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. 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.

*

Here are a pair of older posts that should help even more:

"Teaching Puck Protection"

"Hockey Puck Protection"

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.

I 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...

My 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...

I'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.

What 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.

As 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.

*

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.

I 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.

In 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.

In 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)."

- 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...

A 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.

Using Unstable Surfaces For Hockey

Whether members know it or not, there are some arguments within the physical training community, about the benefits of using unstable surfaces for hockey workouts. I barely understand the antis on this one, but it very well could be that our two camps are looking for drastically different results.

-- Dennis Chighisola

Using Unstable Surfaces For Hockey

I don't want to get into the argument right now, but I might some time down the road. What I do want to reinforce here are some of the things I see as real positives for using unstable surfaces for hockey training. As I begin one of my older posts linked below, our game is rather chaotic, or it's kinda wild and crazy out there. That's important for all of us to keep in mind, and it's especially important for coaches, parents and adult players to apply to training. Hey, we have to practice for the way we ultimately have to play. In my article (and in the accompanying videos) about "WBV Leads to Coach Chic’s 'WakeBoard'", I explain my thinking behind recreating on-ice conditions in The MOTION Lab. I hope you find that interesting, and I'm hoping some of my thinking might relate to your own experiences or observations.

The main idea of that WakeBoard device was to have a player move in all sorts of unbalanced postures while simultaneously tossing around a weight of some sort.

The next thing I'll want to introduce is the concept of asymmetric puckhandling, or "Handling More Than One Problem At Once". As I mention often in any posts having to do with puckhandling, passing, receiving or shooting, we hardly get to do those in nice, pretty postures. No, people are hooking, hacking and otherwise trying to kill players as they attempt to handle a puck.

When you see all the stunts I have my players try to do while puckhandling -- like skipping rope, hopping on constantly changing feet, kneeling and raising back up, or enduring bumps by a friendly teammate, that's the asymmetric thing, or trying to deal with more than one physical problem at a time.

Enter my idea of using unstable surfaces for hockey puckhandling. And also enter a video I'm borrowing from a long ago post that was actually about conditioning...

http://coachchic2.s3.amazonaws.com/Lab+-+Part+5.flv

I hope you noticed the many gadgets I employed to have my players working on unstable surfaces for their hockey puckhandling. For example, I did a lot in the Lab with our mini-trampoline, and I loved the little air-pillows for tossing my players around in game-like postures.

Getting back to the original problem -- about the positives or negatives of using unstable surfaces for hockey training, I think the main argument has to do with our aims in the end. I honestly don't believe some other physical training guys are seeing hockey challenges as I am. What I'm saying is that hockey players don't get to stand much or move prettily around the ice, instead having to prepare in advance for bobbing and weaving and getting knocked all over the place. I also know that my guys have to be strong in all sorts of unbalanced positions. It would be nice if we could do something like squats in the gym in order to prepare for the hits players take out on the ice. But, while those standard exercises surely do help, they're not as specific as my WakeBoard work is to all the wrestling and tussling that happens out in the game.

Using Deception In Hockey

This might be a rather short entry in comparison to most others. Still, it's no less important. In fact, I'd say that using deception in hockey is even more important nowadays than it ever has been before.

-- Dennis Chighisola

Using Deception In Hockey

When I think about using deception in hockey, three main areas come to mind right off the bat. The first on my list involves some foolery on breakouts...

I have a feeling that every member agrees with the idea that the so-called "first pass" on our breakout is a biggie. I mean, successfully advancing the puck up-ice -- from a defenseman to a flying forward -- is a great start on the way to getting safely out of your defensive zone and on your way towards the opponents' net.

I also sense that a lot of coaches can be rather straight-forward -- maybe even lackadaisical -- in designing and working on their breakouts. In other words, the deployment of defensemen and forwards can be rather typical, with players moving through equally typical areas or routes as they practice and then play.

Don't get me wrong about what I just said, because perfecting the basics is a really good thing. I want perfect execution as my players perform their roles within our breakouts. I'm a stickler on such things -- as in clean handling of the puck, smart and high percentage skating routes, making good passes and catching any pass within reach.

That said, being too straight-forward can make covering our breakout kinda easy. Thus my feelings about using some deception in hockey.

Ideas on this phase of play can be found in several different segments of my video on "(Teaching & Troubleshooting) Basic Breakouts".

