the last moment, an enemy hand goes in their face, towards the ball, wherever. And it's at that last moment when instincts usually lead that special athlete to reading and then reacting in just the right way.
The Wayne Gretzkys, the Sidney Crosbys -- and yes, the Tomas Hertls -- do much the same.
So, my guess is that Hertl found himself slashing across the goal mouth from left to right, after having been in that position hundreds (if not thousands) of times before. He obviously knew that movement tends to drag the goaltender across his crease, with the just vacated area of the net being wide open. And, what better way to put the puck in that area than the way he ultimately did? (My guess is that he'd resort to something else approaching the net from straight-on, or moving from right to left.)
More than anything, though, I want to emphasize that part about Hertl (Gretsky, Crosby, and a bunch of other so-called gifted scorers) practicing given moves hundreds and maybe thousands of times. And the same went for Bird, Johnson and Jordan (with more on Bird in a little while). Those kinds of players tend to love fiddling with a ball or puck, and they also usually love inventing new moves.
Speaking of loving to fiddle... I had an old friend who told me, "If you want to find the stickhandler in a group, just blow the whistle, and watch to see which player can't stand still." :) Yes, my buddy was absolutely right. Stickhandlers love fiddling with a puck, and they're going to do it whether we coaches like it or not.
With that, let's take a peek at a few more guys who seem pretty comfortable with the puck...
Now, I have to ask you... Do you think any of those players invented those tricks on the spot? Not on your life. Those moves were practiced over and over again, until they became almost instinctive.
Even more importantly, I'd have to ask if a certain mentality was necessary in order for a player to even think along the lines of doing some crazy stunts with a puck. And my answer? Absolutely.
As my old friend suggested, the puckhandler can't hold a puck without wanting to do something with it. Right there, within a group of kids, one can spot those with a certain mentality. And yes, I did say "those", because I'll suggest that the puckhandling mentality is in a lot of kids, but to just different degrees. In other words, there is likely one kid who gets really excited playing with that little black thing, while there are probably also a handful of other kids who kinda like doing that.
All that said, I hope you're now wanting to ask me an even more important question -- like, "How does one encourage a puckhandling mentality?"
Having dealt with hockey parents and hockey coaches for an awful lot of years, I have to first state that they can often be the first obstacle. Yup. For, while they're sometimes showing their jealousies by criticizing their team's best puckhandler, they don't realize that they're discouraging a bunch of other kids from developing their skills to the same level. Ugh...
Hear me now, folks... In case you're among those I've just described, and in the event you haven't yet followed an older child to a high level, let me tell you that the puckhandlers on most younger teams are the ones most likely to be scooped by higher level coaches.
For the most part, my high school and college teams needed guys who controlled the puck well -- to make our offense work, and to also get our powerplay going. And so can puckhandlers help eat up the clock on penalty-kills. So, if you can appreciate it, I was never looking for kids who coughed up the puck as soon as they met pressure.
Yes, everyone wants a player who can pass, catch passes and score some goals. However, if you'll check my "Building Blocks Approach to Skills", you'll discover that puckhandling is a super-important prerequisite to all the other offensive skills.
Parents and coaches on board, the next thing is to foster practice conditions where creativity is encouraged.
By the way, some basic puckhandling drills are rather boring, or they need to be done slowly and deliberately. Still, they are necessary for younger players -- so that those kids become comfortable -- with handling the puck on both sides of their stick, executing basic dribbles and cuts, etc.
Both basic and creative drills can be done during the same time in development, though. In other words, some crazy puck moves can be tried within the same practices that deal with puckhandling basics.
Actually, I've found that some of the best drills for fostering a puckhandler's mentality are done away from the ice. Throughout this site you'll find some fun and interesting challenges -- like dribbling a balloon in the air (a precursor to dribbling a puck in the air), dribbling three balls at the same time, or dribbling a ball while jumping, jogging, skipping and while being in odd postures like on one knee or two.
The key to this kind of drilling is to keep kids laughing and not worrying about failing. When I'm teaching such a practice segment, I'm forever teasing the kids -- and getting them laughing, while also continuously using my favorite puckhandling phrase, "Go nuts!"
Going a bit beyond that last one, I'll at some point ask a group of kids if they can create a new trick. And, if I've hooked them into the puckhandling mentality, most of those kids will immediately get to work finding something to impress their old coach (and it's usually a rush to see who can gain my attention first). Finding a good move, I'll have its inventor show it to the other kids so they can try it, too.
Growing up just South of Boston, MA, I was a diehard Boston sports fan. And I recall reading several times about Celtics star, Larry Bird, and his off-season practice routine.
Bird had a basketball court built in his yard back home in Indiana, and it's said that he vowed to learn and master one new offensive move every single summer. Hmmmmm... I believe I counted 13-seasons that he played in the NBA, which hints at why he was such a handful for most opponents to defend against.
Can we say that Bird had a "ballhandler's mentality"? Ya, I'd say so.
As I'm about to close here, I'm almost hoping that you'll go back and watch that second video again, but this time while pondering the ideas I've just noted. You'll have to consider whether Pavel Datsyuk's youngest teams tried to discourage or encourage his creativity. Try to imagine the kinds of practices a young Tomas Hertl must have experienced during his earliest years. Then, wouldn't you just love to know who planted the creative puckhandling seeds -- or the puckhandler's mentality -- in a Sidney Crosby?
Lastly, while there are a few North Americans shown in that second video, have you at all found it interesting how many Europeans made that (and most other) highlight reel videos? I'm not. For, the Swedes and Finns and Russians and Czechs are big into off-ice practices, and they're also big into off-ice skill work.
