Hockey Tips for Beginners

If you're a beginner hockey player looking for a few tips on how to improve your game, you've come to the right place. This blog if full of great hockey tips for beginners.

Here's a few tips to get you started, or try the search box in the right column.

Beginner Hockey Tip #1

Try all your new hockey equipment on before you go on the ice for the first time.
Try putting your equipment on in this order:

• Jock, Shin Guards, Hockey Socks
• Skates, Shoulder Pads, Elbow Pads
• Jersey, Helmet, Gloves

You might feel kind of silly with all your gear on inside, but you'll feel a lot worse if you put something on backwards in the dressing room at the rink. When you take the gear off, load up your hockey bag in reverse order, so the equipment you need first is on top.

Beginner Hockey Tip #2

Warm up Before You Play. Get the blood moving to prevent injuries. Get to the rink around 1/2 hour before your ice time so you're not rushed. Soon you will only need 15 minutes to get dressed. Be one of the first players on the ice so you have plenty of time to warm up. Start skating around the rink the same direction as everybody else. If it's a proper game you'll only be skating in your half of the rink, otherwise you'll have the entire ice surface. Here are a few warm up exercises for beginners:

• Place your stick in front of you at shoulder height and rotate your upper body
• Swing each leg behind you and in front
• Do some tight turns
• Do some Hockey starts and stops
• Stick handle the puck
• Take a few wrists shots on the goalie
• Do some stretches

 

Beginner Hockey Tip #3

Find out which gate (door) to get in and out of the bench. You won't be expected to jumps over the boards when you first start, but you will be expected to know which door to use. Sometimes in a pick-up game you'll simply enter the bench in the door closest to your goalie (defense) and go back on the ice through the offense door.

In a proper game (with a ref), the defense usually use one door and the forwards use the other. When the teams switch after each period, you'll likely switch doors as well. It's not a big deal, but you may avoid an unnecessary collision if you know which door you're supposed to use.

Beginner Hockey Tip #4

Take Short Shifts. Skate hard when your on the ice, then come off quickly for a rest. If you've been assigned to a set line, (usually on wing with another winger and a center) make sure you change lines when they do. By taking short shifts, you'll make lots of friends and you'll always be rested up for your next shift.

Beginner Hockey Tip #5

Shoot the Puck up the Boards. With so many options once you get the puck, it's hard to know whether to pass, shoot, or skate with the puck when you're still learning the game. When in doubt, shoot the puck hard up the boards down the ice. Another forward on your team may be able to chase down the puck. If the other teams gets to the puck first, at least they'll be farther away from your own goal along the boards. If you shoot the puck up the middle and the other team gets it, they will be in a far better scoring position, especially in your own end.

Beginner Hockey Tip #6

Keep Your Head Up. You'll be able to see what's going on around you, and it will be far easier to make a good decision. Playing with your head down is a hard habit to beak, so start this import habit now!

Hip Checks

How to throw a Hip Check

You don't see hip checks in the NHL much now a days. Players and coaches have realized that most of the time a hip check is a low risk-reward play. The risk of either taking yourself out of the play if you miss the opposing player simply isn't worth the reward of the solid hit. More often than not, both players are taken out of the play.

When all the planets do align however, the unsuspecting forward can get rocked by a well executed hip check. When lining up your opponent, be sure to bend your knees, keep your back straight, and most importantly KEEP YOU HEAD UP. Youv'e got to get low enough to so that your hip is lower than your opponent's hip. Be strong on your skates with a wide stance as you will need all the help you can get in terms of balance.

Here's a good look at the Canucks Keith Ballard hip check on Malkin:



The timing on a hip check has to be perfect. It involves two moving bodies heading in different directions where the checker has to time both his path and the path of the puck-carrier and adjust his own movement to get to that point of collision at just the right moment.

Passing Drills for Defense

Passing Drills for Defensemen

Here's a great series of passing drills that will benefit all players, but in particular defensemen.

The back and forth passing practiced in the Quad Passing, and Cross Ice Passing drills are valuable skills when playing defense. D to D teamwork often involves a lot of lateral passing, compared to up ice passes sent up to the forwards on a breakout.



Always be sure your defense partner is clearly open when making a D-to-D pass. When in the offensive zone, an intercepted pass at the blue line can easily lead to a breakaway for the opposing team.

When controlling the puck in the neutral zone or in your own end, you can help your defnse partner out by hinging. Hinging is a type of defensive zone support where you drop back behind your defense partner when he has the puck. This will give him a safe passing option and help buy some time while your team regroups. Imagine a door or a gate opening up using the player with the puck as the hinge. Hinging can also act as a safety valve when the fore-check becomes too heavy.

Best Drills for Power Skating

One of the best power skating drills to practice is called sculling. This drill helps you increase the power of your stride.

Start this drill by getting low into a hockey stance, dig in with your heels, and push all the way out for a full leg extension, then bring your feet back together directly under your body. Extend your leg without lifting your skate off the ice.