In one portion, I show a number of ways deception can be used to ease that first pass deep in the zone. A great one has our puckhandling defenseman making a fake towards one side of the ice -- to bring the opposition forecheck that way, before he quickly moves the puck in the opposite direction. In yet another play, he skates towards one side of the ice and then makes a drop-back pass -- without looking -- to a teammate readying to go the other way.

In yet another portion of that video, I show ways to have forwards moving through very different and deceptive patterns from the traditional ones.

Of course, there are tons more ways we can add extra deception in hockey, especially as we go on the attack. So, the next one that comes to mind is when we're cycling the puck in the offensive end...

Once again, I have a video to recommend here, titled "You Can Teach Hockey Cycling". Of course, cycling is kinda deceptive as it is.

In this part of the game -- and as shown in that video, an offensive player can really fool defenders, by looking one way and making a play in a different direction. (Actually, defensemen and other offensive players can do much the same during breakouts or anywhere else on the attack.)

In particular, watch that video for how I have my man coming up the boards (see above: the guy facing towards a pointman-teammate), while readying to really make a drop-back pass to the corner or bang-bang pass to a mate going to the net.

I just told myself something, noticing that I need to add some special teams posts to this site. Truly, in attempting to cover every possible area of the game, I missed a few areas that are as important as any. Anyway, as I try to plan some articles and videos having to do with special teams, let me at least explain how I like to add deception in the powerplay part of my team's game...

A lot like in cycling, I want my guys to be looking one way while planning their attack elsewhere. In fact, I use the expression "out of sight, out of mind" a lot when I'm working on my powerplays.

To the right is a rough alignment for an Umbrella powerplay, although my "out of sight, out of mind" philosophy will work with any setup.

I ask my players to envision they're in a star pattern. Then, I suggest to them that, the puck being at one point on that star tends to draw attention there and leave the furthest player/s "out of sight, and out of mind". I mean, everyone in the arena -- opposition players to their parents and fans in the stands -- tend to get locked into what the puckhandler is doing, and they're not worrying so much about those far away players.

Like in the earlier ideas, looking everywhere but where he wants to go helps make this work. Even more importantly, though, it's having all players thinking that "out of sight, out of mind" thing that makes it really work. The guy at the lower right might handle the puck for a second or so, with the guy up in the left halfback position suddenly sliding towards the sloy with his stick cocked and ready. If a shot results, fine. But, if it doesn't, that guy slides back, the puck gets moved, and everyone reacts to the new puck location.

Truly, I think using deception in hockey is a biggie, mainly within the offensive part of our game. And, looking or making moves in one direction -- with the intention of moving the puck in a different direction -- is one of my favorite ways of fooling the defense. Feel free to use my "out of sight, out of mind" idea, too. Like a lot of things I teach in special areas of our game, I think they tend to spill over and help players in their overall play. Some of my better players have put the "look away" move into their attack, and some have used the "out of sight, out of mind" thinking, too. If anything, I hope I've planted the seeds here -- for coaches, player parents and adult players -- about incorporating some foolery in the game's X's and O's.

An Overview Of Hockey Skills

Oh, boy... As I try to kick off this new CoachChic.com approach, the first question I found myself faced with was the starting place. Hmmmmm... Truly, there are so many things that go into developing a productive player or team. Still, I'm guessing that most folks, before too long, would suggest that I begin here with an overview of hockey skills.

-- Dennis Chighisola

PS: I introduced this new approach in the prior post: "Making Hockey Plans" and in the Coming section.

An Overview Of Hockey Skills

Chuckling to myself for a bit, I've come to the realization that this project is going to be a lot more challenging than I originally thought. Hey, just an overview of hockey skills is going to be a daunting task. Once again, I highly recommend that members at all levels become familiar with my Building Blocks Approach to Offensive skills. Within that short essay, I explain how each of the basic skills are dependent on one another, and I also suggest ideas for building progressions from one skill to the next. Skating I'm sure that most hockey folks immediately think about the skating stride whenever this skill is mentioned. For sure, a smooth, powerful and energy-efficient stride is helpful to playing our game well. However -- or at least in my book, it's hardly a major determining factor in successful play.

