1. Off-ice shooting: Last summer, I improved my slapshot by 20 mph by simply shooting 100 pucks every day (with some days off, of course) with a radar gun and making note of what improved my power and what didn’t.
2. Off-ice stickhandling: Stickhandling is easy to practice at home as long as you have something smooth to stickhandle on, and some ideas what to do.
3. Leg training: It’s not easy to improve your skating technique during the summer without ice time, but it is easy to improve your leg power and acceleration.
4. Get some ice time: One of the most important skills in hockey is skating, so take a few seconds to check times at a rink near you.
5. Play other sports: Playing sports that keep your muscles working will help you maintain fast reflexes and good overall strength and speed.
6. Attend a hockey camp: Hockey camp is a great way for kids and adults to learn a few new skills and work on sharpening the skills they already have. My hockey adventure camp in Ontario features NHL legend Dennis Maruk, plenty of on- and off-ice training, and water sports, hiking, rock climbing and much more.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Jeremy Rupke with HowToHockey.com for this story.

May 11-13, 2012
The Edge Ice Arena
Littleton, Colorado

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Changing Your Mind Set

To work your muscles “smarter” rather than “harder,” you must:

1. Switch the focus from your quadriceps to the “back of the leg” muscles. These muscles include your gluteals, hamstrings and calves.
2.  Shift from two-leg training to single leg training. By doing this you are able to recruit more stabilizer muscles.
3. Train with little or no weight and focus more on speed than strength.

I’m happy to say that my new techniques paid off. The very next season, I was noticeably faster and did get my shot in the NHL with the very same coach that gave me the great advice.

Back of the Legs

Focus your mind on working the gluteals and hamstrings during all of your hockey exercises, especially sprinting and jumping.

• One way to practice flexing the right muscles is by doing a wall set (sit in a chair-like squat with your back against the wall and hold). Most likely your quadriceps muscles will begin to burn. Without changing position, you can relieve the strain on the quads by tightening up your gluteals and hamstrings.
• Think about sitting in that squat position with someone in front of you trying to pull your feet out from underneath you. You would automatically flex your hamstring and glute muscles in order to keep your feet beneath you. This is what you want to flex during the exercise.
• Make sure your weight is not on your toes but rather on your heels. Try to lift your toes off the ground. You might feel your lower back begin to pull away from the wall. Counter this tendency by flexing your core and keep your back flat against the wall.
• Your hamstrings and glutes should be tight during the entire motion of a squat. Try tapping your fingers against your hamstrings. This will help tell your brain to work those muscles.
• When you are doing it right, your hamstrings will be hard. Believe me, this is as much of a mental work out as a physical one. It takes practice to get it right.

Wall Sit Video

Having troubles? Try standing tall. Now drop into a squat position as fast as you can and hold. Your body weight should drop faster than gravity can pull you down because your hamstrings flex to pull your body downward. Continue to flex the hamstrings and fire the glutes on your way up finishing with a slight forward hip thrust—thus forcing the glutes to flex as much as possible. Getting the right muscles to fire during the squat motion took me several workouts. Don’t get discouraged if it takes you some time. Unless you are an Olympic sprinter, you are quad dominant.  You have to retrain your muscles to become “back of the leg dominant” and this takes practice.

 Stablizers

Every time you take a stride you balance on one blade until your other foot recovers. Thus, single leg balance is key to becoming more stable on skates. Stand with one foot on the ground and do a four to five inch squat.

• Your free leg should be bent with your foot slightly behind you. Remember the “back of leg” principals learned above.
• Your body weight should be over your heel. To maintain balance, tighten up your core, keep your chest and head up with your arms loose.
• Try to breath in on your way down and out on your way up. Now try to do the same squat with no shoes on.
• Progress in difficulty by squatting deeper each time.
• Don’t worry about going fast. Focus on controlling your balance with core body strength. Use your arms as little as possible.

Want More?  Try kneeling on an exercise ball.  The pros can stand on the ball and do squats.

 Speed and Quickness

When attempting to develop strength, movements should be slow and controlled. When trying to develop speed, all movements should be done with speed and grace. Do every exercise as fast as you can while maintaining control. When you do a squat, try to go down quickly. When you reach 90 degrees (more or less) change direction as fast as you can. Doing squats in this motion works both deceleration and acceleration strength. The muscle fibers work one way to stop your body from moving and another way to get it moving again. You need power through both movements in order to be able to change direction quickly on the ice. When doing jumps or lunges focus on landing soft, using your hamstrings to pull your body down quickly with your hamstrings and exploding upward with your glutes. Again, this is very challenging and takes time to get right.

Changing the way I worked my muscles was not easy. My body wanted to revert back to over using the quadriceps. My workouts were as challenging mentally as they were physically. What kept me going were the results. My hamstrings and glutes grew in size and strength. I began to spring off the ground rather than push. I felt lighter and more stable on the ice, which is exactly what I wanted. Without a doubt, training this way improved my speed and stability on the ice.