You can practice this drill forwards or backwards. When you are moving forward, the weight should be on the heel of your skate, when skating backwards, the weight should be on your toe.

You can also practice this drill by skating around a face-off circle. Keep your inner skate on the edge of the circle and pump with your outside leg.

Be sure to keep your upper body at a consistent level, as opposed to bobbing up and down as you skate.

Here's a great example of this power skating drill from M2 Hockey:


Power Skating - Skulling Drill from HockeyShare on Vimeo.

Defense: Control The Gap

How to Control the Gap

Gap control is one of the trickier decisions you will have to make when playing defense. The 'Gap' refers to the amount of space between you and an opposing player entering your defensive zone with the puck - usually a one-on-one.

The first step in controlling the gap in to skate backwards at the same speed as the oncoming forward. The is definitely no easy task. If the forward with the puck started his rush deep in his own end, I will start skating forwards hard towards my own net, then turn to face the forward skating backwards to make sure I have enough speed.

While you're still in the neutral zone, your gap can be fairly wide (maybe two stick lengths) as the forward still has a lot of options as to where he will skate, and what he'll do with the puck. Once he reaches the blue line, you've got to narrow the gap to put some pressure of the forward.

Your goal in a one-on-one situation is to push the forward to the outside lane. If you leave a gap too wide, you allow the forward to easily move to the center of the ice, where he has a better chance to score.

Be careful not to close the gap too early and over-commit to checking the forward. If he's able to deke you, and get around you, he'll have plenty of ice left to go one-on-one against your goalie.

Gap Control

The key to gap control is to keep enough space to make the forward's option to beet you on the outside look as attractive as possible, while still giving yourself a chance to force him into the corner if he takes that route.

Some players will leave too much gap once they realize the oncoming forward is a faster skater than them. While your speed will change with a faster skater, your strategy should remain the same. You still want to encourage him to go to the outside. Your goalie will always have a better chance of stopping a puck from the wing than in the slot.

Related Tip on Controlling the Gap:
How to Play Defense One-on-One

Offensive Positioning: Go Hard To The Net

Offensive Positioning:

Go Hard to the Net

You may have heard other players yell "Go hard to the net!!" but might be unsure exactly what they meant or when you're supposed to do it.

What your helpful teammates are referring to takes place during a two-man rush in the offensive zone. The player who crosses the blue line with the puck is often in an outside lane (coming down on the right or left wing.) The second forward then skates 'hard to the net', ready for a pass.

The defenseman's job on a rush is to push the forward with the puck to the outside boards. If he does his job right, eventually the forward will run out of ice and be forced to make a pass. The puck carrier may not have time to look up and see exactly where you are as he's blazing down the wing trying to fight off the defense. If he manages to get a pass by the defenseman that's checking him, the puck is going to come hard, right in front of the net. That's where you are expected to be.

Make sure you have your stick firmly on the ice with pointed at the net as you bolt toward the goal. You never know when the puck is going to come flying out of the corner, so you've got to be ready. With possibly two defensemen between you and your teammate with the puck, you may not even see it coming.

The reason you need to skate 'hard' is to keep up with the play. The puck carrier crosses the blue line first (or you will be offside) so you've got to accelerate as soon as the puck is over the blue line.

If the puck carrier gets tied up with the D-Man checking him, you may find yourself staring at the goalie before you receive a pass. No problem. Simply stop in front of the net and wait for a pass (keeping your stick on the ice.)

A common mistake many players make is to skate right past the net on the rush. It's kinda tough to score from the opposite corner of the ice, and again, your teammate 'expects' you to be in front of the net waiting or the pass he's worked so hard to get to you. Go Hard to the Net. Be ready for a pass.

Michael Grabner shows us how it's done:



If the pass doesn't come right away, try to get position on the defenseman who's covering you. Face the play and try to get between the defenseman and the net. This way, when the puck finally does arive, you'll have a clear shot at the net.

Here Mario Bliznak does just that on the first NHL goal of his career:




Watch more Hockey Tips videos on the Hockey Tips YouTube Channel.

How to Screen The Goalie

When your teammate is lining up for a shot on goal, you can play a big part to increase the chances of scoring a goal by screening the other team’s goalie.

Getting if front of the goalie’s line of site isn’t always as easy as it sounds. You’ll be standing in prime real estate with a huge target on your back square in the sights of some big-ass defenseman whose job is to get you the hell out of there any way he can. If you’re big, strong on your skates, and don’t mind taking a little bodily abuse, you can simply park yourself in front of the goalie and wait for the shot. Just be sure to stay out of the crease and don’t interfere with the goalie at all.

Another option is to stay off to the side of the net and time your screen to be in front of the goalie just when your teammate’s shoots the puck. This gives the goalie a better look at the play before the shot, but also gives you the element of surprise on the unsuspecting goalie.

