Boston Hockey Education

Interview with Philadelpia Flyers' Scout Pat Burke

2010-11-29T22:15:00.000-08:00

Please give the readers a little background information on yourself.

I am in my fifth year as an NHL scout for the Philadelphia Flyers. Over the last four years my primary scouting area has been the NCAA, although in the last year or so I have changed to doing more AHL and NHL

What are the 3 biggest things you look for in a player (on ice) when scouting for the Flyers?

Skating, intelligence, and work ethic.

What are the 3 biggest things you look for in a player off of the ice?

I think I can sum it up in one word- character. Work ethic and leadership are probably the two biggest components of that. At lower levels, if a player does not outwork his teammates, he has no chance to succeed at higher levels.

Can you give us some insight into the scouting process for the pros? How does it work?

Essentially we have amateur scouts (who cover draft eligible players) and pro scouts (who cover drafted players at the college, AHL, and NHL levels). Beyond that, it's not overly complicated- we go out and see as many teams as we can as many times as we can. Our scouts all cover their own areas, then cross over into other areas as needed to get more eyes on more players.

What should college players do to help get noticed by pro teams? Will you simply find the talent or can college kids set themselves up for maximum exposure somehow?

I think the first thing is to out-work other players. One of the ways scouts cull their lists is by calling or meeting with college coaches. If players are hard workers and character kids, a coach is far more likely to bring them up to a scout because they know those players won't let them down at the next level. While we do generally take pride in being able to "find the talent" no matter where they play, a player's work ethic on and off the ice is something within his control that can increase his exposure.

Please explain what the pros and cons are of a top prospect going to an american college vs. major juniors in terms of making the NHL one day.

It really depends on the player. For top players such as Jeff Carter or Chris Pronger who stepped into the NHL at young ages and played well, there was no need for them to worry about taking classes and doing anything other than playing hockey. For kids who need more time to develop physically and mentally, the extra time in college may be significant for their development. We can see this in the amount of NCAA players who go undrafted then become highly sought after free agents at the end of their college career. Essentially, there are pluses and minuses to both systems, and players should take a close look at both options and do what is best for them.

What is your biggest advice for someone who loves hockey and is looking to dive in and make their living in hockey?

Simply to dive in (and this will go to your next question as well). Most people who ask me about what it takes to work in hockey don't like my answer- either be a former NHL player or start working at the low levels and work your way up. AHL teams and college teams constantly need energetic, motivated people who are willing to work long hours (often for low pay) in order to build up a resume. Too many people think that just by calling an NHL team, they can step into an NHL job. If you're a college student, you should be playing or working for your school's team. If you're out of school, I would suggest looking into internships with NCAA, AHL, or, if you're lucky, NHL teams. I was lucky because of my upbringing- most people will not be able to step right into a job with an NHL team.

How would one go about getting an NHL scouting job?

What are your career goals? How are you going about attaining them?

While I would love to run my own team someday, my goal on an everyday basis is just to do whatever I can to help the Flyers win. I feel that by working hard and doing that, I will improve, and that by being associated with a winning team I will learn a great deal about building a winner. In addition, I am currently in law school to increase my value to a team in terms of contract negotiations.

How does a scout improve his skills?

Simply by going to games. Every time you go to the rink, you learn something. The more games you see (at any level), the more you learn about hockey. You get to see how kids progress from year to year and level to level, and you learn from the kids you identified correctly and the kids you misidentified.

What is your best advise for a young player who is on the border of being talented enough for the pros?

Work. However hard you think you're working, I promise you do not work as hard as the laziest player on the Flyers. Some nights you feel sore, or the puck is bouncing the wrong way, or the other team is just better- but the one thing a player can control every night and every shift is how hard he works.

Interview with Tri-City Storm Asst Coach Eric Fink

2010-11-29T22:04:00.000-08:00

Please give the readers a little background information on yourself.

My name is Eric Fink and I am an Assistant Coach for the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League (USHL). This is my ninth year as a hockey coach and second year in Tri-City and the USHL. Prior to Tri-City, I was an Assistant in the North American Hockey League in Owatonna, MN with the Owatonna Express. I also spent one year at Augsburg College (NCAA Division III) and four years with the Twin Cities Northern Lights (Junior B, Minnesota Junior Hockey League).

What are the 3 biggest things you look for in a player (on ice) when recruiting for your junior team?

There are a lot of factors that come into play when you are evaluating a player and each team is a little different depending upon the style of there play. In Tri-City, we put an emphasis on these three things.

1. Competitiveness - There are many skilled players, but many lack the competitiveness and drive to compete night after night and bring the same intensity level. Blocking shots, finishing your checks, refusing to lose, are qualities that fit into this category. We aren't looking for guys who are willing to do these things, we are looking for guys who are eager to do these things. This is the most important aspect that we look for and the players that we have that are the most successful are our most competitive.

2. Skill - A lot of times players don't understand the guys at higher levels don't always do something that they can't, they just do everything a little better. Our guys skate a little faster, shoot a little harder and more accurately, handle the puck a little better, and compete a little harder then guys at lower levels. It's rarely a big secret, you need to do the ordinary things better then everyone else.

3. Character - Being and elite level athlete takes a sacrifice that not all people can commit to. The very best players practice with a purpose every day, eat right, work out hard when the coaching staff isn't around. You can include school, being a good person and teammate, and making smart life decisions in this category as well.

What are the 3 biggest things you look for in a player off of the ice?

1. Academics - Given our demanding schedule, we need guys who are self-motivated academically. Not only do they need to perform well but also be able to manage their time well enough to make up class work that they might miss in a timely fashion.

2. Persistence - You can tell a lot about an athlete by how persistent they are towards finding solutions. If a person takes short cuts or quits easy, this usually translates to the ice in some form.

3. Good People - Plain and simple. Some guys are always looking for loop holes to team rules then arguing that there wasn't a rule for it. Good people make decisions based off of their values. These players are always the coaches favorites.

Can you give us some insight into the recruiting process for your junior team? Is it simply holding tryouts or do you actively seek out players?

We have a head scout who is in charge of our scouting. He has a staff that is spread out throughout North American. They attend games and input all the information into a software program called Rink Net. This information is then visible to our Head Coach/General Manger. He checks it daily for reports on players and then we speak with people in that area that we might know to gather more information on the athlete. The USHL holds two league drafts in May which are available online for all to view live; a Futures draft (younger players) and the Entry draft (both older and younger players). After the draft, teams are allowed to contact players that were not drafted to attend their tryout camp. The vetrans, drafted players, and undrafted players then gather for the camp. The team is selected at this tryout.

What should high school/midget players do to help get noticed by junior teams?

Be a good player. Practice hard and perform well every time you step on the ice. If you are inconsistent, your odds of playing at a higher level decrease. Every scout dreams of finding that hidden player that nobody else knows about so everyone is always trying to make that happen. And then, if you find that you have not received the attention that you deserve as a player, then ask your coach to help you. With information so easy to access with the internet and email, it's very easy to contact a mass amount of people with just a few clicks.

What is your biggest advice for someone who loves hockey and is looking to dive in and make their living in hockey?

If you work hard, are a good person, and worry less about moving yourself up and more about helping others move up. Generally, things will go your way. I'm sure you'll have your share of tough times, but if you learn from them, you're setting yourself up for the future.

What made you want to be a coach?

I had great coaches growing up and I got that image of myself doing that at a young age. I started drawing plays and evaluating things when I was very young to make up for a lack of skill. When not having skill caught up to me, I was fortunate to get an opportunity to give coaching a try and I was addicted immediately.

How does a coach improve their skills?

I guess I'm not sure how others do it but we try to learn as much as we can from other teams. Whether we see something in the USHL that other teams are doing, the NCAA, Midget, NHL, etc. It doesn't matter, we gather as much information as we can and we use it if possible. If not, we store it away for when it might be a better fit.

I like to read a lot. There are lots of great books that have great ideas to get you thinking about things in a different way. They don't have to be just hockey either. I've stolen drills from a soccer book before and I've heard of others using basketball set plays on the Power Play as well. You'd be surprised. I highly recommend "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle. If you have a book recommendation...please email me. I am always looking.

Lastly, we just talk to others and ask. If we see something we like, we try to get in touch with someone that knows how to do it and we ask. More often then not, they are very willing to share the concepts behind it.

What are the 3 most important things to do to ensure you're running effective practices?

Be organized - Communicate clearly - Correct mistakes right away - Make it fun

Have a plan. Know how much time you have on the ice, how many pucks you'll have, have water ready, etc. Make sure all your assistants are aware of the plan so that no time is wasted. Communicate with the players so that they understand exactly what is expected of them. Everyone learns differently, so try to take that into account as you are communicating. Correct mistakes that you see players making right away. Its frustrating to see a youth team on the ice doing a drill then four coaches in the corner talking about something or watching. Players need immediate feedback. Lastly, make it fun.

Is there anything you want to promote, plug, or have our readers take a look at? (Website link, facebook, etc...)

The United States Hockey League website is www.ushl.com and it has great information on our league and what it can offer you as a student-athlete. Our team website is www.stormhockey.com and they do a fantastic job keeping it updated with video, interviews, articles, etc. Lastly, if anyone has any handouts, coaching articles, articles that our players would learn from, or books that I should read. Please email me eric@stormhockey.com

Five Essential Movements For Hockey Players by Cole Clifford

2010-11-17T22:22:00.000-08:00

Hockey is a sport of intensity, physical contact, stamina, strength, and speed. Because there is such a high level of stress on the body during hockey competition, players need to work hard in the weight room to prepare their bodies for the demands of the game. In addition, they need to work intelligently and come up with a training plan appropriate to their goal, which is to perform better on the ice.
By including these five essential movements into your program, you’ll have a leg up on the competition.

Squats
It has become a cliché, but squats are the “king of all lifts.” If players increase their squats, they’ll reap many benefits on the ice.
The first benefit of increasing your squat is full body strength development. Overall strength on the ice allows you to hit harder, shoot faster, battle with more strength in the corners, and take care of business in front of the net. Squatting develops the hamstrings, quads, glutes, hips, and lower back, which are the crucial muscles used when skating. All things being equal, an increased squat means a faster skater with more powerful strides. Being able to skate faster will lead to increased performance.
For ill-prepared players, the end of the third period can be a time for dead legs. Players who are used to squatting relatively heavy weight will be more likely to have “fresh” legs because they will have adapted to an increased workload on their muscles. The same thing applies to practice. If you have “fresh” legs at the end of practice, you can mentally focus more on skill work and spend less time worrying about how tired your legs feel.
Squats may be most essential for goalies. Goalies are constantly in a crouched position. They’re always getting up from their knees when in the butterfly, driving from side to side while shuffling or moving with the t-glide, and recovering from rebounds. All of these tasks require strong leg and back muscles in order to perform these movements quickly and with the same strength at the end of the game that they had at the beginning.

Deadlifts
The deadlift is another full body power exercise. It hammers your entire posterior chain, which consists of your hamstrings, glutes, and back. A strong posterior chain helps you remain upright and helps improve skating speed and overall leg strength in a similar way as the squat.
Grip, hand, and forearm strength are crucial for getting off a quick wrist or snap shot. By holding the bar during the deadlift, you train all of these muscles. It’s also helpful for an “enforcer” to have a strong grip in case of a hockey fight, where grabbing and clinging to his opponents’ jersey
could be the difference between a win and a mouthful of broken teeth.
The deadlift also builds up your traps, a muscle group at the top of your back. One key component of having big traps is that they act as protection for your neck, which is an otherwise vulnerable body part. In a sport with so much physical contact, it’s vital to remain safe. Having big, strong traps will help.

Weighted abdominal work
Hockey is played on a slippery surface while standing on very thin blades. Stabilization is a vital component of keeping yourself upright while skating and when taking on a hard body check. Your abdominals and obloques are the key muscles in creating this stability.
The reason that I say weighted abdominal work instead of just abdominal work is because some people have visions of doing hundreds of crunches when they work their abdominals. This won’t help you play hockey one bit. However, grabbing dumbbells, plates, a cable pulley handle, a jump stretch band, or anything else that provides resistance and doing abdominal exercises will help strengthen your abdominals. In turn, it will help you stabilize yourself on the ice.

Rotational movements
Like the weighted abdominal work, rotational movements will help you stabilize yourself on the ice by working your “core” muscles. They’ll also help you increase your shot strength. If you think about taking a hard slap shot or wrist shot, your legs remain relatively stationary while your upper body rotates, driving your stick into the puck and driving the puck toward the net. By increasing rotational strength, you’ll increase shot strength as long as your shooting form and technique are sound.
The best exercises for increasing rotational strength are sledge hammer swings, wood choppers with a cable pulley, medicine ball movements, rotations while holding a plate, and anything else that forces your legs to stay stationary while your upper body moves side to side.