I hope this information helps you as much as it helped me. Good luck!

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Jarod Palmer, Minnesota Wild Player, for writing this article for How To Hockey. This article is a detailed account of how he got his speed up to NHL standards.

1. Avoid Turnovers by Chipping the Puck

As you grow in the game, you will realize that the opportunities for stickhandling up and down the ice are few and far between. This is a great concept to start talking to younger players about at an earlier age. When a player is heading into traffic on the offensive end and not sure what to do, instead of trying to stickhandle through traffic or going offsides, chip the puck a few feet ahead and skate ferociously with your linemates so you team regains possession. This is not necessarily a dump in—rather, it’s a little forward chip or side chip to an open space that you or your linemate can go after. The same holds true for defensemen on the defensive blue line. If you’re not sure what to do, chip the puck lightly off the boards and go after it. Overhandling the puck—especially during big games or tryouts—is usually the kiss of death (not to mention committing turnovers). Less stickhandling and more skating will lead to a win.

2. Forwards, Always Move Your Feet

When the defensive opponents have the puck, many times I see three forwards gliding in for the forecheck. Don’t glide. Try to form a triangle of forwards. When the first forward is skating in hard (F1), the second forward (F2) should be following his lead and supporting his effort while being ready. The third forward (F3) can stay high in the slot and be ready for both an offensive shot and a backcheck. Create pressure with your fellow forwards to gain possession of the puck while moving your feet—not while waiting for the puck to come to you. If you are not moving your feet and skating, you are doing something wrong. You need to spread out and create nice shapes in the offensive zone.

3. Traffic in Front of the Net Throws Off the Goalie

Screen the goalie and make it hard for him to see the puck. Typically, a few highly skilled players on a team can weave in and out to get to the net. If you are a winger, do not stand still and watch this going on. I tell campers to go to the net with him or her like a pack of hungry wolves zeroing in for the kill. There will be fresh meat to be eaten in the form of rebounds. Creating a busy, chaotic traffic jam in front of the net is unnerving for a goalie—he or she will have a hard time seeing everything that is going on and from where a bomb is being fired.

4. Think About Your Next Move

Take note of where your teammates are and think about what you will do if you get possession of the puck. This is a hard thing to teach—it is a form of hockey IQ. Learn to be a smart player at as young of an age as possible.

When my partner was preparing to go D to D (pass) with me in a game, I already looked up ice and saw where my forwards were so when I got the puck I knew exactly where to go with it. The same holds true for forwards—you need to have great ice awareness and know where your teammates are before you get puck. It’s almost like thinking a step ahead of your opponent. Communication is paramount to attain this skill.

5. Go Back to Basics When Choosing Your Stick

From Mite to AAA prep school to Division-I college hockey to the pros, a lot of players are not using the right stick and curve lie for them. You need to get the right fit for your style of play. Not too much lie, too much curve, too much flex. I use the Marc Savard stick with a 4 lie because I like to be able to use both my forehand and backhand, and I prefer a fairly low lie that sits right on the ice. If the curve is too big, the puck boomerangs out. Analyze your child’s stick, but don’t be caught in the trap of buying the most expensive stick—it’s not necessarily the right stick for your player. If your child can’t handle the puck or catch a pass, stick lie and curve are usually the culprit. Go to your local hockey store expert and have a discussion about which stick is best for your child.

6. Goalies

You need to be more vocal in the defensive zone and also more aggressive. Come out of your crease, cut down angles and challenge shooters. You need to read the situation properly. If the puck has been in your end for a while, get a whistle. Learn to make the first save and be steady. The spectacular save is nice, but I like a consistent goalie who makes the first save and controls rebounds.

Have a great playoff season and off season—and best of luck in tryouts!

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Jeff Serowik, a former NHL player and founder/president of Pro Ambitions Hockey, for this story.

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• Skill set: Your player is quite simply not ready for the specific level he or she is trying out for. Can your player skate at this level? Can your player pass, handle and shoot the puck at this level?
• Maturity: The maturity of players can sometimes factor into the selection process. Is this player a first or second year?
• Fit: Some coaches look for a specific type of player, role or skill set when determining their roster. How will that player fit with the chemistry of the team?
• Hockey sense: A big concern for many coaches is “hockey sense” or “hockey smarts.” Does your player understand, think and read the game? This aspect of his or her game can be a major factor in determining if player child makes the team.
• Development: A coach can sometimes weigh the option if a player might be better off playing on the team at the lower level then what they are trying out for. This will sometimes allow the player to be a top-line player instead of the ninth forward or sixth defenseman for the higher-level team. This will allow that player to develop and see more ice time in critical situations of the game.
• Parents: This does not happen too often, but I have seen it with a few coaches and parents over the years. What are the player’s parents like? Will they be an issue all season? Are they high maintenance? Do they get in the ear of other parents and try to get on their side if they don’t like the way their child is being coached or handled? I can tell you a bad parent or parent group can ruin the season for the players and staff. No matter if your team is in first place or last place, the season will be a success if your player develops, has fun and the parents get along—rather than form cliques and small groups of “negativity.” It’s a game…enjoy it!

