Hockey Quotes on Improving Your Game

Hockey Quotes

Alexander Ovechkin:

"My weapon isn’t my shot. It’s me."

Pierre Page:

"A player must be able to skate, have hockey sense, be able to shoot - not necessarily able to score - and have drive."

Sean Burke:

“It's too easy when you're not winning to look for excuses and point at others for reasons. You can say 'Oh well, it's this guys fault or they don't do this well' or you can say 'I've got to play better and contribute more'. You've got to find another gear and come up with big games."

Glen Sather:

"You can have all the talent in the world, but if the pumper's not there, it doesn't matter."

Hockey Quotes on Scoring

Wayne Gretzky:

"You miss 100% of the shots you never take."

Ken Dryden:

"There are two types of forwards. Scorers and bangers. Scorers score and bangers bang."

Brooks Laich:

"If you want money, go to the bank. If you want bread, go to the bakery. If you want goals, go to the net."

Hockey Quotes on Defense

Sydney Crosby:

“I need to work on defensive play, and being consistent."

Chris Chelios:

"It takes brains. It's not like a forward, where you can get away with scoring and not play defense. On defense you have to be thinking."

Paul Coffey:

"When we've got the puck, they can't score."

"Hockey's a funny game. You have to prove yourself every shift, every game. It's not up to anybody else. You have to take pride in yourself."

Hockey Quotes on Practice

Duke snider:

"What a player does best, he should practice least. Practice is for problems."

Eric Lindros:

"It's not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it's what you put into the practice."

Gordie Howe:

"Practice your Backhand."

Joe Paterno:

"The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital."

More Hockey Quotes

Breakaway Tip from Wayne Gretzky

This video covers stick handling basics, but also includes a key tip for breakaways:

Bring the puck back in close to your body to gain control before you shoot. If the puck is too far out in front of you, it will pick up speed, and bounce off the blade of your stick.

The video also includes footage Adam Oates and Pat LaFontaine, Andrachuk, and Messier deking out their opponents, again keeping the puck in close.

Standard Hockey Breakout Play

There are tons of different breakout plays and systems your team can use to quickly and safely move the puck out of your own end. Unfortunately our team doesn't practice, so we tend to keep things pretty simple on the ice. Typically we just use the standard breakout play.

Every player should be aware of the standard breakout play regardless of the position you play. Defense, Centre and Wing all play a role.

Here is How the Standard Breakout Works:

• The defenseman has the puck behind his own net, and sees a winger open along the boards.
  
  
• He passes the puck to the winger or rings it around the boards.
  
  
• Meanwhile the Centre comes back into his own end from the blueline, turns, and curls up ice making himself available for a pass from the winger.
  
  
• The winger can then either pass is to the centre, or chip it up the boards and out of the zone.

The good folks at Athleon Sport sent me this cool tool for diagramming plays.

The Center

The key to this play is timing. The center should be passing by the winger as the winger receives the puck. The winger can then make a short, quick pass to the center, who now has some speed, and is able to take the puck out of your own end.

The Winger

The winger must be ready for any type of pass from the defenceman. It's rarely going to be right on your stick. If the puck has been flung along the boards into the corner, it can be tricky.

The best way to control this type of pass is to line up facing the high slot with your butt against the boards, stick on the ice, and the heel of your front foot (the foot closest to the blueline) right against the boards. If you tilt your front foot outwards at an angle, and keep your stick in front of you, the puck should bounce off your skate blade towards your stick as it comes in behind your trailing leg.

The puck can take a weird bounce at any time, so this method doesn't always work perfectly. Even if the puck gets caught up between your skates, you still have a good chance of getting it under control.

Breakout Drills

Breakouts are necessary to create the dangerous 2-on-1 plays. Mark Carlson, the USHL's Coach of the Year in 2004-05, covers the key breakout ingredients - quick, move the puck, timing, talking, read pressure and maintain puck support - in these hockey drills.
Details include getting to the puck quickly, check shoulder, not handling the puck, forwards in position and support of the puck. The defense drill uses only the defensemen in a 2-on-2 alignment.
The next drill involves one defenseman and one forward and can be run out of both ends. The Mohawk Turn is a skill used in this drill where the player's chest is facing middle rink, ready to receive a pass.
Breakout options include adding two defensemen with two forwards at both ends. Other drills focus on support and positioning, reading pressure in the neutral zone and reading pressure in breakouts. These hockey drills are fundamental in nature and rely on many small details to assure execution.