Prowler pushing/sled dragging
Pushing the Prowler and pulling the sled are two of the greatest ways to strengthen the skating muscles as well as increase conditioning for hockey players. Pushing the Prowler requires you to drive your legs into the ground in order to get the sled to move. This is similar to pushing off of your outside edges when you’re skating at full speed.
Dragging the sled also has a similar effect. When you drag a sled, it takes a toll on your legs and posterior chain muscles. If you read about the importance of squatting and deadlifting, you’ll remember that having strong legs and a strong posterior chain have many benefits to a hockey player’s on ice performance.
These five movements will help hockey players of all levels achieve more success in their sport. Although they are sometimes overlooked, keep in mind that every program needs balance. You need to be benching and rowing and performing mobility work, pre-habilitation/rehabilitation, and flexibility training as well. However, these essential movements will give you the most “bang for your buck” on the ice.
I hope hockey players and coaches continue to educate themselves and start giving strength and conditioning the attention it deserves. It will help our athletes succeed and help the overall quality of the game. So get in the weight room and start performing these essential movements if you haven’t been already!
Cole Clifford is the owner and head trainer at South Shore Strength and Conditioning, a brand new facility thirty minutes south of Boston, Massachusetts. He is also the owner and head coach of Next Level Goaltending and works as a high school goaltending/assistant bench coach and a youth coach for various hockey organizations in Massachusetts. Along with his hockey experience, Cole is a competitive powerlifter, personal trainer, and a middle school social studies teacher. For more information, contact him at SouthShoreSC@gmail.com.

Off-Ice Conditioning for Hockey Players by Cole Clifford

2010-11-17T22:19:00.000-08:00

For years, coaches have been failing to attain maximum results when putting their hockey players on an off-ice conditioning program. Much of this comes from misunderstandings. Typically, an unknowing coach will put far too much emphasis on aerobic training despite its near uselessness in hockey specific conditioning. For example, timed miles, which I have performed as a player and have seen many head coaches require that their players perform, have very little transition to a hockey player’s game related physical preparation. There is a better way—high intensity interval training.
High intensity interval training (HIIT) is training at all out intensity for a short interval of time followed by an interval of rest or decreased intensity. It is effective for hockey specific conditioning because it simulates a shift during the actual athletic competition. If your players train to “go all out” for 30–45-second intervals, they’ll be able to replicate the effort on the ice for a full 30–45-second shift. This is because their central nervous system, legs, core, and the rest of their bodies are used to a strenuous workload for that specific period of time.
The Workout: “Hockey Game” Simulation Intervals
Here’s the deal. Split the team into three groups or three lines as used in games. The first “shift” will be the first line working while lines two and three rest. The second “shift” will be line two working while lines one and three rest and so on. There are three, 15-minute periods (or the duration of your periods/games).
Warm up
Make sure that your players warm up properly before they train. Start off with a warm-up lap or some light jump rope movements to get the blood flowing throughout the entire body. Continue the warm up with butt kicks, high knees, body weight lunges, and half speed sprints for 15 yards in order to prepare their muscles for the work to come. Please keep in mind that the players shouldn’t stretch their muscles until they’ve properly warmed up. Doing so could lead to pulled or torn muscles and other injuries.
Sample workout
All work should be performed at full speed. The “shifts” or intervals are 30 seconds of work with 60 seconds of rest.
Period 1
First shift (15:00–13:30 includes all three lines), prisoner squats
Second shift (13:30–12:00), mountain climbers
Third shift (12:00–10:30), burpees
Fourth shift (10:30–9:00), push-ups
Fifth shift (9:00–7:30), sit-ups
Sixth shift (7:30–6:00), squat jumps
Seventh shift (6:00–4:30), jumping jacks
Eighth shift (4:30–3:00), split squat jumps
Ninth shift (3:00–1:30), wide outs
Tenth shift (1:30–0:00), high knees with up/downs (football style)
Intermission, three minutes (or the duration of the intermission during your team’s games)
Second period: Repeat or switch exercises.
Third period: Repeat or switch exercises.
For some variation, allow the lines to “double shift” and go every other “shift” (work for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds) as your better players may do at the end of a game.
As the weeks/workouts go on and your players get in better shape, allow the shifts to go to 45 seconds to one minute. If your players aren’t ready for 30 seconds, start with a shorter interval and work up to a longer “shift.”
Hopefully, coaches reading this article will come out of the dark ages and stop having their players do endless “cardio.” It’s time to optimize conditioning for hockey players in order to maximize on-ice performance.

Craig Ballantyne- Strength and Conditioning For Hockey

2010-11-17T22:04:00.000-08:00


TAKEN WITH PERMISSION FROM CRAIG BALLANTYNE FROM http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cb7.htm

By: Craig Ballantyne

As they watch the Stanley Cup finals, this is the time of year where many young hockey players begin to dream of next season. In North America, most players are on the ice year round, with only small breaks between winter hockey and summer hockey. And even if a player does not commit to a summer team, almost all players are back on the ice by mid-August.
With these timelines in mind, CB ATHLETICS has developed an 8-week preparatory program for hockey.

Click Image To Enlarge.
Eight Week Program.

Strength Training From The Coaches

Coach Peter Twist:

Strength and Conditioning Coach Peter Twist of the Vancouver Canucks says, "For hockey performance, it is most important to build strength and flexibility in the 'speed center.' This includes the abdominals, low back, hip flexors, hip extensors, adductors, abductors, and glutes."¹

Coach Randy Lee:

Strength and Conditioning Coach Randy Lee of the Ottawa Senators adds, "Train for athleticism and a strong core. We use lots of single leg exercises, even doing dumbbell rows on a single leg. We also use the stability ball for some exercises. We do this all year round and really see the benefits, even during the season.

"These exercises even benefit the guys that are already very strong in traditional exercises. Single-leg exercises make players much more stable on the ice and help the players from getting knocked off the puck." When it comes to strength training, experienced coaches have many valuable tips.

Charles Poliquin:

Charles Poliquin recommends the use of the step-up over the use of the squat in development of skating power.¹ While it is great for all of these muscles to be strong, it is also important for the player to be able to move explosively.

Coach Mike Gough:

Coach Mike Gough offers an intensive and comprehensive hockey (and football!) preparation program each summer in Ottawa, Ontario. When asked to summarize his training philosophy, Mike said, "Hockey demands high levels of speed, power, agility and anaerobic fitness.

"A comprehensive strength-training program is the foundation of a hockey specific conditioning program. But even more important are the Speed, Agility, Plyometric and Anaerobic training which is what makes the difference with elevating on-ice performance. I feel that this type of training takes my athletes to the next level."

Increases in speed, footspeed, power and lactic acid tolerance are the keys to elevating an athlete's hockey performance. I suggest 3 intense speed-agility-plyometric sessions per week complemented with three to four strength training sessions per week.

As the season draws near, I usually lighten up on the volume (reducing it to only 2 strength sessions) as the athletes are conditioning on-ice as well." You can learn more about Coach Gough's program and experience at www.optperformance.com and www.cbathletics.com.

Many players may ask why the emphasis is not on bench presses and leg extensions? Coach Gough explains the value of more important explosive training, "Train at high speeds.

Do every speed, agility and plyometric drill as fast and as explosive as possible. Constantly change exercises or drills to challenge the body, increase the difficulty, and add stability and balance into drills. Remember we must not only train the muscles but also the brain!"

Becoming Informed:

It is very different to prescribe a "one size fits all" program over the Internet. As a player, it is your best bet to become informed and to identify your priorities over the off-season. What is holding you back from being the best player you can be? If it is on-ice quickness, then focus on developing explosiveness outside of the weight room.

If you simply need to gain muscle, then you may want to include up to 4 weight workouts per week, plus a major overhaul on the nutrition program to make sure you are eating properly. The MASSIVE ACTION program has all the details for that.

The CB ATHLETICS hockey program and MASSIVE ACTION manual are not restricted to hockey players, as both will benefit all athletes in power sports. The speed-agility-conditioning sessions are also excellent for all athletes.

Strength Training Summary:

ou don't need to spend 5 days a week in the gym following a bodybuilding program. The CB ATHLETICS program recommends strength training only 2 days per week for most athletes, with the option of up to 4 workouts per week.

Focus on leg strength. Pro hockey players have strong and massive legs that enable fast skating, puck control, balance, and injury prevention.

Leg exercises should be modified to address the groin. Sport-specific training decreases early season injuries.

Some exercises should be modified so that they are performed in a single-leg stance to help improve balance, as recommended by Randy Lee.

No direct lat work is necessary, just upper back work. Emphasize rowing movements.

Abdominal work can be done for strength and explosiveness (using medicine ball drills - wait for an upcoming newsletter that will describe a wide variety of drills).

References

Journal of Hockey Conditioning and Player Development. 2(2): 6-9, 1997.

56 Days Till Camp: Sample 8-Week Strength & Speed Program.

With the belief that many players will be back on the ice as early as mid-August or early September, the following 8-week program arrives just in time to help them develop the strength and speed necessary to make next season their best ever.
The 8-week program will follow a 7-day training schedule, outlined below. However, the program will change quite dramatically over time as strength is developed and explosiveness and agility become the training goal.

Day 1 - Speed-agility-conditioning

Day 2 - Upper-Body Strength Training - Conditioning Intervals

Day 3 - Active Rest

Day 4 - Speed-agility

Day 5 - Lower-Body Strength Training

Day 6 - Speed-agility-conditioning

Day 7 - Active Rest

According to Dr. Duncan MacDougall, professor emeritus of McMaster University, hockey players need to begin training in the pre-season for oxygen extraction and muscle strength.
As the pre-season approaches, interval training should become more intense and muscle power should be the focus of training.
Preferably, more than 8 weeks is scheduled for training, but unfortunately, many players take a long rest between their last playoff game and their first off-season workout.
Whatever your current fitness, don't get caught up in the trap thinking more is better.
According to neuromuscular physiology expert Dr. Digby Sale, "It should be noted that many speed and power athletes are probably doing too much, especially low intensity, high volume activity that may be used simply to kill time in a training session." Don't workout simply for the sake of training, workout with a plan!

Week 1-3:

Start smart. If you haven't trained in 2 weeks, you are going to be sore if you jump right back into a full workout. If this is the case for you, perform half the volume listed in your first week. CB ATHLETICS also has valuable advanced recovery tips for all athletes in the archives thanks to Strength and Conditioning Coach Dr. Jonathon Fowles, Ph.D.

Dr. Fowles believes that athletes that don't follow the advanced recovery tips "end up with dead legs in a week. This is one area of research that I am using to tailor into my advanced training area, to balance advanced training with advanced recovery." Expect more exciting news on advanced recovery from Dr. Fowles and his lab at Acadia University in the future.

Day 1: Speed-Agility-Conditioning.

Follow the workout guideline found in ISSUE #74. Spend extra time in the warm-up, making sure to go through the circuit 3 times. Perform only 1 set of each plyometric drill in week 1 and add one set each week.

Pick 2 agility drills and do only 2-3 reps in week 1, adding a repetition each week. Next, grab your medicine ball and do 2-3 sets of lying abdominal tosses and standing rotational tosses. Finally, finish your workout with three sprint intervals of 30 seconds. Follow up with the advanced recovery techniques.

Day 2: Upper Body Strength Training. (2-4 sets of 8-10 repetitions per set)

Medium-grip Bench Press

Barbell Row or Seated Row

Dumbbell Shoulder press

Shrug

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Week 1-3: Day 2 Upper Body Strength Training.

Conditioning Intervals:

The intervals on this day will be longer than on day 1. For a complete description, check out the "Sport-specific" interval newsletter.

Each interval should last 2-3 minutes and you should reach your maximum heart rate by the end of the interval. Each rest interval should be of equal length.

Begin with 3 intervals in week 1, and add 1 interval per week.

Follow up with advanced recovery techniques.

Day 3: Active Rest.

Day 4: Speed-agility.

Perform a similar routine to day 1. However, choose different drills for plyometrics, agility, and medicine ball work. There are no intervals on this day.

Day 5: Lower Body Strength Training (2-4 sets of 8-10 repetitions per set)

Wide-stance Squat [ online ]

Stiff-leg Deadlift [ online ]

1-2 ab exercises [ online ]

3 sets of low back extensions (10-20 reps)

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Week 1-3: Day 5 Lower Body Strength Training.

Day 6: Speed-Agility-Conditioning.

Perform the workout as in day 1, but finish your workout with 5 intervals of 30 seconds. Follow-up with advanced recovery techniques.

Day 7: Active Rest.

Week 4-6: Training To Meet Your Individual Needs!

Researchers have looked at the relationship between different jumps and skating performance. The static squat jump had the greatest correlation to the near blue line time, suggesting that the squat jump provides a great estimate of starting strength. Chances are that if you improve your squat strength, you will also improve your skating start.

Depth jump performance had the greatest association with fast skating to the far blue line. This indicates higher intensity repeated jumps (i.e. sets of 6 squat jumps) may be more effective in helping skaters become faster over longer distances because the athlete will become better at using stored energy from the previous stride. You can see why all types of jump training are recommended for a successful overall program.