I have several really high level posts and videos within this site -- including "The Latest Hockey Skating Advice", "Balance in Hockey’s Forward Skating Stride" and something few will show you: "Analyzing The Hockey Skating Stride". These should act as great guides for coaches, parents and older players to improve this area over the rest of this summer and through the coming season.

Our game is one of transition, which means that it involves constantly switching our roles -- from offense to defense to offense, depending on which team controls the puck. That's why it's also said that our game is one of "reading" and "reacting", with the best players usually recognizing and then executing quickly and effectively as their roles change. And, actually, I think we could use such measures to define our game's best attackers and defenders.

A big part of this area includes readying players to move quickly in all four directions. In other words, they often have to skate efficiently while moving forward and backward. A biggie for me, however, is a player's need to move left and right, either elusively on the attack or in reaction to a tricky enemy attacker.

Just above, I was kinda referring to moving primarily on a straight line -- ahead, backwards, to the left and to the right. Of course, such reactions also involve cross-overs in both directions, and while skating forward and backward. Reading stuff put out by other gurus, I get the impression they believe that power in these turns is supreme. I feel quite a bit differently -- again, because I believe quickness is the biggest need in a transition game.

With all that, members have access to three videos about what I deem as "Must-do" skating drills -- for beginners, intermediates and advanced players. No matter a coach's, parent's or skater's level, I highly recommend becoming familiar with what's contained in all three videos. My reasoning: it's helpful to know the prerequisites of a level as well as where the drills for a lower level are eventually going. For the time being, this one last thought about this area of play... For, handling ones body on skates is the only basic playing skill that is necessary to both attacking and defending. Again, I have to go back to our needs within the transition game, as well as the importance of being able to read and then react quickly. Puckhandling As is mentioned in my Building Blocks Approach, a lot of people cringe that I give puckhandling second billing in any overview of hockey skills. Ironically, I used to get a lot more heat than I do today, mainly because a lot of pro teams have finally told youth folks what I've been saying for years. Then, in case newer members aren't familiar with it, one of my former students and players, Mike Sullivan, gives a pretty good video presentation on the importance of this skill at the NHL level.

I really think we have to view puckhandling through the same eyes as we do skating. In other words, it requires us to keep in mind the challenges of a transition game and the needs to read and react.

It should also necessarily follow that the puck has to move in four different directions as we look to fool and elude enemy defenders. That means a player has to be proficient at dribbling the puck from side to side, and from forward to backward.

Quick hands are a biggie to me, which is why I love using golf balls, so-called Swedish (wooden) stickhandling balls, balloons, and anything else that might be quick moving and unpredictable.

Perhaps very different from the other basic skills is the fact that puck movement can be extremely unpredictable. In fact, I've been saying a lot lately that the best puckhandlers in the world lose the puck constantly; it's just not very noticeable, because they gather the puck right back with super-quick hands.

As an example, a player might toss the puck outward on a deke, that puck hits rough ice and bounces, and the great puckhandler still gathers it right back to execute his next move.

The best exercise I've developed for quick hands and gathering errant pucks is to have my players dribble two or three small balls at the same time (see the bottom of the above linked page for "The Best Puck-drill Ever"). Once they get going, a player can't help but slightly lose control of each ball, thus being forced to quickly reach this way and that way to gather each ball in.

Also like skating, a hockey player has to be able to hug the puck and pull it around both ways in a circle.

I hate to say it but, a lot of foolish catch-phrases get invented for hockey. In some instances, I think coaches just aren't thinking, while in other cases the inventors are just trying to make themselves feel good or sound smart. What I'm talking about right now is advice we hear often to "keep your head up". Naw, a puckcarrier has to move with the head held at near a 45-degree angle, in order to be able to glance out and down, out and down, without having to move the head much. With that, I like the expression, "Keep your eyes up."

Perhaps the best way to wrap up this puckhandling section, however, is to show my video on Incredible Stickhandling. Trust me, that the following drills can be used at home, in an off-ice team setting, and on the ice... https://coachchic2.s3.amazonaws.com/Incred-stickhandling/Incredible%20Stickhandling%201%20Final.flv Passing Next in my overview of hockey skills comes the passing game, which includes both sending and receiving. I don't need to go much into that here, because I have another awesome video that covers everything from A to Z: "Passing Basics". Shooting I probably treat this skill in more depth than any other coach out there. What I'm getting at, is that I don't believe standing prettily and working on ones shot is a useful practice beyond a point.

