Hockey Shooting Tips

Shooting from the Opposite Wing

One of the advantages of approaching the opponents net on your opposite wing (left handed shooter on the right wing and right handed shooters on the left wing) is that the angle of your shot is closer to the net.

When shooting from your 'regular' side, the puck has to travel at a sharper angle, so it's easier for the goalie to stop.

Here's a great example from Jeff Tambellini:



Notice how he is shooting off his inside (left) leg? This is an important skill to learn to give you more power from your wrist shot when shooting form the opposite wing. You can easily practice this during the warm-up before your next game while everyone is circling the net. Try to place as much weight as possible on your inside leg while still keeping your balance. Power will come with practice.

Here's the same play again 3 day s later. This shooting tip has obviously helped Jeff along the way.

Hockey Defensive Positioning

Always Cover the Front of the Net

When playing hockey in the defensive zone, the key to positioning is communication with your defense partner:
Talk to each other.

• Let your defense partner know when he has time, and when he has a 'man-on.'
• Let your defense partner know where you are.
• Call for the puck when you're open for a pass behind the net.

When it comes to defensive positioning, your primary responsibility is to control the slot area. This is the prime scoring area for the other team in front of your net. Let your wingers worry about covering the point men.

When one D-man is in the corner, the other must cover the front of the net. If you decide to head into the opposite corner that you started your shift, let your partner know. Switching sides is quite common on defense, but you've got to communicate with each other. You definitely don't want to caught out of position with both of you in the corner with nobody covering the slot.

Forwards on the other team will often float in an out of the slot. Often you'll ask yourself; Who should I cover? A good rule of thumb is to cover the most dangerous player. That will usually be the offensive player closest to the front of the net, but it may also be the star player on the other team whose just one stride farther away. Trust your goalie to stop the guy who using his stick to keep himself upright on the ice.

Great video on Hockey Defensive Positioning:

Defensive Positioning Tips:

• Stick to your zone
• Challenge the puck carrier when the puck is in your zone, otherwise cover the open man.
• Wingers: Cover the point. Don't come in past the hash-marks.
• Centers: Don't chase the puck

Check out excellent DVD's on defense at Championship Productions - where the coaches shop.

More Hockey Tips on: Defense and Positioning.

Hockey Defense Drills

Helper Drill

Here's a great drill from Sportvideos.com that encourages defensemen to scan the ice before they receive the puck when regrouping in the neutral zone.




In this drill, the defenseman starts on either size of the ice at the center line and skates backwards between two cones at the center ice face-off circle.

The defenseman then looks to both sides of the ice to see not only where the puck is coming from, but also to see which teammates are open.He then makes a quick pass to the open player at the other side of the ice, and skates around to the front of the cones and repeats the drill on the other side.

A very common mistake is to call for a pass without having any idea what you will do with the puck once you get it. By scanning the ice before you receive the pass, you can quickly move the puck on to your teammate's stick. You may even be able to practice this drill during your team's warm up before a game (without the cones.)


Breakout Drills DVD

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.

How to Shoot the Puck into the Offensive Zone

Shooting the Puck in Deep

Often when you have no play in the neutral zone (between the two blue lines) all you can do is dump the puck in deep and hope one of your own players can get the puck back for your team.

Here's how the Sedins do it:



Instead of ringing the puck around the boards, Daniel Sedin shoots the puck in off the end boards at the far side of the net. The puck then bounces back up the far boards where Henrik can retrieve the puck and make a stunning play.

Cliff Ronning Positioning Hockey Tips

Cliff Ronning Positioning Tips

Cliff Ronning is obviously a huge fan of Jannik Hansen.

Jannik Hansen is constantly moving his feat, is always facing the play, and is very aware of where his teammates are. Above all, he loves to score goals.

In this highlight reel, Ronning points out Jannik Hensen excellent work habbits and natural goal scoring ability.



Hansen is never standing in one place for very long. Even if front of the net, he his constantly moving - adjusting his position to be in the best place to score.

If you're interested in finding out what Cliff Ronning is up to these days, check out his new custom hockey stick company BASE.

Hockey Books for Christmas Gifts

Here's some great Hockey Book ideas that will make great Christmas gifts for any Hockey player. The reviews are from Amazon. Click on each book to read more reviews.

Sports Illustrated has put together the definitive book about the sport of ice hockey, drawing on its article archives and its photo library. This is a marvelous book, with huge, gorgeous color photographs. If you are a hockey fan, this tome is a valuable edition to your library. It also makes a great gift. The book is best when it draws on its vintage files of the hockey greats. The best of the book, in this fan's opinion, are the stories and photos that covered the golden age of the NHL, immediately after World War II, when the NHL consisted of only six teams.

The minuscule number of teams (Montreal Canadians, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks and the New York Rangers) meant that only the cream of the crop in hockey made the big leagues.




The Ovechkin Project
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Hockeys Most Dangerous Player

The book chronicles Ovechkin’s life in Russia, his time with Moscow Dynamo and days in the World Juniors. It details the many factors – including the signing of Jaromir Jagr and the timing of Ovechkin’s birthday – that needed to happen in order to get him to Washington. It narrates many familiar moments, such as the nationally televised game on Super Bowl Sunday. It talks about the disappointments last season in the Olympics and playoffs, the suspensions, and the NHL awards ceremony in Las Vegas. Readers also get a look into related stories, such as the rise of Bruce Boudreau and how that benefited Mike Green and David Steckel in particular.



Tough Guy: My Life on the Edge - Bob Probert
If you were a hockey fan during Bob Probert's career on the ice you will find this book an interesting read. It is one of the better written sports autobiographies, making it an easy read; a credit to Kirstie MacLellan Day. Where other hockey story books give you disjointed stories in time, Probert's book provides a coherent continuous timeline. Be prepared for graphic description of a rough and tumble life outside of the arena. His book sure gives you insight into other players, team management and some politic of the league. 







Hockey's Most Wanted

67 different Top 10 lists are included ranging from best players (by position); draft bargains and busts; biggest, smallest, oldest, and youngest players; and even the craziest fans. I bought this for my husband, who is a hockey broadcaster and trivia buff. He knew some of the stuff, but still laughs at the stuff he didn't know or forgot he knew. I like the explanations of players nicknames and stories about crazy owners. It's fun to pick up and read a list or two. It is indexed if you are looking for a certain player. Lots of fun for the fan!





The Greatest Hockey Stories Ever Told: The Finest Writers on Ice.

This mini-anthology has a wide range of hockey stories from one written by the American, Pulitzer-winning author William Faulkner (this story was junk, though well written if you like Faulkner) to life on the road as a minor league player hoping to be called up (poignantly and rawly written like the life itself), to a homily to Toe Blake, to a portrait of The Great One (Gretzky) by Peter Gzowski, to how to make your own backyard rink.

The quality of writing is generally very good and virtually every story offers an interesting perspective on the game. Stories are short so you can read one on the subway or before you go to bed at night. All in all, a decent hard cover to have on your bookshelf.


The Biggest Book of Hockey Trivia

I was looking for a book that wasn't a dummies book that had all the info I was looking for, this is a great book but not exactly what I was looking for. Instead of info and facts it gave me a quis and a million questions, the answers are on the back but in the end it doesn't tell you what you need to know to understand the game.








For the Love of Hockey: Hockey Stars' Personal Stories

This book is necessary for all true hockey fans. The book tells the stories of some of the great stars of the game from today and yesterday. The best part of the book is that it is written in their own words.