Click Image To Enlarge. Depth Jump.

For strength workouts, athletes must choose their sets and reps to meet their goals. Players looking to put on mass will benefit from more volume (3-4 sets per exercise and 6-10 reps per set). They must also make sure to consume additional calories.

In contrast, athletes that simply want to increase maximal strength can use heavier weights and fewer reps per set (2-5 sets of 2-5 reps per exercise).

Day 1: Speed-Agility-Conditioning.

Adjust your workout to emphasize the jumps that will improve your performance the most. Choose 2-3 jumping drills and perform 3-5 sets of each. Once you notice your performance and technique dropping, move on to the next drill.

If agility is your weakness, place a greater emphasis on performing several different agility drills. Make sure to move with a bend in your knees and your head up, just as you will on the ice. Mike Gough uses the speed ladder to really help his guys with agility, "I feel that the Speed Ladder has a great transfer ability to on-ice movements.

"I think that it is especially great for defensemen doing patterns backwards keeping their head up, just like they are challenged by a forward on-ice. Also they usually have slow feet so it's great."

For medicine ball work, there are numerous exercises you can choose from. If you need to concentrate on explosiveness, perform overhead throws with the ball, releasing it at the top of the movement. You can also carry the medicine ball through your agility drills to increase the difficulty. Finish off with a couple of medicine ball-based ab exercises.

Overhead Throw.

How is your conditioning? If you just can't make it through a double-shift, keep pushing on the intervals. Add more intervals or increase the intensity and decrease the rest between intervals. You will definitely need to follow up with the advanced recovery techniques after these workouts.

Day 2: Upper Body Strength Training.

Close-grip Bench Press

Row

Single-leg Standing Shoulder Press

Single-leg DB Row

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Week 4-6: Day 2 Upper Body Strength Training. Click Here For A Printable Log Of Week 4-6: Day 2 Upper Body Strength Training For Mass Gain.

Conditioning Intervals:

Perform up to 6 sets of 2-minute intervals.

Follow up with advanced recovery techniques.

Day 3: Active Rest.

Day 4: Speed-Agility.

Day 5: Lower Body Strength Training.

Lateral Step-up [ online ]

Wide-stance Deadlift [ online ]

Reverse Lunge or Single-leg Squat

Abs

Low back extensions

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Week 4-6: Day 5 Lower Body Strength Training. Click Here For A Printable Log Of Week 4-6: Day 5 Lower Body Strength Training For Mass Gain.

Day 6: Speed-Agility-Conditioning.

In this workout, perform the warm-up, jumps, agilities, and medicine ball work as you normally would. However, in place of the sprint intervals, you can try an alternative form of conditioning called sled pulling. You will need a 100-200 foot dragging space, a sled (toboggan, weighted tire, etc.), and some weights that you can throw on the sled.

Drag the sled for up to 6 intervals of 200 feet. Train with a partner so you rest while they pull. You can walk forwards, backwards, and laterally. All of these movements will condition your legs in a manner you have not experienced before.

Alternatively, you may use wheelbarrow walks (push a loaded wheelbarrow). Also, you have no worries about looking a little out of place. After all, you'll be dragging a sled in the middle of summer.

Does it work? Non-elite player Brad Pilon says it has helped him play the best hockey of his life. "I attribute it to the sled pulling, med balls and plyos." Follow up with advanced recovery techniques and post-workout supplementation.

Click Image To Enlarge.
Sled Pulling.

Day 7: Active Rest - Well Deserved!

Week 7-8: Concentrate On Game Preparation.

Day 1: Speed-Agility-Conditioning.

Injuries occur when an athlete is not prepared for the specific task at hand. Groin-specific agilities and conditioning are very important. Train to improve your weaknesses with the drills that you have found worked best in the previous weeks.

Day 2: Upper Body Strength Training (3 sets of 5 repetitions)

Medium-grip Bench Press

Wide-grip Pullups (use extra weight if necessary)

Wide-grip Seated Row

Abdominals

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Week 7-8: Day 2 Upper Body Strength Training.

Sprint Intervals

Perform up to 6 sets of 30-second intervals.

Follow up with advanced recovery techniques.

Day 3: Active Rest.

Day 4: Speed-Agility.

Day 5: Lower Body Strength Training (3 sets of 5 repetitions)

Cross-over Step-up [ online ]

Romanian Deadlift [ online ]

Single-leg Squat

Abs

Low back extensions

Click Here For A Printable Log Of Week 7-8: Day 5 Lower Body Strength Training.

Day 6: Speed-Agility-Conditioning.

Perform up to 6 sets of 45-second intervals with only 45 seconds of rest between work intervals.

Follow up with advanced recovery techniques.

Day 7: Active Rest.

Week 9:

Hit the ice in your best condition yet!

Interview with Goalie Academy's Darren Hersh (Part Two)

2010-11-11T22:34:00.000-08:00

What are the 3 most important things a goalie can do off of the ice to reach the next level?

1. Learn how to develop and maintain a good, positive attitude. This obviously has to do with the mental side of the game. If a goalie can develop a good attitude toward learning and being coached, to his/her approach to practice and games, and ability to stay positive, they can a long way in the game. Too many goalies simply have a bad attutude toward things and they allow external things that are out of their control to constantly bother them and it really effects their play and eventually their career....and maybe the rest of their life.

2. Off Ice conditioning is crucial! I have recently seen kids make huge strides in their on-ice development once they started to work on their core strength. There are several developmental plateaus that players will have to work through in their hockey careers. In the early ages, they are usually skill technique related, then mental maturity, and then physical maturity. As they age, plateaus and slumps are usually primarily mental and they involve attitude, focus and consistency. Concerning the physical maturity, work on core strength can really help players through that particular plateau within months or even weeks!

3. Do your homework! Not only with school to get solid grades in order to give yourself prep school and/or college options, but also do your homework on the schools and/or junior programs that you may want to go to. It is best to see from where junior programs and schools are recruiting. See their current rosters and see where their players played before going to their current team. You will often see patterns in where these teams recruit, so you will know what route you will want to take. Do research on the coaches to see if it will be a good fit. Also see what the goaltending situtation will be. If the team already has two good, young goalies, you may not fit into that team's plan in the near future and you may have to look elsewhere. Again, do your homework!

In your opinion how important is weight training to developing a goalie as they get older?

I'm not sure about actual weight training, but off-ice conditioning and core strentgh training is incredibly inmportant. Goalies can do all kinds of things to assist with agility, hand-eye coordination, balance, explosive movement, flexibility, and strength trough off-ice training. It does translate to more effectiveness on the ice!

We know goaltending is 90% mental, how do you coach this part of the game?

There are many aspects to dealing with the mental part of goaltending, such as developing a positive mental approach to practices and games, getting through slumps and getting over bad goals and bad games, dealing with teammates, fans, parents, and coaches, and also handling success. So many times we are dealing with these situations when they arise, because it is often very difficult for athletes to understand what you are trying to relay when they have never experienced it for themselves. In general though, I like to try to get goalies to live in the moment. I think many athletes mentally drain themselves by over-thinking things. I used to think about games too much, so much so that I played the game two or three times in my head before I played it and I was often exhausted by game time. It is a better approach to relax and take the mind off the game, so that you are mentally fresh and can just focus on the moment when it arrives and deal with things as they happen.

At what age do you think goalies should specialize?

Personally, I believe that goalies should learn the game of hockey as well as possible, because once they are a full-time goalie, they are the quarterback. The goalie needs to know what a shooter knows and what a shooter is likely thinking, just as Peyton Manning can read a defense in football. Playing out until they are a second year pee wee, if possible, is a great way to learn the game inside and out, which will help them be a more effective goalie. Now, the reality is that some of the better younger goalies will not be able to play out, especially if they are on AAA teams. The higher level teams seem to want the goalies to be specialized already by squirts. So how can you get around this? Play more hockey. Play house league as a forward. Play out at stick and shoot or pick up hockey. Play street or inline hockey as a forward. Do whatever it takes to become the well rounded student of the game that you need to be to gain hockey sense.

How often do you feel young goalies (pre-high school) should be skating per week?

If players love the game, you won't be able to get them off the ice! People talk of burnout, which certainly exists for kids who are pushed into doing things they don't want to do, so they aren't enjoying it. However, I still skate a minimu of four hours a day and I get tired, but not burnt out. If a player wants to skate every day, then they should. If they don't, then don't. I think it is up to the player, but the better skater you become the better player you will become and that especially is true for goalies. Goalies have to skate laterally and backwards almost as fast as aplayer skates forward and that isn't easy. It takes hours of practice. However, if doing that is a chore, then the player will likely not be able to achieve very lofty goals. I used to skate Mondays with a house team, Tuesday at travel practice, Wednesday with a different travel team (just doing drills without equipment on), then Thursday at travel practice again, Friday was off, then Saturday and Sunday with a game and even a few hours of public skating if we were home. Again, that was something that was ever a chore...it was fun!

How important is exposure for a high school goalie looking to reach college level? How much of their time should they spend at camps working on their craft and how much time should they spend playing in showcase tournments, etc...?

Too many players go from showcase to showcase or tryout to tryout and they never work on the things that cause them to get cut or overlooked. Exposure at these events is certainly important and can be a big help to being seen and even recruited. However, never forget that you constantly need to develop your skills and improve. I coach minor league professional players who played high level college and junior before turning professional and they too still need to constantly work on skills to try to move up to the AHL and the NHL. Skill development and skill maintanence is a never ending process!

Also, going to camps is a great way to be seen by coaches. Go to camps where prep school and college coaches work in the summers. At these camps, coaches get to see you for an entire week in some cases and they get to know you off the ice as well. If you are a great kid and a solid hockey player, it can put you on their radar. Back in the day, I went to a hockey camp for several years in a row, which lead to my going being recruited to prep school. From that camp, I also received letters from nearly every college coach that was at the camp. To this day, I still coach at hockey camps with two of the coaches from that summer hockey school, who are now with NHL teams! Connections that you can gain from camps can last a lifetime!

What are the biggest things high school and junior goalies should be doing to get themselves noticed by college coaches?

Goalies need to let these folks know that they are out there and that they are interested in their schools. Do not expect that coach from the college of your dreams to walk into your rink and tap you on the shoulder. How do they know that you are there? They don't. They are very busy people and most schools have very limited funds for coaches to be traveling all over the USA, Canada, and Europe. So, goalis need to 1. develop and play at the highest levels that they possibly can for their age group whether that is AAA or prep or junior hockey, 2. they need to write coaches a short letter or email letting them know that they are interested in their school as a student athlete, and 3. they need to go to camps where coaches teach and they need to get to tourneys and showcases where coaches will be to scout. Again, do your homework and find out this information.

What are 3 things that the average head coach could do to better develop his goalies when planning practices?

1. Get a good goalie coach to help at practice! Most coaches didn't play goalie and they do not show much interest in learning how to coach them. So the best alternative is to find a coach who has a reputation for developing talent and get him or her to work with the goalies at practice.

2. Create a practice plan that allows goalies time and space to work on goalie specific skills. This happens at the pro and college levels all the time, but is really lacking in minor hockey. Goalies are a very important part of the team and they need to get more out of practice than just being a target for the forwards and the d-men.

3. Open a dialogue with the goalies to see what they may want to do at practice. Coaches would be surprised by what young goalies know these days. Many have coaches and have gone to camps. They will know what to do to help themselves improve if coaches allow them to tell them and show them!

What are the 3 biggest mistakes head coaches make dealing with their goalies, either in game or during practice?

1. They are not fair. Coaches say that they treat the goalies the same, but they often treat them very differently. For instance, I always hear my goalies complaining that they don't know who is playing the game before warm ups. What other players on the ice don't know that they are playing until after they step on the ice? That's easy, NONE! Why play head games with the one player who will be on the ice the entire game? Coaches need to be upfront and fair to the goalies, because they do not want to mentally lose this important piece of the puzzle. You need to goalie to be "on board."

2. Coaches too often panic when goals are scored against and they pull the goalies too much. Eventhough it is sometimes very difficult, coaches need to show confidence in their goalies especially. It is a tough position with a ton of pressure and young goalies need to learn how to deal with things through experience. Yes, at times they will fail, but the coaches need to allow them to fail so that they can learn. Again, don't do things that will make you lose your goalies mentally. You need them to be enthusiastic leaders on the team. A disgruntled goalie isn't good for anyone.

3. Don't feel that you need to provide the goalies with information if you don't know or are unsure of the correct information. It is OK to not know about goalies. Instead find out from trusted sources or hire a coach who does know. I always tell coaches to consider the Hipocratic Oath that doctors subscribe to and that is "First, do no harm." Often no advice is the best advice.

Do you have any words of wisdom about how to deal with a back-up goalie who thinks they should be getting more playing time?

One of the toughest things about playing goalies is that it really has to be decided based on practice. This is unfair, but I don't see an alternative. All I can say is to be up front, honest, fair, professional, and offer advice, assistance, and opportunity for the player to earn playing time. Put the ball in their court and make sure that they know that they are part of the team and that you are also on their side. These players need to feel that they are contributing. If a coach does these things, then they may even be able to develop a goalie who can be an asset instead of a liability.