Ya, beyond a point... Of course, standing nice and balanced is a good way to learn a shooting motion. What's wrong, though, is that hockey isn't played like that. No, the top scorers in our game can pull the trigger while in off-balanced positions, while being mauled by a defender, or even while being down on a knee or two.

That's why, as I continue my overview of hockey skills, I suggest conducting more advanced shooting drills under game-like conditions. (I described more of this in a post called "Moving From A Vacuum To The Hockey Game".)

One of the things I like to do for my attackers is to share with them what the opposing goalie needs to play a shot well. That I cover in a post called "The Most Important Factors in Hockey Shooting".

Here are some great exercises that go hand in hand with my theory of being able to pull the trigger under all sorts of circumstances.

I'm closing this section, maybe abruptly, because the Shooting & Scoring section of this site includes countless posts, pics and videos to help those skills. Finally, I hope members aren't shy, and they aren't nervous about asking for more help on the above four skill topics. I'm here for my members, and I feel better when I'm sure I'm truly helping.

On-ice Hockey Vision

It's a funny thing, in that some subjects necessary to playing our game well seldom get talked about in hockey circles. That's why I spend so much time seeing what coaches in other sports are doing, and that's why I got psyched to find some pretty good help for our players' on-ice hockey vision.

-- Dennis Chighisola

On-ice Hockey Vision

Okay, I hope we can agree on something here, in that most transition sports -- like hockey, basketball, soccer and lacrosse -- have a lot of similarities. Of course, the big thing is that play continues in a transition game, as either a puck or ball switches hands. In other words, on a turn-over, one team goes from being on the attack to suddenly being on defense. Along that same line of thinking, ball possession or puck possession is big-time important. It should necessarily follow, then, that vision is important in each of those games, as a player moves with either a ball or a puck. So again, members shouldn't be surprised that a video series on point guard vision would jump right out at me. Ya, the basketball point guard. Every time I watch a b-ball game, the point guard position reminds me of a hockey playmaker, and such a player also reminds me a lot of the guy I like running my powerplay. No matter, all of these players need great vision, moving with the ball or puck as they survey the area ahead for enemy players and open teammates. So, it's the same thing in our game as it is in basketball or soccer or lacrosse, huh? Ya, and in our sport, on-ice hockey vision is key to advancing the puck up-ice and towards the enemy goal.

One aside here... Members might know that I argue a lot with those who have gotten locked into saying that, "Hockey players have to keep their heads up as they carry the puck." What I say is, "Hockey players must keep their eyes up as they move with the puck." The distinction shouldn't be a biggie if two coaches are talking, but I much prefer to emphasize the eyes as I help players with their puckhandling skills.

Okay, I'm not going to say much in reference to the following two videos, and I'm even going to suggest that coaches, parents and players follow the video links to catch more videos in that series. My feeling is that the basketball coach's approach to ball control is going to help my members a lot with their on-ice hockey vision... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK7xtnn6RdA :) Stephen's intro aside, let's get on to some basic advice -- on point guard play and our on-ice hockey vision... :) Again, a big smile from me, because this old coach loves that Stephen began with a little philosophy. I've mentioned that elsewhere within these pages ("A Philosophical Approach To Hockey"), because the physical side of sport doesn't progress unless there's a strong philosophy already in place. Interestingly, my old friend Mike Sullivan -- now a Stanley Cup winning coach with the Penquins -- talked a lot about caring for the puck and on-ice hockey vision in an article I called "How Hockey Players Learn". If you haven't seen Mike's video and read my post, you really should. I know I haven't provided a lot of advice here -- other than what's contained in the two short videos, but the most important thing I'd like to leave members with today is a mental picture of something... I mean, whether it be a basketball point guard or one of our hockey players, please envision a player moving with a ball or puck, scanning the area ahead, moving, scanning, moving, scanning... Neither player can survive with tunnel vision, but he instead needs to be able to take in a wide field, and constantly assess the safest way to advance the ball or puck. Lastly, if you click here -- on more of Stephen Bardo's videos, you'll find quite a few amassed there on his YouTube channel. I do suggest members go through those for a lot more specific -- physical and mental -- advice.

