StumbleUpon really is an awesome site for stumbling upon interesting articles and videos. And, I did just that this morning, happening upon a video demonstrating unbelievable puck protection. Then, after watching that a few times, I thought I'd share with members just how easy it can be to teach that tactic to young players.
-- Dennis Chighisola
Teaching Puck Protection
I think before we even get into this, I probably ought to show you that awesome demonstration of puck protection. So, have a look at the following video, and enjoy... http://coachchic2.s3.amazonaws.com/CrazyOver-timeGoal.mp4 Awesome, or what? Ya, an entire half-minute clip that's almost all about puck protection. Next, I've slowed a couple of short parts to that video.
In this first one, I'd like members to notice a few things...
Notice that the puckcarrier mostly holds the stick in one hand, with his reach extended as far as it takes to keep the puck a way from a nearby checker.
It should make sense that an effective attacker should be able to just as easily handle the stick in one hand as the other.
Notice also that he constantly keeps his body in between the puck and the nearby checker.
And, while it might not be obvious here, the puckcarrier will often find the need to fend off the defender -- or the defender's stick -- with his free hand.
http://coachchic2.s3.amazonaws.com/CrazyOver-timeGoal-1.mp4
Those things out of the way, I'd like members to notice a few more things in the next brief video clip...
Although the puckcarrier has his back turned to the checker for long stretches, he's well aware of where that man is.
In a way, he's seeing and "feeling" the pressure of the checker, in the event that checker might try to come around from one side or the other.
And, seeing (in the early part of this clip) that the defender has momentum going towards the corner, the puckcarrier makes a sharp cut in the opposite direction, all the while keeping good puck protection.
Yes, the mistake a lot of young players make when cutting is that they do it towards the checker, thereby exposing the puck to that man.
http://coachchic2.s3.amazonaws.com/CrazyOver-timeGoal-2.mp4
Okay, I promised to share some teaching techniques for puck protection, and I also intimated that it can be quite ease to teach young players this important offensive tactic. So, here goes...
- The skating and puckhandling skills necessary to this tactic are really part of a drill as simple as carrying a puck through a continuous figure-8. In effect, a player executing puck protection is going around one way -- around an imaginary checker, and then going the other way around another defender.
- With time, a player should be able to skate that same figure-8 pattern while holding the puck and stick with only one hand. As he turns to the left -- it's like the checker is on his left shoulder, and he'll have to hold the stick and puck out towards the right. And, that's just reversed cutting to the right, with the stick and puck held in the left hand and away from the imaginary checker. (I often suggest that players lower their weaker hand -- or choke-up, in order to handle the stick a little easier.)
- At some point, I like to get involved as a coach, providing light pressure to a puckcarrier, and giving him the chance to fend off my stick-reach and my body.
A drill I and my assistants often use is to have a few players skate around a circle, and then shift their stick and puck away from a coach who is stationed at a point on the outside of the circle. The coach attempts to reach for the puck as a skater goes by, while the puckcarrier shifts the puck away, and perhaps also deflects the coach's stick away.
- Next, I'll have pairs of players work much like an earlier drill -- with one player trying to protect the puck and the other trying to apply moderate pressure. Over time, the pairs might work with more and more intensity as their skills at this tactic improve.
Now, I have to ask something of both parents and coaches alike... Wouldn't it be possible to do almost everything up above on dry ground, or in an off-ice atmosphere? I know I could pull it off.
As an afterthought, I've addressed the subject of puck protection a number of times over the years. And, the article and video I posted about Datsyuk and "Hockey Puck Protection" approaches the subject in a slightly different way (maybe for a different perspective).
In closing, I'd like to give credit to the StumbleUpon post I found with this video, and suggest that members browse some other pretty good videos available there: Imgur's Best 14 of 2014.