What made you want to be a coach?

I've had some great coaches that mentored me and I want to stay involved in the great game of hockey.

Which one of your coaches made the biggest impact on your career? How/why?

Cap Raeder had the biggest impact on me, because he really helped me develop my skills and he was instrumental in getting me to my prep school team. Once at prep school, Charlie Corey was another superb teacher of the game and a hige influence off the ice as well. He was tough, but we all knew that he cared about us a great deal. In youth hockey, Doug Yingst, the current Hershey Bears' GM, spent a ton of time shooting pucks on me in practice. He took the time that other youth coaches never did and it was a huge help.

How can coaches improve their coaching skills?

Coaches need to be students of the game! They need to read, get videos, talk to other coaches, find mentors, and generally expand their hockey horizons as much as possible. I love going to different camps and coaching with different guys to learn what they do and to see what I can take from them. Just as player skills must always be worked on, coaching skills need to be enhanced all the time. Find teams that are successful and find out what that coach is doing. Find coaches who have made it to high levels and find out what they know. If you are going to coach, why not do it the best you can?

What would be your initial advice for someone who loves hockey and decides to start a business to make their income through the sport?

Be ready to work! Hockey has a lot of competition, because a lot of people want to make it a living. However, once they find out how much work it is, they often get out of it before they really reap any true rewards from it. I think you have to be patient, be ready to work hard, and also approach it in a smart way. It is not always best to jump right into a full-time hockey job, because it takes time to build a name for yourself. Even very accomplished players have not had as great coaching careers compared to lesser known guys, because playing skills and coaching skills are very different. So, it is often best to start part-time with hockey to make sure you can pay the bills while building a name.

What are some of the positives and negatives of synthetic ice?

The positives of synthetic ice that many may not know is that it is a great work out and can have a very positibve impact on the explosiveness of your movement. Many strength coaches and power skating coaches use resistance training to development explosive movement and speed in their athletes. Well, synthetic ice has that friction built right into it. So practicing on synthetic ice can help goalies' lateral movement a great deal.

Synthetic ice is also way cheaper than real ice, so making a business training hockey players is far better with synthetic ice.

The biggest negative is that you get plastic shavings on your gear that you have to vacuum off after playing, but that really isn't a big deal in my opinion.

What is your job requirements when looking to hire a new coach?

The Goalie Academy really only hires goalies who played at the collegeiate level. At this point, the vast majority of our new hires played NCAA D-I. We like guys who not only know the game and the position well from a playing experience stand point, but we want guys who can communicate exceptionally well and who can relay their ideas to the younger goalies. We feel that the college guys are best at doing this.

Other than that, we want guys who want to coach goalies. You can't fake that enthusiasm and we want that kind of positive energy!

What is your favorite part of making your living through hockey? Least favorite?

My favorite part of a hockey job is that I can't wait to wake up every morning and make the business and the goalies better! I never get tired of it. I'm always thinking of new ways to do things and new ways to promote The Goalie Academy and the goalies we train. It is long, long hours, but I never have enough time to do everything I want to do.

The least favorite thing is never having enough time to do what I want to do with the business!

What are three expenses/challenges that someone starting a hockey based business might not realize?

1. You have to do the work yourself and much of the work doesn't create revenue. Many people go to their jobs everyday and get paid to do things that really don't create money for their company. Well, as an entrepreneur, you will have to do those jobs and not get paid for them. Things like scheduling, web updates, and marketing. In fact, it will cost you money to do things! You will get paid when you give a lesson or do a camp/clinic, b ut all the work that leads up to those events will go unpaid.

2. There is a lot of competition and more every day. Do your thing well and produce results and you can do well. But be sure that someone will always come by and try to take your business away from you especially if you are doing well.

3. Good help is hard to find! A lot of people want to make hockey their job, but I have found that few are willing to do the work it takes to stay with it. To grow and to build the business, you will need good help and those folks are not easy to find. If you find a few, be sure that you hang onto them!

How do you use technology, including but not limited to the internet and social media in your business? (marketing or otherwise)

Video is the best to teach goalies at all levels. Showing them what you see is a huge tool and we use it all the time. We use the internet to promote what we do through our web site and we also use Facebook a lot to promote our events, stay connected with our clients and once in a while find a new student.

Any last words of wisdom for goalies, coaches, or hockey business owners looking to take their skills to the next level?

For coaches wanting to make a business and living from it, don't be afraid to make changes. If things are not working, then do something else. It is OK to fail, but don't make the same mistakes over and over again.

Same for the goalies. My favorite saying is, "If you do the same thing over and over and expect different results, then you are insane." -Albert Einstein. Make adjustments and find what works!

Is there anything you'd like to promote, plug, or suggest people take a look at?

www.GoalieAcademy.com Also our DVD of goalie drills for on-ice practices is a huge help for both goalies and coaches! It is very inexpensive at $24.99. It has drills for goalies to do alone, to do with their goalie partner, to do with one shooter or coach and to do with entire teams.

I can vouch that the drill book is phenomenal. I obviously use the goalie stuff, but I use alot of the shooting drills for my forwards and the team warm up drills/practice plans all of the time. Thanks Darren!

Interview with Goalie Academy's Darren Hersh (Part One)

2010-11-09T21:11:00.000-08:00

Here is part one of an interview with Darren Hersh, one of the country's best goalie coaches. He was my mentor through the first two years of high school before he moved out of Massachusetts.

Who Are You?

I'm Darren Hersh, Founder and Executive Director of The Goalie Academy. I am also currently the Goalie Coach for the ECHL Reading Royals, the AA affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins.

What have you done?

I founded The Goalie Academy in 1996 after I retired from professional hockey.

I grew up playing hockey in Hershey, PA, where I played minor hockey for 10 years from 1976 to 1986. From Hershey, I went to prep school at Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts. There I was selected to the ISL All-League, NEPSAC All-New England, and HNIB All-Scholastic teams. I was NEPSAC All-New England Honorable mention my junior year as well. In 1989, we won the ISL League title as well.

I attended Bowdoin College from 1989-1993 and there I was earned Goalie of the Week several times and in 1993 I was named ECAC Playoff MVP during Bowdoin's Championship Season.

From Bowdoin, I played in the ECHL with the Johnstown Chiefs, backed-up for the AHL's Hershey Bears, and won a CHL Championship with the Wichita Thunder.

Since founding The Goalie Academy, we have grown from only doing summer camps to coaching goalies full-time on a year round basis with a full time staff of 4 coaches and we are continually getting bigger.

Why should hockey players listen to you?

Players should listen to me because I have helped produced top level goalies in a very non-traditional hockey area such as Central Pennsylvania and the Washington D.C. metro area. In addition, I have actualy developed these players from young ages such as 8 and 9 and some of these goalies are now on NCAA D-I college teams, the USHL, and minor league professional hockey. Many coaches can say that they have worked with high end players, but I pride myself on having trained the majority of our top flight goalies from the ground up.

Beyond that I think hockey players should listen to just about everyone. I learned some great lessons from people I didn't necessarily care for too much. But if you keep an open mind, you can learn something from everyone that can help you be a better player. Also listen to the critics! This is difficult, because you probably won't like what you hear, but critics will tell you the hard truth. If you can get past your defenses, you can learn what you aren;t doing well which gives the opportunity to change and to improve.

What style do you teach your goalies?

Personally, I don't like the term "style" being used to describe how a goalie plays. I see style as being how a goalie plays the position rather then what he/her does in the net, if that makes sense. All goalies perform the same save selections. What sets them a part is how they look doing it. Just as you can tell goalies apart by how they wear their equipment eventhough they may be wearing the exact same thing. That is how I look at it. All goalies are doing the same thing, they just look differently doing it. That is style. You can't define style by wether or not they butterfly or stand up, because all goalies do those things depending on the situation. Goaltending is all situational!

At The Goalie Academy, we have discovered and developed The Principles of Goaltending. These are the underlying basis for everything goalies do and why they should do certain moves in certain situations. Goalies always need to maximize net coverage, do things with the most efficiency, maintain balance and control, have the greatest range of motion, and perfect their timing in situations. These five concepts are the basis of how we teach. It has nothing to do with style at all. I like goalies to be themselves and play the way they need to play. I don't like cookie-cutter camps that simply teach one way to play. Goalies are different sizes and have different levels of abilities and even given these differences they can still be effective. I think certain styles are limiting. I want goalies to have a wide range of skills and be able to apply what they need for them to succeed individually.

What are some of the main areas of focus that a goalie should focus on before he/she gets to high school?

The primary focus before getting to high school is SKILL DEVELOPMENT! You have to develop skating skills, save selection, recovery, and reading situations so that you know when to apply your technical skills at the right moments. Working hard, practicing, and being dedicated to your craft is very important if you want to extend a playing career. Once you get to high school, it starts getting very competitive. It is always competitive, but it only gets tougher. Put in a lot of work now, so that you can get a shot beyond high school.

What about in high school?

In high school, the focuses expand to continued skill development, exposure to colleges and junior programs as well as GRADES! Good grades provides players with options! You may need options. You can't go into the road to college hockey thinking you are going D-I and will get a hockey scholarship. It could happen, but you have to prepare for the worst case scenario, not the best case scenario. I always tell kids, "why do we do fire drills?" Prepare for the worst. So if you get good grades and you don't get D-I offers, then the next best hockey is D-III. The best D-III hockey is NESCAC, with schools like Bowdoin, Colby, Middlebury, Williams, Amherst, Babson, etc. These schools are very competitive to get into, so you need to have solid academics along with being a top notch hockey player.

College?

Again, don't sleep on grades! Hockey may not work out, so be prepared! As far as hockey, you need to refine your skills and maintain a high level of play. You always have to focus on details and fundamentals. You will have a solid skill set by then. It isn't about learning new skills, but rather about staying sharp and not allowing techniques to slip by getting into bad habits.

Another big part of hockey in college is learning to be mentally tougher to get through high pressure situations and how to deal with things going on outside of the rink and putting them aside once you get into the locker room. College is a sprint. Games are fast, guys play as hard as they can all the time, and losses are huge. In pro hockey, it is more of a marathon. You need to learn how to pace as a pro, but in college it is full tilt. Learning how to mentally deal with that pace and even the pace change from college to pro is something to really focus on.

What are the 3 most important things a goalie can do on the ice to reach the next level?

1. Never believe that you are too good to improve each and every time you step on the ice. If you think this way, you will stay as good as you are and very likely that isn't good enough. Listen to coaches, take advice and practice hard everytime you go out there. Focus on techniques and don't allow yourself to get into bad habits.

2. Skate, skate, and skate some more at every practice. Don't goof off with the other players. Do crease movements all the time before and after practice and during times when you don't get a lot of shots.

Goalies have to be able to move incredibly well to reach higher levels. Hockey is always the same game, but the difference is the speed as you move up. The best way to be able to deal with the speed changes is to be able to keep up with the pace of passes by being an explosive skater. At higher levels, everyone can stop the puck. It is those goalies who can follow the play the best and who can get into position the earliest who move on to do greater things.

3. Pay attention to details. Goalies have to be detail oriented to be successfull. The puck is only 3" wide and 1" high so sometimes little errors of 1-3 inches is all it takes to cost a goal, cost a game, cost a shut out, cost a playoff run, cost a championship, or cost a starting job. So work on being technically sound and as perfect as you can be. No one is perfect and every one allows goals. It is a position of inches and percentages, so you have to use detail to be on the side of the statistics.

Recap 1. work hard at practice everytime and practice as hard as you play games or even harder, 2. skate, 3. pay attention to details.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and check out Darren's goalie articles posted on this site and on www.goalieacademy.com

A Goalie's Daily Essentials

2010-11-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

A Goalie's Daily Essentials
By Darren Hersh
Taken with permission from http://www.goalieacademy.com/articles/drills.htm
Check out Darren's website www.goalieacademy.com

During the course of the season, there are always those times at practice when the club must focus on the individual skills of the forwards and defense as well as cover the team's systems such as breakouts, fore-checks, power plays, and penalty killing. At these times, where the goalie is involved very little or not at all, goalies need to be equipped with some fundamental drills that they can do on their own to enhance their own development. This article is directed at giving goalies the four basic drills that they can do alone or with their goalie partner at practice during those slow moments. The drills are:

1. Continuous Butterfly (Belfour Drill)

2. Pretzel recovery Drill

3. Circuit Drill (Cap Raeder)

4. Alphabet Crease Movements

If these essential drills are done at every or nearly every practice, goalies will see improvement in their game!