No Secrets To Hockey Drilling

Long time CoachChic.com members should recognize the co-author of this post, or at least the producer of the following video. And, while he might suggest that there's no secrets to hockey drilling, I think I'll have to do a little explaining about that.

-- Dennis Chighisola

No Secrets To Hockey Drilling

Yes, our Czech hockey coaching friend, Oldrich Jindra, makes another contribution here, this time with a video he prefaces with the idea that there are no secrets to hockey drilling. (Actually, he said it in reference to hockey practices, but my slight change helps this article better in Google searches.) As for that line of thinking -- that there are no secrets to hockey drilling, I do believe I'll have to shed my own thoughts on that once you've seen the following video (this made available by Oldrich)... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYQikdi9GTI Besides seeing some decent drills in that video, did you gain a sense of what Coach Jindra was getting at, when he suggested that there are no secrets to hockey drilling? Well, my take is that he was borrowing and then putting a twist on Nike's slogan, as in "Just do it!" In other words, drills don't do us any good sitting in a smartphone app or on your clipboard. No, they'll only help us improve as we use them -- maybe over and over and over. Of course, I think most long time members will agree that there ARE some secrets to running hockey drills properly, and getting the most out of them...

I'm sure members realize that there are two sides to any drill -- the scientific side and the artistic side. So, right up front, I'd have to say that "How You Practice Hockey Really Matters".

As I write in "The 'Artistic' Hockey Coach", a handful of coaches teaching the exact same drill/s will get drastically different results. How so? It's because of the different ways they present, demo, monitor, and provide feedback for each drill. Again, think about what I'm saying here, and maybe read the linked article.

If you have time to let your head hurt a little ( :) ), see my article on "Key Stages In Hockey Learning". And, yet another challenging read might be my article on "Rewiring Hockey Brains".

Okay, so getting back to what Oly meant about there being no secrets to hockey drilling... I long ago wrote an article called "Learning By Doing", and that stemmed from two favorite quotes. I highly recommend that members read that, but I'll give you a shortcut version here...

One has to do with epigenetics, a new branch of science you probably heard here first. Within that, you should have discovered that a player's genes can actually be influenced by doing (or as I said in that piece, by "doing (and doing and doing)." That, in itself, should suggest what Oldrich likely meant by there being no secrets to hockey drilling.

My long ago hockey student, Aristotle (LOL), said much the same, in that "What we learn to do, we learn by actually doing. Men come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players by playing the harp."

In closing, I think Oldrich Jindra is an extremely bright guy. I also think, though, that he left the title of his video very much open to interpretation. So, before someone from USA Hockey latches on to that literally -- and starts telling everyone that there are no secrets to hockey drilling, I'm glad I've had the opportunity to clarify it for my members.

*

PS: I know I spent all my time on defining the meaning/s behind that video, and none so far on the content. As far as that goes, I hope member coaches take note of the way those drills mostly represent small segments of attacking the goal. I don't think I need to explain those drills, except to say that Oldrich seems to assemble tons of ideas for the viewer -- on numerous ways to practice shooting or making a move on the goaltender.

Combining Floorball And Hockey

As soon as I saw the following video, I knew I had to share it with my CoachChic.com members. As most of you know, I've been pushing our combining floorball and hockey as an unbelievable form of cross-training. (Thanks to my long time floorball friend, Mike B, for pointing me towards this.)

-- Dennis Chighisola

Combining Floorball And Hockey

I'm sure hockey enthusiasts are familiar with the former NHLer featured in the following video. To me, Peter Forsberg is one of the all-time great pro players, and he's arguably the top player produced in his home country of Sweden. In fact, he's been a model after which the Swedes have attempted to develop all their younger players. With that, listen to Forsberg, and see what you might think about combining floorball and hockey...

Why show this video at this time? It's because it's time to make serious plans for the coming off-season, and I'm highly recommending that every hockey player get involved in floorball in one way or another. In some areas, I'm sure there are leagues available that would readily accept players with backgrounds in hockey. If your area doesn't have a league currently available, I'll suggest that a well organized coach or parent consider starting one. At worst, I'll bet a small group of neighborhood kids would have a blast organizing games, just as they would streethockey. Those options aside, I'll suggest that individual players get a floorball stick and ball, and begin doing lots of tricks right at home -- this site and the Internet are loaded with great stickhandling ideas.