These are some of the reasons on why your player did not make the team. I do believe it is imperative that a coach has great communication skills; it is the key ingredient for a coach when tough decisions are made. I believe each coach should have an exit interview or at least provide some feedback on why your player did not make the team.

To be totally honest, yes, coaches make mistakes. There is no exact science. It is not because the evaluators (coaches) did not give each player a good, honest look. Players do develop differently and at different points during the season.

This is a great, fun game. So please allow situations like this to be a life lesson for your player. We all get cut, we all get fired. We are all told at some point in our lives that our services are no longer needed. Sports are a microcosm of life—life will go on if your player did not make the team. Let your player enjoy the game and play at a level that will allow him or her to flourish and want to play again next season.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Angelo Ricci for sharing his 15 years of expertise as a hockey director in this article. Ricci is founder, head instructor and consultant for Ricci Hockey Consulting. With 20+ years experience as a skills and stickhandling coach, he conducts/oversees more than 40 programs year-round that develop over 1,000 players each year.

Q. At a recent select tournament for Squirts, I heard U.S. parents, players and even coaches complaining that Canadians learn body checking at age 7, and that’s why they’re “so far ahead” of the United States in hockey. Could that be true?

A. First of all, Canada’s hockey governing body, Hockey Canada, lets provinces determine what age to start body checking and as such it varies throughout Canada. In Quebec, players start at Bantam (13–14) while in Alberta they start at Atom (9–10).

Interestingly enough, Hockey Canada has taken an intensive look at USA Hockey’s recent age change and is considering similar guidance. As important, what separates hockey players at any age is their skating, shooting and puck-handling skills—so isolating a skill like body checking and trying to point to that as a reason players may be ahead makes no sense. That said, it is doubtful players anywhere are focusing on body checking at age 7 in lieu of all-important skating, shooting and puck handling.

In fact, Hockey Canada recently came out with a long-term athlete development document that very much mirrors the ADM, focusing on age-appropriate training that is very much individual skill focused at the younger ages. Most likely, at any age level, the reason a group of players are ahead of another group is because they skate better, handle the puck better—and consequently make more plays that result in the puck ending up in the back of the net more often—not because they are better at body checking. Period.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to USA Hockey ADM Regional Manager Joe Doyle for assistance with this story.

Q.

A. Americans need to quash their “mindset of worrying about the scoreboard,” says Joe Doyle, USA Hockey ADM Regional Manager. This is precisely why the U8 program holds jamborees and does not post the score in games (even if every coach, player and parent knows the score). The point is, according to Doyle, “Do you want your kid to win tournaments at age 8? Or do you want him to be a better player at 12, 14, 16, 18?” The ADM is about long-term athlete development, which emphasizes building skills in the early years—skills that will pay off when emotional and physical maturity hit in the later years.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Joe Doyle for his assistance with this story from Kelly Anton, Managing Editor.

Q. At a recent select tournament for Squirts, I heard U.S. parents, players and even coaches complaining that Canadians learn body checking at age 7, and that’s why they’re “so far ahead” of the United States in hockey. Could that be true?

A. First of all, Canada’s hockey governing body, Hockey Canada, lets each of Canada’s six provinces determine what age to start body checking and as such it varies throughout Canada. In Quebec, players start at Bantam (13–14) while in Alberta they start at Atom (9–10).

Interestingly enough, Hockey Canada has taken an intensive look at USA Hockey’s recent age change and is considering similar guidance. As important, what separates hockey players at any age is their skating, shooting and puck-handling skills—so isolating a skill like body checking and trying to point to that as a reason players may be ahead makes no sense. That said, it is doubtful players anywhere are focusing on body checking at age 7 in lieu of all-important skating, shooting and puck handling.

In fact, Hockey Canada recently came out with a long-term athlete development document that very much mirrors the ADM, focusing on age-appropriate training that is very much individual skill focused at the younger ages. Most likely, at any age level, the reason a group of players are ahead of another group is because they skate better, handle the puck better—and consequently make more plays that result in the puck ending up in the back of the net more often—not because they are better at body checking. Period.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to USA Hockey ADM Regional Manager Joe Doyle for assistance with this story.

Q.

A. Americans need to quash their “mindset of worrying about the scoreboard,” says Joe Doyle, USA Hockey ADM Regional Manager. This is precisely why the U8 program holds jamborees and does not post the score in games (even if every coach, player and parent knows the score). The point is, according to Doyle, “Do you want your kid to win tournaments at age 8? Or do you want him to be a better player at 12, 14, 16, 18?” The ADM is about long-term athlete development, which emphasizes building skills in the early years—skills that will pay off when emotional and physical maturity hit in the later years.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Joe Doyle for his assistance with this story from Kelly Anton, Managing Editor.