1. Continuous Butterfly (Belfour Drill) I was fortunate enough to go to the NHL All-Star Game in Tampa a few years back. It happened to be Wayne Gretzky's final All-Star appearance and the experience itself was tremendous. At least one thing I will always take from the Skills Competition was the drill that Ed Belfour performed just before he started taking shots to compete in the goalie portion of the event. It was this: Belfour Continuous Butterfly Slide Drill Explanation: Goalie begins from the basic stance position. Goalie pushes to one side into a butterfly slide. Goalie holds the butterfly for a split second then immediately recovers, using the proper leg, then pushes back to the original side and goes directly into another butterfly slide. Goalie repeats the continuous butterfly to one side and the other for about 6 repetitions. Shooters can shoot at will and play any rebounds. Technical Keys: This drill works on the goalie's lateral movement, butterfly slide technique, & conditioning. Make sure that the goalie is always square and that he/she is driving into the pushes with the back leg. Also ensure that the goalie has a proper butterfly technique with pads and stick flush to the ice and the arms to the side cover the "funnel" area. Note: the stick can be tilted backward, but must be in fron and on the ice. Lastly, ensure that the goalie is recovering with the proper leg(the push leg)
2. Pretzel Recovery Drill I feel that there are two basic goaltending skills that most goalies lack when we work with them at camps and during private lessons: 1. staying square and 2. recovery. The Pretzel Drill will certainly help you begin to recover to your feet and into position a whole lot faster. Work at it! Pretzel Recovery Drill Drill Explanation: Goalie begins from the basic stance position. Goalie then goes into a three step continuous process of recovering from three different positions: 1. Full Butterfly 2. Diving Poke Check 3. On back Step 1, Goalie goes into fuller butterfly for a split second then immediately recovers. Recover using one leg at a time and recover using the alternate leg each repetion.(This will help butterfly slide recovery.) Step 2, Goalie performs a diving poke check and immediately recovers. Step 3, Goalie lies down on the back and then immediately recovers to basic stance. Drill should be done three times in a row and the goalie should not pause between steps. Technical Keys: This drill works on the goalie's recovery. Make sure that the goalie is always performing technically solid butterflies and that he/she is recovering from the back with the proper technique shown.
3. Circuit Drill (Cap Raeder) This is a drill that I have done for years and am passing it along to our goalies. Cap Raeder does it at his camps and it encompasses most of the moves a goalie will make in a game. Of course, you can always add moves to it, but I wouldn't suggest taking any maneuvers out of it. Cap Raeder's Circuit Drill 6 drill circuit that includes: 1.) Post to post shuffles (10) 2.) Shate Saves ( 2 each side) 3.) Poke Checks (6; 2 jab, 2 regular, 2 diving) 4.)Half Butterflies (2 each side) 5.) Behind net to stop puck (2 each side) 6.) 2 Pad Stacks (2 each side) Goalie begins from the basic stance position. Goalie pushes to one side then the other post to post ten (10) time, keeping solid technical form (elbows on outside of posts, skates on inside of posts, stick on ice during movement). Goalie then goes to top of crease and continues the circuit by completing skate saves, poke checks, half butterflies, going behind the net to stop the puck, and 2 pad stacks. The goalie must get set into the basic stance before each and every movement and goalie must perform each save with technical precision. Do not try for speed, try for technically sound movements!
4. Alphabet Crease Movements There really is no excuse for not doing these movements every single time you have the opportunity to step on the ice. I would even suggest that you do them as a part of your pre-game warm up. Again, you can always add, but I discourage you from subtracting any moves from this repertoire. Alphabe Crease Movements Drill Explanation: 5 drill circuit that includes: 1.) The "Y" (breakaways) 2.) The "W" (Byron Dafoe Drill) 3.) The "Z" 4.) The Arc Shuffle 5.) Zig-Zag T-Push and/or Shuffle 1. Goalie begins on a post, then T-pushes to the top of the crease, stops, “c” cuts to just below the first hash mar, skates straight backward to top of crease again, pivots to the boards and uses his/her momentum to push to the opposite post. Variations: standing, butterfly slide, 2 pad stack. 2. Goalie begins on a post, “c” cuts toward face-off dot, stops, skates straight backward to post using glove or knob of stick to indicate position in the net, pushes in to T-push to top of crease, stops, pushes with back diagonal T-push to opposite post, “c” cuts toward face-off dot, stops, skates straight back to post. Repeat. Note that there are many more crease movement drills, but these are the five that the Goalie Academy believes are essential to do as part of your daily routine! Always perform drills technically well. Lead with and keep stick on the ice! 3. Goalie begins on a post, then long shuffles post to post, T-pushes diagonally toward the far face-off dot to the top of the crease, stops on the lead foot, then T-pushes again across the top of the crease in position facing the far face off dot, stops using the lead foot. 4. Goalie begins on a post, then shuffles to the top of the crease facing near face-off dot, sets, shuffles in an arc around the top of the circular crease to the far face-off dot position, then shuffles back to the far post staying square to the boards. 5. Goalie starts on a post, then T-pushes toward opposite face-off dot, stops on lead foot, T-pushes diagonally out again, and repeats four or five times. Goalie then pivots back and T-pushes back the way he/she came. Variation, use long shuffle.

In conclusion, most youth organizations are run by volunteers, the majority of whom have little playing and coaching experience in general, let alone any experience at the position of goalie. Some organizations have appropriately sought the assistance of a knowledgeable goalie coach, but most are still forced to leave the goalies at the mercy of the shooters with little extra help provided. Thus, in place of a goalie coach (something that really can't be replaced), we are providing coaches and goalies with these drills that goalies can perform on their own. Again, these drills should be performed on a regular basis, because these few drills encompass most of the saves and movements goalies will make throughout the course of any game. Make sure that these drills are also performed in a technically sound way and not for speed or just to say that you did them. The goalie will help himself/herself much more if they first learn to make every move and save correctly, before doing the repetitions at a faster pace for conditioning purposes. For more advanced goalies, the Circuit Drill is especially good for conditioning.

Best of luck with the drills and as always, if you have any questions, please contact us at Goalie_Academy@hockeymail.com.

The Little Things

2010-11-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

The Little Things
By Darren Hersh
Taken with permission from http://www.goalieacademy.com/articles/littlethings.htm
Check out Darren's website www.goalieacademy.com

A lot is said about “the little things” in hockey. When spoken about, the little things usually refer to the defensemen and forwards being strong and getting the puck out of the zone, finishing checks, etc. Well, there are also little things to which goalies need to pay attention in order to be effective and to be sure they don’t allow a soft goal.

Keep your eye on the puck! The goalie doesn’t need to put blinders on and watch only the puck while not being aware of anything else going on in front of him/her. However, when the opponent has the puck and can shoot at anytime or when a shot is taken, the goalie must watch the puck all the way into the equipment for the save. Do not rely on split or peripheral vision. Get into this good habit in warm up and practice!

Be aggressive with bloopers. Go out toward a high, end-over-end dump in and get as close as possible to the point of the bounce to cut down the angle. Also get as much equipment behind the puck as possible in case it takes an unexpected bounce.

Get your glove behind the stick on slow rollers and long dump-ins on net. When playing very long (outside the zone), low shots and dump-ins, bend down and get the catching glove behind the stick to cushion the puck for control and to be sure the stick is strong behind the force of the puck. This will help avoid the possible embarrassment of having those shots sneak under the stick and into the goal.

Stay square to every puck. Some may say that this is overkill, but by shuffling and T-pushing and therefore staying square to EVERY puck (even when your defense has the puck alone in the corner), goalies get in the important habit of always taking up as much of the net as possible.

Stop pucks rung around the boards directly behind the goal cage. Goalies can avoid another embarrassing moment of mistakenly directing the puck in front of the net with the goal wide open by stopping the puck against the boards on ring-around dump-ins directly behind the goal cage. By doing this, any misplayed pucks have a good chance of hitting the back of the goal and staying behind the net, rather than having them skip into the slot, while the goalie’s behind the cage.

Cut down the angle, but do not over-challenge the shooter. Many goalies come out way too far to cut down the angle. There are a number of things wrong with this. Here are a few: a. When a goalie gets 6 or 7 feet away from the goal line, coming out farther to cut the angle only takes away a few inches of net from the shooter’s view, b. the farther a goalie gets from the net, the harder it is to cover the net on dekes, passes and rebounds, c. goalies who come out too far sometimes lose the net behind them and find themselves out of position, and d. goalies who come out too far are forced to move a lot (too much) to get into position and therefore are not often set for shots, making life difficult for themselves. Stay at home and make life in goal easier.

Get set early for oncoming rushes. Sometimes younger goalies do not get into the ready stance until the shooter is in the process of shooting. The problem here is that they me be moving into their stance as the shot comes and therefore they may not have time to move into the save. Goalies need to get set as soon as the opponent gets toward the red line. It is at the red line where the opponent can send the puck into the zone without being called for icing. Therefore the goalie must be in the stance and ready to corral a dump in or to go behind the net to stop a ring around or to cushion a long shot directly on the net or to prepare for an oncoming rush. Getting set early will also avoid the problem of the goalie not being ready for unexpected shots and will allow goalies to use what little time they have to move in front of the shot instead of trying to move into position and then into the shot.

Hold your position; do not move too much. Although goalies should back into the net along with the forward on breakaways when forwards are deking, many, many goalies back into the net on almost every situation that forwards are approaching the net. When the forward is likely to shoot or actually shooting, goalies need to hold their ground. Goalies do not want to back into the net after effectively cutting down the angle only to give the shooter more net at which to shoot. Keep the shooting angle cut down and get set for the shot. Only back in on pure breakaways when the shooter is showing deke all the way.

Fill the net first and then cut down the angle. Especially on pass plays where forwards may one-time the shot on goal, goalies need to move in straight lines and to get centered in the net and centered on the puck. This is even more important than cutting down the angle, because it forces the shooter to pick a corner on a bang-bang play, which is extremely difficult to do. If the goalie has time to cut down the angle, than, of course, he/she should. But if there is no time to cut the angle, then just get centered and make the shooter beat you with a fantastic shot. (See diagram.)

Odd Man Rush Positioning

On a 2 on 0 as shown, if the puck carrier, X1, passes to a teammate, X2, the goalie must play the puck carrier untile that actual pass is made.
Over anticipating and moving too soon at this moment would give the puck carrier an easy goal should he/she read the play and hold the puck as the goalie makes the first move.
If the player does pass the puck, then the goalie must move in a straight line to the new center of the pu ck (indicated in the drawing by the dashed line). In this situation, the goalie moves in the shortest distance between the new center and his/her former position, which in all cases is a straight line and in this particular case is perpendicular to the new center line.
If the goalie has time to come out and cut down the angle after he/she first fills the net, then it is advisable to do so.

Do not over anticipate and do not make the first move. Make sure that you play the shooter, especially on odd man rushes. Although anticipation is an important part of goaltending, goalies need to play the puck carrier (the most dangerous player). Many goalies over anticipate the pass to the open skater and by doing so they can give up some easy goals. Make the puck carrier make a decision and a great pass. The goalie certainly wants to know that the pass is an option. If the pass is made, the goalie has to do whatever is necessary to make a desperation save. But whatever you do, don’t give them the easy one.

Making The Most Out Of Practice

2010-11-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

Making The Most Out Of Practice
By Tom Sablak
Taken with permission from http://www.goalieacademy.com/articles/practice.htm
Check out www.goalieacademy.com

Introduction

Practice time should be productive and fun. However, not all teams have goalie coaches who understand this unique position and who can design good drills for goalies. As a result, goalies may be neglected during practice drills that may be okay for forwards and defensemen, but not for goalies. Goalies need to be proactive when it comes to their approach to practice time, which often calls for self-instruction and self-motivation. This article provides several suggestions and tips on what to think about before, during, and after practices so that these workouts can be more productive for you.

Before Practice

How productive a practice is not only depends upon what you do on the ice but also what you do before you even get on the ice. Here are some things to think about before you put on the pads:

(1) Rest – Getting enough sleep prior to your practice is crucial to maintaining a high intensity level during the workout. If you’re tired during practice, you’re more likely to develop “lazy” or bad habits. You’ll also need to take more breaks, which means less time stopping pucks. Plus, it will be more difficult to concentrate and maintain focus. With plenty of rest, you won’t feel as if you’re fighting an uphill battle during practice, and you’ll have more fun.

(2) Diet – While you cannot control how many sprints your coach will ask you to skate during practice, you can certainly help yourself immensely with good eating habits before you get to the rink. A smart diet not only involves what you eat but also when you eat. Eating carbohydrates (e.g., pasta) on the day before your practice (or game) will give you energy on the ice. Try to avoid lots of sugar right before practice – sugar can provide a deceptive energy “buzz” but will also deliver a “lull” soon after. (Eating anything immediately before a practice or game is usually a bad idea.) Drinking plenty of water before your workout – not just during it – is one of the best moves you can make.