Members should know my feelings about off-season hockey... I firmly believe that on-ice games should be taboo during the spring and summer months. At the same time, I truly believe that players still need to continue growing -- in their hockey skills, athleticism and other physical qualities. With that, I think floorball practices and games would be awesome for hockey players during their off-season.

As for Peter Forsburg, I know he's one of many European players who grew up playing that sport. And, the NHL is currently filled with gifted puckhandlers from abroad who honed some of their stick skills from floorball. All that said, I'd really love the input here from others who know a lot more about floorball and I. Together, I hope we can get more young players developing even better by combining floorball and hockey.

Fresh Hockey Drill Ideas

By now, members know I don't miss an opportunity to uncover fresh hockey drill ideas. I'll borrow them from anywhere, too, and any sport, especially the other "transition sports" -- like soccer, lacrosse, and basketball.

-- Dennis Chighisola

Fresh Hockey Drill Ideas

As members also know, I frequently express mixed emotions about YouTube.com. Sad to say, I see some so-called hockey gurus there who share more wrong information than good stuff (that's not an opinion, but purely science). At the same time, if one knows what he's doing, some real gems can be found, even from other sport coaches. The latter was the case when I stumbled upon a basketball video called "Kohler Drills for Offensive Skills", with a young lady b-ball coach leading the way. To be honest, I have no idea the value of her drills from a basketball perspective, but I'll tell members that enough of them have inspired some awesome hockey drill ideas for me. With that, have a look at the rather long video below, see if you arrive at any fresh new ideas, and I'll share my own thoughts on the other side...

Okay, I'm going to do my best to suggest a batch of fresh hockey drill ideas from here onward. However, I have a feeling that others watching that video will arrive at their own ideas -- good for you if you do. Anyway, here goes from my side of things...

To preface these drills, I've already pictured different ways I'd setup some of them on the ice, and I might even use different kinds of setups, to either end with a shot on-goal or not. In some dribbling drills, I might have two groups running in one end zone, and another two working at the far end. With enough players, two more stations could run in neutral ice.

In the first drill, two players dribble while approaching each other -- something that is very much game related for us hockey folks. If you noticed, the coach every so often changed the skills being used, and the directions players would move with the ball.

I don't know if we want to have players dribble between the legs before a cut, but I'll bet we could think of something new for our hockey players to do as a further progression to the original setup.

On what the coach referred to as a "retreat dribble", I can see a skater suddenly shifting the puck out to one side and putting the other hand out -- against the other player -- to protect the puck. As yet another progression in that setup, I might have the players execute spinaramas, to one side for awhile and then towards the other.

Can you think of other ways a player has to confront a defender? I surely can. Actually, one idea that came to mind quickly is for a player to kick the puck out to one side a few times through, and then kick it out to the other side for awhile.

When the coach brings her players to the baseline to work on spacing, I might suggest that a hockey coach consider using this setup for both spacing and puck support. In other words, the player without a puck has to constantly move to get open in support of the puckhandler. The rink being much larger than a basketball court, I'll suggest that three pairs could work the ice at one time.

We might not be able to do a "two ball handling" drill, but then... I and some of my advanced players were capable of dribbling one puck on our stick while carrying another puck in the skates. If I had to get more imaginative, I might have a player dribble one puck on the ice while also keeping a baseball sized balloon in the air at the same time. Or, maybe a player could just try carrying two pucks on the ice at the same time.

When the basketball players went to three lines of separate attackers, I thought the skills our hockey players worked on in the first two segments would fit well here, too. For awhile, a hockey coach could designate that an attacker execute a spinarama towards the outside from the two outer lines, with the guy in the middle doing a different attack move. Players could shoot quickly on a goalie-less net, and then go to a different line.

I'm at a loss when she moved to that "Dive" drill. I (or you) might think of something later, and that's okay. As an afterthought, though, maybe the player starting without a puck could move through a similar lead up movement, and then move to the middle for a shot off the pass. In that case, it would help to put all righty shooters on the left side, and all lefties in the right-side line.

The next drill -- featuring one-against-one battles in the key -- is right up our alley. In that one, a player would carry a puck around one pylon as a defender circles the other pylon and tries to stop the puckcarrier. It's really game related for our hockey players, and it helps build toughness and hunger on both sides of the puck. On this one, I think we could actually have a goaler in the net.