Hockey Poll Results

In Fall 2008 I asked our readers the Hockey Poll question:
Which area of your game would you like to improve the most.

Here are the Hockey Poll results:

You can’t go wrong by becoming a faster skater.
Improve your skating, and you’ll improve your game.










Here's what MSN Encarta has to say about skating:

Skating is ice hockey’s most important skill. Good skaters are able to accelerate, maintain balance while struggling for the puck, stop quickly, and change direction abruptly. Several players in the National Hockey League (NHL) have been known to skate faster than 25 mph (40 km/h) while handling the puck.

The Hockey Journal on skating:

No doubt about it though, skating is crucial – and not necessarily just because it helps to be quick or fast, or sturdy and strong, or agile and nimble, or powerful and speedy. More important, being a good skater also plays a huge role in all the other skills that are necessary to play the game effectively – stick-handling, passing, shooting, and stick and body checking. The better a player skates, the better he or she will be at all of those skills, and the quicker a player will be able to develop and improve those skills.

Here’s a couple tips I picked up on skating:

Skating Tips: Upper Body Control
Skating Tips: Speed Kills

More Hockey Polls:

Hockey News Hockey Polls
Real GM Hockey Polls

Hockey 101 - The Basics for Beginners

Hockey 101

So You Wanna Learn has a great Hockey 101 called The Basics of Hockey. This Hockey 101 article goes over all the basics including the lines on the rink, the players on the ice, the equipment you'll need, and the rules.

Here is some crucial info form the article you'll need for Hockey 101.

Hockey 101: The Rink

The most important lines are the red line (which runs across the center of the ice) and the blue lines (which are parallel to the red line and are painted 73' from each end of the rink). The blue lines divide up the ice into three zones. Each team plays from one side of the ice, and the area behind a team's blue line is called its defending zone. The area behind the opposing team's blue line is called the attacking zone. Finally, the area between the two blue lines is called the neutral zone.

Hockey 101: The Players

There are three basic kinds of players: forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders (goalies). Unless a team is shorthanded due to a penalty or overtime, each team will have six players on the ice including the goalie. Three forwards line up at the front of the team, and they are (from left to right) the left wing, the center, and the right wing.

Hockey 101: Regulation Time and Overtime

Each game consists of three periods of twenty minutes each. The players get about fifteen minutes of rest between periods. In the regular season, if the game is tied at the end of regulation time (the end of the third period), the teams almost immediately go into overtime, which is an extra five minutes of playing time.

So There's your Hockey 101. Check out more Hockey 101 at: Tips for Beginners.

4 Reasons to Work on Your Backhand Shot

The Backhand is a tough shot to master. Most players rarely practice their backhand, so why should YOU?

Generally speaking, you should try to shoot on your forehand side whenever possible, but sometimes you have no choice but to shoot backhand.

4 Reasons to Work on Your Backhand

1. You’re on a breakaway, the goalie is way out of the crease, so you decide to deke. If you’re not confident in your backhand, you’ll always deke to your forehand. Surprise the goalie by going to your backhand. Roof it and send his water bottle flying off the top of the net. Highlight reel for sure!
   
   
2. You’re in close to the net and receive a pass on your backhand. If there’s someone on you, better to shoot backhand than to pull it to your forehand and risk getting checked. (see Eric Stall video below.)
   
   
3. You’re deep in your own end and you’ve got to clear the puck out of the zone using your backhand. A feeble backhand clearing attempt can easily result in the opposing team stealing the puck. No highlight reel for you!
   
   
4. You’re heading towards the net on your opposite wing with just one player between you and the goalie. Carrying the puck on your backhand with one hand on the stick and your other arm blocking the defender is a powerful way to cut into the slot.
   