(3) Plan – Practice should be more than just putting on your equipment and stopping pucks. You should have an idea about what you’d like to work on, what you’d like to get out of practice. What are some areas in your game in which you’d like to improve? What didn’t go so well last practice? How did the pucks go in last game? How is your stickhandling and shooting? Are there any drills that you’d like to suggest to your coach? To get the most out of practice, you need to be less “reactive” (only doing what the coach asks you to work on) and more “proactive” (stepping on the ice with a plan about what you want to work on). A proactive approach to practice (and your whole game for that matter) is especially important when your team doesn’t have a goalie coach. Also important is having a plan for the “downtime” that arises during practice – the time during which goalies aren’t included in drills or in the instruction (e.g., when the forwards are practicing face-offs). If you get an extra ten minutes during or at the end of practice, how will you use that time?

In the Locker Room

Although it’s not always feasible, it’s a good idea to give yourself a little extra time in the locker room before practice, whenever you can. Here’s why:

(1) Stretch – Knowing that you’re going to stretch when you get on the ice, why should you stretch in the locker room? There are several reasons. For one thing, you really can’t stretch too much. This is especially true as you get older and you lose a little of your flexibility. Stretching in the locker room with or without your equipment on will also allow you to target certain muscles that you may not be able to hit when you’re on the ice. Another reason to stretch before practice is because you never know if you’ll get a chance to stretch on the ice: what happens if, for example, you discover an equipment problem right before you step on the ice and by the time you fix it the practice is already underway? Bottom line is that it never hurts to stretch before practice.

(2) Equipment check – Extra time before practice will allow you to check your equipment and take care of the little things that often make a big difference. For example, you can use this time to tape your sticks, tighten the screws on your mask, sharpen your skates, and put bandages on your blisters. Plus, you never know when it’s time for your skate lace to snap!

Warm-up

The warm-up is one of the most underrated parts of practice, but one of the most important. It is also a time that you don’t want to get caught “going through the motions.” During the warm-up, you’ll want to focus on three things: stretching (again), breaking a sweat, and breaking in your equipment.

(1) Stretch (again) – Most teams gather at the start of practice to stretch as a group. Ideally, you will have skated a couple of laps so that your muscles are warmed up before this stretch. By all means, do not treat the stretching time as “resting” time. At every session at our camps, we observe many goalies taking this part of the practice seriously, but we see just as many goalies that don’t. Even if you’re tired, force yourself to stretch well. Hold each stretch for at least a six-count, and do not “bounce” or make any sudden movements. You’ll never know when you’re going to push your muscles to the limit during practice (or try-outs, or games).

(2) Break a sweat – You’ll be more effective in the net once you warm up and get the blood working. And, the best way to avoid cooling off (and catching a chill) during practice is to keep moving!

(3) Break in your equipment – Not only do you want to take the stiffness out of your equipment, but you also want to use your warm-up to make sure that your equipment is on properly: no straps dragging on the ice, gloves tightened, etc.

During Practice

The structure of practice depends upon coaching styles, strategy, schedule, and talent levels, among other things. Generalizations are difficult to make. Nevertheless, no matter how your coach designs the practice, here are some suggested things to work on during practice:

(1) Have a good attitude – Be willing to work on your weak areas and make mistakes. This is often easier said than done as goalies are often judged by the number of pucks that go in the net rather than by technique and effort. There is often a lot of pressure on the goalie to stop everything sent towards the net, which leaves little time for working on skills and experimenting. This is why goalie coaches can be so important to your development. Take criticism and suggestions with an open mind and an eye towards improvement.

(2) Maintain a high energy level – Show your coach and, most importantly, your teammates that you’re working as hard as they are. Be a leader by setting a good example for your teammates.

(3) Communicate – Practice time is a great opportunity to work on your communication with your defensemen and even your forwards. Communication is extremely important, and to avoid getting “crossed-up” with your teammates during games, you want to make sure that you aren’t communicating with them for the first time in game-situations. Some important things to communicate with your teammates: how to handle two-on-one situations, what to do with pucks that you stop behind the net, when to cover the puck and take a whistle, how much pressure the other team is putting on you during their fore checks, etc.

(4) Recognize drills that aren’t designed for goalies – It’s a fact of life that not all drills are good for goalies. And even if the intention is good, drills that aren’t designed properly can be counterproductive to your development. It goes without saying that you should always try to do your best even when the drill is lousy. However, it is during these lousy drills that you need to focus more on your technique and less on the number of pucks that go in the net.

(5) Use “downtime” effectively – As mentioned before, “downtime” often pops-up up over the course of a practice. For example, coaches often exclude goalies from forward-only or defenseman-only drills. You essentially have three options during downtime (at the Goalie Academy, we highly recommend the second and third options.)

The first option is to “relax” by sitting unproductively on the ice or talking to someone.

The second option (always preferred to the first option!) is to pay close attention to the instruction in order to learn as much as possible about breakouts, fore-checks, power plays, etc. At first glance, it might seem silly for a goalie to learn about different fore-checking strategies (how many times during your career are you really going to “dump and chase”?), but your ability to play the puck and make smart decisions behind the net will improve when you have an idea of what the other team may throw at you.

The third option is to stay warm by working on something on your own, if possible. You will go a long way towards showing your teammates that you have a good attitude by turning downtime into productive time. While it is not necessary to skate sprints during downtime, it can be a good opportunity to practice your shots (forehand and backhand), to work on your skate saves, to practice trapping pucks against your blocker, to stop pucks without your stick, or to work on any number of other skills.

For almost all of these suggestions, you can work with the other goalie on your team (your buddy). Furthermore, these ideas are much more fun than sitting around on the ice. We would make one suggestion to you during downtime: make as little disruption as possible as you practice your skills so that your coach doesn’t feel as if your noise is competing with his instruction. (For instance, instead of shooting pucks against the boards, “playing catch” with a buddy will give a quieter landing to your shots.)

(6) At the end of practice (before you leave the ice) – Often, there is some extra time when practice ends but the Zamboni driver hasn’t kicked you off the ice yet. This is a great opportunity to get together with some shooters and take extra shots, and is also one of the best parts of practice. Make sure your form stays solid if your teammates want to have “contests” (e.g., showdowns, best-of-ten shots, etc.) Use a little caution, too. Make sure you are stretched out well enough (especially if your coach has just put you through sprints) so that you don’t succumb to a groin injury if you are participating in “high-stakes” showdowns.

After practice

Now is the time to relax – usually. However, as you are putting your equipment away, take note of any equipment problems (dull skates, broken straps, etc.) so that you can take care of them before your next practice or game. Also, pay attention to any bumps and bruises you may have gotten during practice and take care of them if possible.

Things to Remember

Practice time is precious and often expensive, so don't waste it. Be proactive at practice – challenge yourself to work on weak areas, and make suggestions about drills to your coach. Maintain a high energy level and work hard. Develop good habits both on and off the ice. And, have fun! Remember the old saying (that we also believe at the Goalie Academy): Practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect.

If you have any questions about this article, feel free to e-mail us at the Goalie Academy.

Goalie_Academy@hockeymail.com

Tom Sablak is a Goalie Academy Instructor. He is a graduate of Bowdoin College, where he was a key member of the school’s 1993 ECAC Championship team. Tom played his Prep School Hockey at the prestigious Choate Rosemary Hall School.

Which Goalie Statistics Are Important?

2010-11-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

Which Goalie Statistics Are Important?
By Darren Hersh
Taken with permission from http://www.goalieacademy.com/articles/stats.htm
Check out Darren's website www.goalieacademy.com

The debate over the most important goalie statistic rages on in the goalie world. To many players, parents and coaches, statistics are far too important and they can get in the way of many important lessons that can be learned from hockey, such as team-work, selflessness and group goals being more important than individual goals. What I have found to be consistently true is that if the team does well as a group the individual statistics and accolades usually follow. So we will discuss how goalie statistics can be important for those who use them, but in the end statistics can be very misleading and not as informative as we sometimes believe. A friend in college once accurately described statistics in a clear way. "What statistics reveal is enticing, but what they conceal is vital! Consider the 6-foot tall man who drowned in 4 feet of water." Statistically it would seem impossible, but the key piece of missing information was that the man didn't know how to swim!

Let's take a look at individual goaltending statistics and analyze both what they reveal and what they conceal and also see how they can be used to help a goalie improve. First the easiest and probably the most looked at goalie statistic, the Goals Against Average (G.A.A.). The GAA is obtained simply by dividing the total number of goals a goalie has allowed for the season up to the present by the number of games he/she has played. For instance, if a goalie has allowed 12 goals after playing 4 full games, his/her GAA would be 3.00 (12/4=3). This statistic can get a bit more complicated if goalies play only portions of games. Then the game has to be broken down into a fraction (or decimal is easier for most people) then divide the number of goals by the fraction of games played. For instance, if we still use the above scenario of a goalie playing 4 games and allowing 12 goals, if that goalie played only two periods of the next contest and allowed 4 more goals, the GAA calculation would be as follows: If an entire game = 1, then 2/3 of that game would equal .66 (likewise 1 period equals .33). So the goalie has now played 4.66 games and has allowed 16 total goals, thus the GAA is now 16/4.66 = 3.43. Had the goalie played the entire game and allowed no more goals, the GAA would be 3.2.

So how do we "read" the GAA statistic? Well, obviously, the less goals allowed per game it is assumed that the better the goalie. However, as one my figure out, there are many variables that the GAA does not take into consideration. As an example, it doesn't account for the number of shots a goalie faces in those games. Two goalies may have a 2.5 GAA, but one goalie faces an average of 40 shots per game while the other faces 15. Obviously, the goalie who faces an average of 15 shots per game does not have to work as hard to keep the low 2.5 GAA as the other guy, so who is better? Also, the GAA does not take into consideration the number of high quality shots a goalie faces in the game. If a team is playing a very tight defensive zone system and only allows the goalie to receive shots from the perimeter of the zone from about 40-50 feet away from the goal, 30 shots in a game is still not that difficult to handle. However, if the goalie facing 15 shots has 10 of those as breakaways, then the guy or girl receiving the 30 or 40 shots may have had an easier time of it.

Given the shortcomings of the GAA, a goalie or goalie coach has to use the statistic for what it is worth. Personally, I like to give goalies a goal to achieve with the GAA. You have to give a realistically attainable goal based on the team for which they play and for the past or current GAA they already have. That goal can be adjusted from time to time. If at the beginning of the year, our goalies have a 3.00 GAA, then I want to get that down to at least 2.75 and maybe even 2.5. A quarter or half a goal per game difference can result from one or two minor adjustments, especially for junior or college level goalies. (I set this as a goalie-team aspiration, so that all the goalies on the team work together to improve as a unit. I do not want to separate the goalies as individuals, they are a team unit! No matter who is in net, they are working toward the team GAA target objective) I also want to set a GAA goal for our goalies that will have direct ramifications for the team in the long run. As a coach, you obviously are working for the team to win, so you want to develop a balance between the team GAA and the team's Goals For statistics. If you believe that on average your team will get 3 goals, then you obviously want to get a GAA below that to give your team the best chance of winning. I believe that this is where the GAA is most effective and most important. It can also be good to give your goalies a game by game GAA and say, "I know the guys will get you 3 goals this game, so 2 is your maximum tonight!"

That takes us to the goalies save percentage which many believe to be the best statistical judge of a goalie's overall performance. The save percentage is achieved by taking the number of saves a goalie makes and dividing it by the total number of shots. So for instance, a goalie makes 28 saves in a game where he/she saw 29 shots. You would divide the number of saves by the number of shots to get 28/29 = .966 or 96%. Obviously, the save percentage is a bit more informative toward the goalies performance since it shows over a long period how many saves a goalie makes based on the number of shots received. So regardless of the number of shots a goalie receives, it will still tell you if they are making saves.

An important thing never taken into account in any statistic is the number of quality shots or the number of shots that could be considered Grade A scoring attempts. Instead, all shots on goal are treated equally as potential goals. In fact, the definition of a shot on goal is if the goalie were not there, the shot would have been a goal. This is fine, but there are some shots on goal that could be stopped by people who have never skated in their lives. A better goalie statistic would be to take the grade A scoring chances and weigh them higher than poor shots on goal so that they are even more valuable. Then you could achieve a statistic that really shows how effective a goalie is. I will work on this between now and the next article.

Until then, I believe that the most important statistic for a goalie is the same as the most important stat for a team: Wins and Loses. You always want the goalie in net who gives your team the best chance to win. Most of the time it is the guy or gal who has the better GAA or the better Save Percentage. However, if both stats are equal, then I would turn to the goalie with the highest winning percentage, because that goalie has figured out how to get it done when it counts most; when the game is on the line. That may be another weighted item in your new equation. Game saving saves and big saves that occur in tied or close games. They are certainly worth more than shots that happen when the game is 7-1!

Common Errors Made By Goalies

2010-11-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

Common Errors Made By Goalies
By Darren Hersh
Taken with permission from http://www.goalieacademy.com/articles/errors.htm
Check out Darren's website www.goalieacademy.com

The Goalie Academy staff works with hundreds of goalies each year. And each year, we see many of the same mistakes that are hampering development and increasing goals against averages. Here we will discuss the most common errors and then we provide tips to help goalies correct the problem:

Staying Square
Catching Glove
Overly Aggressive
Stick On Ice
Save Selection
Recovery

The first problem that the author has seen even at the collegiate level is goalies not STAYING SQUARE to the puck when moving laterally. It is amazing how many goalies, when moving laterally, skate backward into position with the outside of the pads and the long portion of the skate blade facing the puck.