The drill -- where the coach feeds to one of two players -- is a lot like a hockey small area game. Again, it's very much game related, as she passes to one player -- who becomes the attacker, which makes the other player realize he's suddenly on defense.

The next drill isn't much different, but the players are spread a bit more, with a give and go between the offensive player and the coach. Again, it's hockey related, and very easily converted to the ice.

In a drill the coach calls "sharp cuts", it's just another one where players rehearse some movement, make a pass, with the receiver taking a quick shot. Again, it's something that could easily be copied for doing on the ice. Even in the way she suggested using a manager to play defense, we could supply a passive defender on each drill.

There are a couple of drills in the middle of this video that didn't spart any fresh hockey drill ideas. At the same time, as I watched them, I thought back to times I've seen pretty good high school players miss scoring opportunities because the pass to an open shooter was too far off the mark. I mean, a guy was all set to blast one into an open net, and then the pass arrived in a location that prevented the shooter from making a bang-bang play. For that reason, we coaches have to constantly remind our players to make passes right in a potential shooter's wheel house.

In what I believe the coach called a "flash cut", I think the 2 on 1 she setup would be excellent for hockey players. Deep in the zone, one player dishes the puck off, and then moves to shake a defender and get a quality shot.

I love the next drill sequence, with three players and two balls. Actually, something very similar could be done by hockey players with a goaltender in net. About the only things that have to be done differently: 1) a bunch of extra pucks would have to be available, because some shots should go in the net; and 2) I'd limit the drill in either time or number of goals, because a goaler would likely die of exhaustion if things run too long.

Actually, I think the next variation -- where the coach is calling for her players to "Rip!" -- would be ideal for defensemen (stationed a little further from the net). They would receive a pass, move laterally, and then fire a slapshot on goal. Where the b-ballers are faking on an imaginary defender, each of our hockey pointmen could execute a fake slapshot before regrouping and taking the real shot.

I think on the drill where the players are shooting over the coach's head, our hockey shooters could be using a coach as a screen for a shot off to one side.

On the one where the coach asks her students to "Pin", I think we could do something similar. Have a puckcarrier move into a defender, then find an open teammate for the shot. Where puck support is so important to our game nowadays, I think this one will encourage that in the open man.

On her "push pass" drill, it's much the same as the last drill, except our puckcarrier won't back in.

The next drill is another variation of the previous two, with the passer feeding the open man going behind the defender ("backdoor", as the coach calls it).

Passing from what the coach refers to as "Death Valley" is yet another drill that could be created for our hockey attackers to work against a coach or passive defender. I'd have the eventual shooter going to the net, though.

I love the last drill, called "Shotgun", because it's a lot like the fast break we'd like our hockey teams to make... I think we could arrange this one in several different player combinations, but the main thing is to go for speed with long passes. There could be a shot on-goal at the end of each fast break, while we might want to think about a way to introduce a new puck for the start of each break -- maybe with a coach or backup goaler doing it.

Okay, I hope everyone noticed that the lady coach didn't often use a whistle. No, the kids were obviously told ahead of time to enter the drill area as soon as the other players exited. I actually love drill formats like she used, because there are a lot of players moving. Oh, they get adequate rest periods when completing a drill, but they're right back to work shortly, and not idle for too long. LOL! Did you catch the coach telling her players something to the effect that she likes to work a drill for about 5-minutes, and not beat it to death? Beautiful! With that, she was also telling them that she wanted full intensity for that brief time. The coach constantly reminded her players to call for the ball, and we have to stay on our players to call for the puck. When the coach mentioned that b-ball people focus a lot on ballhandling nowadays, I was thinking about that talk Mike Sullivan gave in a recent post. Much of what he and his employers at that time, the Blackhawks, concerned themselves with involved smart puckhandling. Then, I'm chuckling to myself as I think about that coach, because my old students and players would tell you that I chattered throughout an on-ice session, just as she does. That's what a good coach does, I think, as part of his or her "artful" approach to coaching. You might also notice how kind she is in correcting players. In closing, I'm going to suggest that the serious coach or hockey parent would go back to that video numerous times in search of fresh hockey drill ideas -- now, and maybe days or weeks later. Personally, I swear that I get a new idea every time I watch a given drill.

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"