No matter where you are around the front of the net you’re going to be watched closely by the defense. As soon as you get in front of the goalie’s line of site, you can expect a visit from the D-Man. An effective way to gain an extra second of screen-time is to push off a defenseman immediately prior to the shot.

Here’s an example of Burroughs doing just that on a screen that results in a goal by Kevin Bieksa.




Watch more Hockey Tips videos on the Hockey Tips YouTube Channel.

Sedin Slap Pass

No other two players come close to Henrik and Daniel Sedin's uncanny ability to play hockey together. Each seems to know the others position on the ice at all times and can anticipate the others every move.

A great example of this is their patented Slap Pass.

Before the Sedins perfected this play, pucks were either deflected near the goalie, or picked out of the air to redirect a shot that was on its way to the net or perhaps going wide.

The Sedins changed the game by setting up (usually) outside of the slot and (usually) outside of the direct shooting lane in line with the net. Sedin 'A' shoots the puck hard along the ice to Sedin 'B' who is ready to re-direct the shot towards the net with his stick on the ice. The results are usually fantastic.

This is a very tough move to practice, as you need a partner with patience and an accurate shot.

Watch and learn:



As the announcer says, it's a tough play to defend against. Usually the player closest to the goalie is the most dangerous threat, so that's the guy the defenseman covers. Unfortunately that leaves Sedin wide open to perform his magic.

Watch more Hockey Tips Videos on the Hockey Tips YouTube Channel.

Pucker UP Puck Picker-Upper

Pucker Up!

If your tired of bending over or crouching down on one knee to pick up pucks after a practice, check out the this cool new puck picker-upper called Pucker Up.

Fortunately they were nice enough to send me one to try out, and it really does work. It's light, super easy to use, and holds up to 25 Pucks. It's long cylindrical design allows it to fit it nicely your hockey bag, or you can carry it separately with the handy handle.




Pucker-up is manufactured by W.J. May & Son Ltd. based in Stouffville, Ontario.
Pick one up at Canadian Tire or check out their website at www.pucker-up.ca.

Shoot Low to Create a Rebound

When carrying the puck into the offensive zone, it's the defensemean's job to try to push you to the outside lane, away from the prime scoring area in front of the net. If you find yourself quickly apprroaching the corner of the rink, he's done his job.

Now that you've essentially run out of ice, you have 4 basic options.

1. Make a pass to an open player in front of the net
2. Take the puck with you behind the net
3. Stop hard, cut back up the ice, and look for an open teammate
4. Shoot at the net

Many players are reluctant to take a shot from the sharp angle down low because the odds of scoring are so low. While this is true on the initial shot, rebounds often create great scoring chances.

The key is to shoot LOW.

A shot to the goalies body can easily be absorbed and the goalie wont have to move his glove hand very far to catch the puck up high. But if you shoot hard and low and hit the goalie's pads or stick, the puck just may bounce out front.

If your teammate is going hard to the net (as he should be) he has a good chance of getting his stick on that juicy rebound. A lot depends on how well he's covered by the other defenseman, but it's definitely worth a shot.

Raffi Torres shows us how it's done:



Shooting low isn't always as easy as it sounds. Many of the curves on today's sticks are flanged back at the top to help you lift the puck off the ice. Be sure to roll your wrists over during the shot and point the toe of your stick blade at the net to keep the puck low and on target.

As the old saying goes; A shot on goal is never a bad play. While there may be better plays, it's definitely true in this case.

Watch more Hockey Tips Videos on the Hockey Tips YouTube Channel.

One Timer Slap Shot

How to Shoot a One-Timer

A One-timer is simply a slap shot that you shoot as soon as you receive the puck.  Your stick only makes contact with the puck once.

The big advantage to any slap shot is the speed of the shot. Fast, hard shots are harder for the goalie to stop. What you gain in power, you loose in precision and accuracy compared to a wrist, or snap shot.

The goal of a one-timer is get the the puck off fast, hard, and on-net. If you take the time to receive the pass and aim, the goalie has a chance to move back into position and take a way a prime scoring chance.

The key is timing, and it's not easy. You've got to wind up for your shot before the puck arrives. You'll find a short, low windup at about knee level and moving your lower hand down on your stick and getting as low as possible will help. You've got to practice. It's way too easy to fan on your shot, or miss the net if the first time you try a one-timer is in a game. Have a buddy feed you some pucks before a game and blast the into the corner during a warm-up before your next game.

The best time to try a one-timer is when the goalie is out of position. This often happens on cross-ice passes in front of the net. The goalie is setup initially for the player with the puck on one side, then has to quickly move to the other side of the for the one-timer. This play works best with fast, crisp passes. A soft pass usually gives the goalie too much time.

Here's a great example of a one-timer. Malkin is down so low he's practically down on one knee.



Here's the infamous Phaneuf One-timer to Luongo's mask.



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