This is a big problem for many reasons:

Feet are not in a good position to react to a shot on goal
Goalie isn't covering as much net as possible
Goalie can't react quickly enough to a shot because he/she must pivot and get toes facing the puck before moving toward a shot, which could take too much time

Staying square takes a little extra work on the goalie's part, since it requires the goalie to shuffle (when a player is carrying the puck) and to T-push (when the puck is passed). It's harder to move laterally and in these technically appropriate ways, but it will ensure that you cover the most cage and that you are set for a shot, especially an unexpected shot.

This problem occurs most often when an opponent skates down the far wing. This occurs because many goalies dangerously combine two moves into one, moving laterally and backing into the net. When the shooter comes down the wing, it is important the goalie continue to stay square with the shooter and follow with the shuffle. If the shooter then approaches closer to the goal, the goalie must back straight in. It is incredibly important that goalies realize that they must only back up straight into the net to adjust their angle on breakaways and/or oncoming rushes. If a skater is moving laterally, then the goalie must shuffle in order to remain square to the shooter. Be very careful not to back up and move laterally (back laterally) at the same time, because doing both will have you backing laterally, which is not staying square. Goalies need to recognize that they first must shuffle into position and center themselves on the puck, THEN they must back straight in to properly position themselves for close in plays, passes to the slot or an opponent skating behind the goal.

Goalies, remember these simple rules to ensure that you are square and moving properly:

When a player carries the puck, SHUFFLE.
When the puck is passed, T-PUSH.
ONLY skate backward, if you are moving STRAIGHT BACK. NEVER skate backward with C cuts when moving laterally!

A second common problem among goalies young and older alike is that the CATCHING GLOVE IS NOT OPEN. Many goalie don't take advantage of the huge gloves they have on their hand. When the glove is held out and open so that the forward can see the palm of your hand, you are A. covering more cage behind you and B. you may be dissuading a shooter to shoot on you, especially on the glove side. By not showing a shooter any net and therefore making him/her make the decision not to shoot, you stop a scoring chance. It's a statistic that cannot be recorded, but you can have the satisfaction of knowing that someone didn't even attempt to score because you were in such good position and appeared to be invincible!

Keep reminding yourself throughout practices and games to show the shooter the palm of your glove. Remember to keep the glove:

out
open
in proper position

A third familiar problem we see in goalies is that they often COME OUT TOO FAR ON BREAKAWAYS, AND WHILE ACTION IS DOWN AT THE FAR END.

How many times have you seen a goalie stand as far out as the top of the face-off circles or at least past the hash marks in the slot? I see it way too often. This strategy does not make rational sense for a couple of reasons:

There is no need to come out far only to have to race back into proper position and MAYBE get back in time to stop a breakaway or shot on goal. You can remain closer to the goal, move less and adequately cut down the angle.
Moving less creates less holes and it will also ensure that you do not lose your position in the net.
You can cut down the angle too much. At a certain point, say 6 feet from the goal line, for every foot the goalie moves out, he/she is only taking away another inch from the shooter's view of the net. This is not efficiency. Remember that you are the goaltender and must guard the net. That means that you need to stay relatively close to it in order to do your job.

So remember to come out and cut down the angle, but don't stray more than 6.5 feet or so away from the goal line. On breakaways when you need to dissuade a player from shooting, you can come out a bit farther, but hash marks are way too far out, especially for novice skaters. Be aggressive, but also stay at home!

A fourth frequent fault of goalies is that the STICK IS NOT ON THE ICE WHEN MOVING.

This problem is easily solved by realizing that you are doing it and then focusing on leading all movements with your stick on the ice. A little repetition wouldn't hurt either.

Perhaps I see this problem occur when goalies move from post to post, especially when moving to the stick side. Some goalies swing their stick in the opposite direction in which they are moving. Common sense will tell you that this motion slows you down, and more importantly perhaps, leaves your stick in a very improper technical position.

Again, to stop this problem, realize that you are doing it and constantly work on doing your crease movements while leading with your stick on the ice.

A fifth flaw among goalies in general is inappropriate SAVE SELECTION. This issue is a bit in depth and really needs an entire article dedicated solely to the various components (which we will do in the near future). However, the basis of this problem is as straight forward as goalies making the wrong technical move in certain situations.

Such as:

Performing a two-pad stack when a player is too far out.
Performing an "extended butterfly" save on tips and screens.
Going down in a butterfly when they could have stayed on their feet.

Again, these issues are articles in themselves, but we wanted to at least address them as common errors. It is difficult to do the right thing all the time when you are dealing with split second decisions, but that is why working on doing the right thing in practice trains your mind to do the right thing when the moment arises.

Lastly another normal issue among goalie is RECOVERY. For goalies that have developed a capacity to recover quickly and with solid technical ability, there is one very common mistake that is made: some goalies do not understand that in many situations, they have more time to recover to their feet than they think.

Try as much as possible to get to your feet after a save, especially on saves where the rebound has not gone into the corner, but remains in front of the goal line. It is these situations where you often see goalies sprawling and "swimming" to get into position for the rebound save attempt, because they do not get to their skate blade. In order to move into any effective position on the ice, the goalie must be on the skate blade. Often in the situations where the net is left wide open, the goalie, if they work hard in practice and makes themselves quick at recovery, has enough time to get to their feet and push into a better position for the rebound save, even if the goalie doesn't fully recover.

For some goalies, not recovering isn't as much a mistake as it is an inability to recover to the feet in split seconds. If a goalie has trouble recovering due to a lack of skill, the best way to overcome this deficiency is to

get proper instruction on how to recover
work on conditioning, so recovering from an initial save isn't such a chore
work on recovery EVERY day so it becomes easier (conditioning) and you get better at it (develop skill)!

Hope this helps goalies realize some of the common errors that are out there. If you are doing any of these things, take our tips to try to improve and stop as many pucks as you can! As always, if you have any questions, contact us at Goalie_Academy@hockeymail.com.

Incorporating Complete Goaltending Skill Development

2010-11-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

Incorporating Complete Goaltending Skill Development
By Darren Hersh
Taken with permission from http://www.goalieacademy.com/articles/incorperatingskill.htm
Check out Darren's website www.goalieacademy.com

Introduction

Many times you will here TV broadcasters, coaches and fans describe various goalies as having certain styles such as “stand-up” or “butterfly.” A problem with this type of labeling is that often coaches and young, developing goalies take these labels literally to mean that a goaltender who resorts to one style or the other is supposed to either ALWAYS stay up on shots or ALWAYS go down in a butterfly to stop shots regardless of what part of the net a shot is headed or what situation the goalie is facing. This common misconception often leads to serious limitations in a player’s skill development, because the label of the style that they have adopted makes them less receptive to instruction in fundamental goaltending techniques associated with another seemingly conflicting style.

For instance with younger butterfly goalies, techniques such as skate saves, kick saves and two-pad stacks are often completely abandoned. Conversely, stand-up goalies sometimes come to the conclusion that they should not use butterfly saves or two-pad stacks because they believe that they should always stay on their feet. In addition, goalies that consider themselves butterfly goalies often overuse moves such as the butterfly save and the paddle down move. Stand-up goalies also overuse skate saves in situations where other techniques will have a higher percentage chance of success.

The vast majority of the best goalies, those who make it to the college and professional ranks, are actually “hybrid” goalies, meaning that, at the appropriate moment in a game, they have developed and are able to incorporate any and all the fundamental goaltending skill techniques to stop the puck. They are not limited to any one style, but are able to use the tools of all styles. The purpose of this research is to relay to the reader the importance of instilling in young, developing goalies a complete, balanced and well-rounded skill set of fundamental goaltending techniques in order to advance their game as far as it can go. It is also meant to give coaches an understanding of some of the recent changes in the goaltending position and how they should teach these techniques.

Problems with Labeling a Style

(Butterfly vs. Stand-up vs. Flopper/Scrambler)

In the 1970s and 1980s, the predominant method of goaltending was the stand-up style. Goalies such as Bernie Parent and other disciples of Jacques Plante recognized the importance of positioning and angles and the value of remaining on the feet as long as possible to continually move into the proper position. This style was certainly an extreme that has changed to the other extreme since the insurgence of the highly effective goalies, like Patrick Roy and JS Giguere, from the province of Quebec with their latest version of the butterfly style. At the opposite ends of the spectrum, the labels of stand up and butterfly styles have led many people in the hockey world believe the most common myths that A. goalies should choose a certain style to play, B. these styles are literal explanations and that goalies who are stand up should never go down and goalies who are butterfly should never stay up and C. goalies should stick to their chosen style and not adapt the methods of a style that is perceived to be a competing style.

The danger of this mentality is that goalies are not often receiving the well-rounded technical skill education that will aid in their improvement at the position. To combat this phenomenon, it is important to dispel the myths about goalie styles and to help the hockey world understand that all goalies must develop all the fundamental skills of goaltending and that each is to be used at certain times and under certain situations. All the perceived myths about styles are in fact untrue and with a closer analysis of today’s best goalies, one can see that the games best puck stoppers use the proper save in the appropriate situation and the incorporate all of the fundamental techniques such as skate saves, butterflies and two-pad stacks. Mitch Korn, Goalie Coach of the Nashville Predators and former instructor of Dominic Hasek in Buffalo dispels the first myth that goalies should choose a certain style. As Korn points out, “In reality, no goaltender is purely one style or another. They are a hybrid…a combination that depends on the way the goaltender plays different situations.” 1 As Mitch Korn states, goalies are not exclusively one style or another, but they are a combination of all styles. It is true that goalies are not one style or another exclusively, thus a goalie, especially a young goalie, does not have to choose a certain style or believe that they must stick to the perceived rules of that style. Goalies must be taught that they need to learn all the “tools of the trade,” because all are used under the appropriate circumstance.

The second myth that must be dismissed is the notion that the labels for goaltending styles are literally explanations. While it is true that stand-up goalies stay on their feet more often than other goalies is true, but that does not mean that stand up goalies NEVER go down to the ice to stop shots or that they do not use some type of butterfly save such as a half butterfly or a butterfly slide to make saves. Stand-up goalies, like the recently retired Mike Richter of the New York Rangers often used a half-butterfly or full butterfly to stop shots low on the ice. In fact, Richter himself credits his long, illustrious career as a USA Olympic and NHL goalie to being able to improve and add more tools to his “goalie toolbox.”2 In 1997, Richter was quoted as saying,

"I'm proud of the fact that I made it to the NHL, but even more proud of the fact that I learned to be a better goaltender. Times change and if you don't change with the times, you're lost. I remember playing for the famed Eddie Shore in the American Hockey League and having him tie me to the crossbar so that I couldn't leave my feet and had to stand up and face the shooter. But I wouldn't be in the game anymore if I was still a standup goaltender all the way with the way the game is played today -- so much east to west with the European influence we have seen in the way the puck in passed from side to side. Look at the flow of the game, from up and down the wing to a criss-crossing skating and passing game -- especially the quick passing game in front of the net that has forced goalies to go from side to side. Let me tell you, you can't do that if you stand up." 3

At the other end of the spectrum, butterfly goalies like the recently retired Patrick Roy do not necessarily use a type of butterfly for every save, but they too stand up to make glove saves on high shots when it is appropriate and they use other tools in their arsenal to stop pucks from entering the net on low shots such as two-pad stacks. The labels on styles exist as a way to describe the moves that the goalie performs more often, but those labels should not be taken literally to mean that a goalie ALWAYS stands up OR butterflies.