   If you can bring the puck to your forehand, you’ve got a great chance of flipping it past the goalie. But sometimes you just run out of room. At this point, going behind the net is an option, but so is a backhand shot on goal. A shot on net isn’t always the best play, but it’s never a bad play.

Toronto’s Nikolai Kulemin Awesome Backhand Goal vs St.Louis



Eric Stall Receives a quick pass on his backhand and pops in it top shelf on Niittymaki with his backhand.

In a tight situation, a shooting backhand may be your best option. Practice the basics and you’ll have a decent backhand shot when you need it the most.

More Shooting Tips: How to Shoot Backhand
More Shooting Tips: Wrist Shot

How to Deke a Goalie

How to Deke a Goalie in Hockey

Here’s a shootout tip from Sportsnet color commentator, John Garret mentioned during the Canucks game Monday night against Colorado.

Deke or shoot?

Whenever you’re on a breakaway, if the goalie is way out of his crease, you have a better chance at dekeing, rather than shooting. The Goalie has cut off the angles, and there’s not much open net to shoot at.

If the goalie is deep back in the net, there will be more open net to aim for, so you’ll usually have better luck with a shot, rather than a deke.

John Garret played goalie for
the Canucks in the early eighties.

Goalies will Back Up

As soon as a goalie realizes the forward has a breakaway, he will quickly skate out in front of the crease, then back up as you move in closer. On a breakaway during the game, the forward is likely to be moving pretty fast, so the rate the goalie backs up is fairly similar for most breakaways.

A Shootout is NOT a Breakaway.

During a shootout, it’s a different story. The shooter has all the time in the world with nobody chasing them down. Most players still come in pretty fast on a shootout, just like during the game. They are exited, nervous, and their adrenaline is pumping. The goalie will then back up as his typical pace as well.

Slow Down.

If you decide to shoot, rather than deke the goalie, slow down as your approach to the net. Not only does slowing down give you more time to aim and shoot, but most goalies will continue to back up at their usual pace. This will open up more of the net than if you come in at breakaway speed.

So the next time you find yourself in a shootout or a taking a penalty shot, slow down, pick a corner and shoot!

Another option is to fake your initial shot, then shoot. Your fake will either freeze the goalie or get him moving the wrong way.

Here's a nice fake by Samuelson:

More Shooting Tips

Shooting Tips: Wrist Shot
Shooting Tips: Backhand Shot

Alex Kovalev Shooting Tip

Shooting Tips: Backhand Shot

The Backhand shot feels unnatural and awkward. The first time you try it, it almost seems impossible to get any power behind it.

All the same elements that go into a good wrist shot go into a strong backhand shot.

Backhand Shot Basics

• Pull the puck back to (or past) your rear leg.
• “Load Up” by leaning on your rear leg.
• Start with the puck on the heel of your stick, and roll it down the blade as you shoot.
• Transfer your weight to your front leg.
• Roll your wrists over as you follow through.
• Point the tip of your blade to where you want the puck to go.

Wrist Shot vs Backhand Shot

• The curve of the stick is working against you on your backhand. You only have the distance between the heel, and the point where the blade starts to curve to work with. Once the puck rolls past the mid-point, you’ve lost control and you can’t possibly get anything behind it. You’ve got to release the puck before the puck rolls past the mid-point of your curve.
  
  
• While pulling the puck back is important to generate power for both shots, you can actually shoot the puck fairly hard with a wrist shot, even if you don’t pull it back. No dice with the backhand. You MUST pull it back to get any power at all.
  
  
• Rolling your wrists ALL THE WAY over is crucial on your backhand. This gives you the necessary power and accuracy to have any chance of scoring. This is not easy as it requires a fair bit of strength and timing. The backside of the blade of your stick should be parallel to the ice at the end of your follow through.

While the backhand shot isn’t used very often, it’s a key weapon to have at your disposal. Practice a few shots against the boards before every game, and you will become more and more confident, and score more goals!


Zach Parise Backhand Goal against Lundqvist

More Shooting Tips: Wrist Shot
4 Reasons to Work on Your Backhand