Starting a hockey team, or you’ve taken over the Captain and are now running an existing team? It’s an unforgiving, and sometimes daunting, task. Here’s some hints and tips we’ve learnt on how you can run a team well. League The first most important part of starting a hockey team is figuring out where they’re going to play and the type of play. If you’re lucky to live within an hour of an ice-rink, great! You can usually research the leagues based out of the rinks there (contact the front desk and ask for the league information). Finding rinks near…
This is the Ultimate Guide to Hockey Slang – get to know how to celly after sniping top cheese in a gong-show of a game!
If you’re new to hockey, you may not know how the NHL draft works – this a quick guide to understanding one of the most important times in the year for NHL hockey teams. Draft Order The 14 teams that missed the play-offs during the previous NHL season are awarded the first 14 picks of the best young hockey players between the ages of 17 and 20 from all over the world to play for their team. If a player gets picked in the draft, he has no choice but to play for the NHL team that has picked him…
You’re thinking about buying some new hockey skates to replace your old ones, or you’ve just bought your first pair of skates. You may not know what type of skate to buy – or the new skates you’ve just bought are so stiff and uncomfortable that you can barely walk afterwards – here’s some essential hints and tips on buying the right skate for you – and having them fit more comfortably. Buy the right hockey skates for you! When buying new skates, it’s extremely important to ask the right questions and get the right answers. Your skate is your…
These tips, especially for beginners and intermediate forwards, are the important skills to master as they rise up through the ranks to high school and college level hockey. While some of these tips may seem obvious, it can take many years of practice to perform most of these automatically in the pressure of a game. This automatic action, is what coaches teach and help players continuously work on in their training programmes. 1. Know your job It’s vital to know your position and what your role is in all three zones (defence, neutral and offensive) at all times. At a…
A 2-on-1 is one of the most exciting plays in hockey – turning the tables in a game and, aside from a breakaway, it’s one of the best chances of scoring. There’s less chance of a turn-over as your team-mates are in the neutral zone, and it puts huge pressure on the defenseman and goalie – which is exactly what you want. If you’re a highly skilled player with experience, then you can make any play into a scoring opportunity, however, for basic to intermediate players – having an advantage such as this can really change your game and give…
Beating a defensemen is one of the most important and useful skills you need to know as a forward. Using these 5 proven techniques, you’ll be able to gain an advantage over most defensemen. Chip and Skate This one is the easiest to get started, and it is as it’s described – approaching the defensemen along the boards, chipping it by the defender and skating around them, either on the goal side, or using the boards to your advantage. Whilst it is simple in theory, it takes practice and, as always, a good bit of luck to pull off.…
Most people are not aware that they’re not using Sydney Crosby’s actual curve, or stick, even though it’s one of the most popular curves out there Pro v Retail Curves Most of the sticks solid en-mass to kids and rec-league players worldwide are actually stock curves that have existed for a long time, and their names simply changed to represent popular current players; being more of a marketing gimmick than a representation of the actual players curve. For example, a lot of people remember Sakic, Modano, Nash or Lidstrom curves from the 1990’s and the early 2000’s, but the manufacturers…
Playing defense is a challenging position to play, you’re generally the last line before a forward gets a shot on goal, and you’re the one clearing the scrum in front of your goaltender. Like a goaltender, it takes many years of training to hone your skills, if you’re new to the position, or just need some reminders, here’s some great tips to apply to your game to raise your defensive skills. Read the Play, Read the Play, Read the Play Always keep your head “on a swivel”, keep looking around you and be aware of who is in front…
Take the puck across the net If you happen to find yourself approaching the net with speed or if you’ve just beaten a defender wide, you should almost always take the puck across the crease if you can. When goalies come out to challenge a shooter, particularly if they trust that a defensive player will be able to block a player from cutting across the net, they tend to come out fairly aggressively. If your sole mindset is to get across the crease and tuck one in, you just may be able to. Even if the goaltender doesn’t come out hard,…