The third myth that goalies should remain completely within the limitation of their “chosen” method of goaltending and not adapt the methods of another style that is perceived to be a competing approach must also be removed from the thoughts of goalies, their parents and their coaches. The reason why a goalie does not want to simply adopt a solely stand up style or a butterfly style exclusively is that they both have serious shortcomings that can be overcome by implementing a combination of styles. For instance, normally stand up goalies cover the top portion of the net effectively, however most of all goals scored (nearly 70% 4) are in the bottom portion of the net below the goalie’s knees. Thus if a goalie were to always stand up, they have a diminished chance of stopping shots to the corners and sometimes the five-hole (portion between the goalie’s pads.) Korn adds that on the whole stand up goalies “have trouble with screens, deflections and quick plays around the net and from the slot.” 5

Conversely, a butterfly goalies who drops to the knees before or during a shot, effectively covers the lower portion of the goal where most goals are scored, however they leave the top portion of the net overly exposed. Joe Bertagna, the former Goalie Coach for the Boston Bruins, describes the shortcomings of an entirely butterfly or “V” style goalie, “The other extreme (to the stand up style) is carried out by the goalie who drops when it is unnecessary. Committing yourself before the shooter does is a cardinal sin for a goalie. The goalie is particularly vulnerable to high shots as well as shots through the legs.”6 Thus, a goalie must learn, practice and be ready to use any and all fundamental save techniques to be able to get the job done. As Jim Corsi, goalie coach for the Buffalo Sabres, and John Hannon, professor of management at the University of Buffalo, point out, “Everything and anything is fair game. You should use whatever tool is necessary to make the save, even if it appears to conflict with the basic style that supposedly defines you.”7

For these reasons a goalie should not overuse one style or another, but combine the overall fundamental techniques of all styles to reduce his her weaknesses as a net-minder. Mitch Korn has commented on the importance of goalies using the techniques associated with various goaltending styles, “Ideally, the goalie should take the pluses of each “style” and avoid the minuses in developing his or her own personal method or system of playing goal.” 8

Teaching and Developing a “Hybrid” Style & Skills

The key to a goalie’s playing style is the basic ready stance. The basic ready stance is the starting point of every save. It is from this starting position that a goalie “explodes” toward the puck in any given direction to place the body or part of the body in front of a shot to make a save. Just as it is problematic to label a goalie with a certain style for the reasons discussed in the previous section, defining a goalies style by the stance they normally use is also not favorable, because goalies need to use different stances depending on the situation. As Kevin Constantine, former San Jose Shark, Pittsburgh Penguin and New Jersey Devils coach, points out “Certain stances are better in certain situations. Each stance has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, a closed stance is best for handling bad angle shots: the butterfly stance is best in screen and deflection situations; and the open stance is best for lateral movement. So a goaltender should be ready to use all stances though most goaltenders will be more comfortable with a certain stance.”9 Corsi and Hannon add, “Today’s game has shown (and this is especially evident in the development of Dominik Hasek and Martin Biron) that a goalie must not lock into one particular style. Your ready stance will identify your starting point, but your save skills should be indifferent to your style.” 10

It is extremely important that coaches realize these differences in stances and that a different stance is used depending on the situation and that they teach these skills to their goalies. Because differences in the goalie’s starting position make certain types of fundamental saves easier for goalies, coaches must work on these different stances with their goalies and especially they must inform them and practice the situations in which they will use them. For instance, when a goalie stands with the legs far a part leaving a large “five-hole” (Constantine’s “butterfly stance”), he/she is more apt to use the full butterfly save because the stance facilitates dropping to the knees to cover that hole. Furthermore, a wide open stance of that nature already covers the low corners of the net (especially with goalies bigger in size), so skate saves or kick saves to cover those areas is often not necessary. The butterfly stance should be used for tips/deflections, screens and in plays close to the goal where low shots are more likely and for situations that transpire directly in front of the goal where a shooter see more of the net. By using the butterfly stance and style in these situations, goalies will have a higher percentage of success.

On the other hand, when a goalie stands with the legs closer together and does not give the shooter a large five-hole at which to shoot (Constantine’s “closed stance”), he/she is likely to be more inclined to close the five-hole in a standing position by bringing one leg in rather than going down in the full butterfly to close the five-hole. Additionally, a more upright standing goalie will give more space low to the corners and thus will tend to use skate saves and kick saves to cover the low corners. Situation where a goalie is more likely to use the closed stance is for very sharp, off-angle plays where a shooter does not have much net at which to shoot except the five-hole. In these situations, a goalie does not want to give up more of the five-hole than is necessary nor does he/she want to have such a wide stance that the leg pads are outside of the posts and not covering the net. Also, a closed stance is more beneficial for a goalie when the play is farther from the net as well. A goalie will have to travel farther to get into the appropriate position when passes are made from far out or dump ins around the boards are made and a closed stance allows for greater lateral movement. Also, with a closed stance, a goalie can more easily transition to the outside edge of the skate for a skate save. Thus, a closed stance is better to field for long shots, low to the corner, where there is no traffic in front of the goalie.

A coach must help goalies understand that certain saves are better than others in certain situations and these saves are more easily performed if they are begun with different basic stances. Thus, a goalie must have different stances in different situations so that he/she may transition to the appropriate save at the appropriate moment.

A Complete Development Program

Developing hockey skills is similar to learning to drive a car in that all the skills must be developed at the same time or the results can be less than desirable. When learning to drive, you did not learn how to press the gas one day without learning how to apply the break that same day. You had to learn about steering, using the directional and changing gears at the same time as well. It is no different developing a goalie. All the skills must be taught and practiced constantly in order to develop a complete goalie like you would a complete driver, one who is ready for and can react to any situation no matter how unexpected and “dangerous” it can be.

To develop a complete goalie, it is important to institute a weekly plan that incorporates all the fundamental tools a goalie will need and then you must follow that plan. Although skating is the most important skill, all the other skills must also be developed in conjunction with skating so that the goalie is well rounded skill-wise. Francois Allaire, famous NHL goalie coach to Patrick Roy in Montreal and to JS Giguere in Anaheim, has built a year-round development timetable and plan for young goalies that includes off-ice as well as on-ice training. The table below describes the plan in terms of time periods and the type of training that is to be completed during that time:

Period	Pre-season	Season	Playoffs	Post-Season
Month	July & August	Sept thru Feb	March & April	May & June
On-Ice		Skating Tech. Basic Saves On-Ice Evaluations	Basic Saves
Off-Ice	Off-Ice Training Group Sports	Off-Ice Training Off-Ice Evaluations		Group Sports Individual Sports

For the purpose of this research project, the focus is on the in-season, on-ice training. As Allaire shows in his graph, skating techniques and the basic save techniques must be taught, practiced, reinforced and evaluated in combination throughout the season. The different basic save techniques are also reinforced throughout the playoffs indicating their overall importance to the position.

It is important to add more detail to Coach Allaire’s table to include a weekly and monthly practice routine of all the actual basic save techniques. The coach must also be sure to teach the goalie and to practice the various situations in which the fundamental save skills should be performed. A coach must also explain the different basic stances and the situations in which they should be used as was outlined in the previous section (butterfly for close in situations, screens, deflections, and grade a scoring areas and the closed stance for sharp angles and situations that are farther from the net). A coach’s monthly goalie practice routine should be as follows (assuming a proper USA Hockey practice to game ratio of 2 or 3 practices to every 1 game 12):

Week	Day	Save Tech.	Shot Type	Stance Type
1	1	Stick & Skate	Low & corners	Closed
1	1	Butterflies: ½, Full & Extended	Low	Butterfly
1	1	Angles	All	Hybrid
1	2	2-pad stacks	Close pass	Hybrid
1	2	Butterfly Slide	Int. Pass	Butterfly
1	2	Recovery	N/A	Closed
1	2	Tips & Screen	Low tip	Butterfly
1 or 2	3 or 1	Breakaways	All	Hybrid
1 or 2	3 or 1	Gloves	High	Closed
1 or 2	3 or 1	Behind Net	Pass out	Butterfly
1 or 2	3 or 1	Rebounds	All	Hybrid

The save techniques that are to be incorporated in the coaches weekly training plan for the goalie includes all the basic save techniques and various save situations in which the goalie will encounter in any given game. These techniques should be repeated on a weekly basis so that the goalie properly develops each skill for a well-balanced “tool kit.”

Lastly, the coach should be sure to continually evaluate the goalie’s performances and his/her progress. Ensure that the goalie can perform all skills equally as well both left and right to add to the balance of the goalies skills.

Conclusion

A well-balanced approach to a young goalie’s skill development will help goalies excel in the long run. Although some professional and college goalies

Adopt a specific stand-up, but mostly butterfly style, the vast majority have developed all the technical skills required to play the position effectively, which is why they have attained the levels they have. Those goalies that have become strictly butterfly goalies have some important intangible strengths that allow them to adopt a specific style such as above average height and impeccable anticipation. Young goalies are usually not physically developed enough nor do they have the experience to anticipate plays that would allow them to implement a strictly butterfly style. Thus, coaches have to ensure that they educate goalies to know that they must develop all the fundamental skills and know when to use them. They should not use style labels that could be misconstrued by their goalies.

References

1. Korn, Mitch. Goaltender Manual: A Guide for Players, Coaches and Parents. Goaltending Styles. Buffalo: Self-published, 1996.

2. Corsi, Jim and Hannon, John. The Hockey Goalie’s Handbook. New York: Contemporary Books, 2002. P69.

3. Wigge, Larry. Richter Ranks with the Elite. NHL.com article. 9/4/2003.

4. Korn, Mitch. Goaltender Manual: A Guide for Players, Coaches and Parents. Goaltending Styles. Buffalo: Self-published, 1996.

5. Korn, Mitch. Goaltender Manual: A Guide for Players, Coaches and Parents. Goaltending Styles. Buffalo: Self-published, 1996.

6. Bertagna, Joseph. Goaltending: A Complete Handbook for Goalies and

Coaches. Cambridge, MA: Cosmos Press, Inc, 1976. Pp.20-21.

7. Corsi, Jim and Hannon, John. The Hockey Goalie’s Handbook. New York: Contemporary Books, 2002. P49.

8. Korn, Mitch. Goaltender Manual: A Guide for Players, Coaches and Parents. Goaltending Styles. Buffalo: Self-published, 1996.

9. Constantine, Kevin. Goaltending: Fundamentals and Drills. Self published. P.12.

10. Corsi, Jim and Hannon, John. The Hockey Goalie’s Handbook. New York: Contemporary Books, 2002. P49.

11. Allaire, Francois. Hockey Goaltending for Young Players: An Instructional Guide. Buffalo, Firefly Books, 1995. P.17.

12. USA Hockey. 2001-2003 Official Rules of Ice Hockey. Chicago, Triumph Books, 2001. P.ix

Pre-Game Warm Up

2010-11-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

Pre- Game Warm Up
By Darren Hersh
Taken with permission from http://www.goalieacademy.com/articles/pregame.htm
Check out Darren's website www.goalieacademy.com

Introduction

Pre-game warm up gets the blood pumping, helps players break a sweat, and loosens the muscles before stretching to prevent injuries. All these goals of the pre-game warm up are especially important to the goalie. Make sure that you take pre-game warm up seriously and that you truly prepare yourself to meet the challenges of the game! This article covers some key aspects that goalies can use to ensure that they are ready for that first shot.

Start Warm up before going onto the ice

It's a well known fact that Mike Richter of the New York Rangers jogs around the rink to break a sweat prior to each game. This great habit allows him to focus his mind and prepare his body before hitting the ice. After a jog or some calisthenics, goalies will have warmed their muscles for a stretch before putting on their equipment. This level of preparedness is a must for any serious goalie. So get to the rink early, loosen up with a jog, get a good stretch. And perhaps more importantly, use that time of your routine to think about the game and begin to visualize situations that may occur and how you will respond to them.

Develop A Routine

Use your jog, stretch, and visualization period as the beginning of your normal routine. Then put the other pieces together to create a regimen that stays the same from week to week and month to month. A routine will ensure that you are properly warmed up for each game and that you are always ready when the puck drops.

Loosen Muscles Again on the Ice Before Your Stretch

You often see players go to the bench, place their extra stick in the rack and then proceed to stretch the ham strings by lifting the leg over the dasher board. Although it is extremely important to stretch the muscles, it is extremely unwise to stretch the muscles when they are cold. Stretching a cold muscle is like stretching a frozen rubber band. When stretched to a point, the rubber band snaps. Thus, you want to skate around for a few minutes to get the blood flowing and to allow the muscles to loosen a little before you stretch them again. This will help you avoid the injury of pulled muscles.

As we previously mentioned, you can take a trick from Mike Richter and stretch before and after putting on your hockey gear. Then warm up again and stretch again on the ice. This way, you are ensured that you are adequately stretched and you will lessen the chance of injury and you will also greatly increase your general flexibility.

Make Sure You Get Enough Quality Shots

Get a player you trust to shoot pucks on you before the rest of the team takes their warm up shots. This will help you work on the types of shots and the speeds of shots that you need to see before the rest of the squad fires shots at normal speeds. Shots from one player also helps you focus on one puck at a time and helps build the confidence within so you are ready for whatever comes next.

Practice All Moves You May Make in The Game At Least Four Times

This is a big one. Even if it is to the side of the net or near the bench, make a few stacks, butterfly slides, and poke checks in warm up. This practice will refresh your mind as to the proper technique so you will be better prepared should a situation where you use these saves arise in the game. I rarely see goalies practicing before the game all the saves they may need to make during the contest. Be as ready as you can be and that means practice those not-so-often-used saves as much as your glove, stick, and butterfly saves.

Play The Puck Around The Boards

Look for differences in the boards, especially when you're on the road. Have a player or two rim the puck around the boards and get out of the net to play it. See if you can notice any uneven areas that may cause the puck to jet out from the boards and possibly in front of your goal. Of course, you won't be able to fix any problems with the boards, but you can alert yourself to the danger and change your strategy when pucks are dumped in your zone.

Going out to play the puck can really help your team control the puck and stymie the opposition's fore-check, but when issues with the dasher boards can cause you to misplay pucks that could become goals against, it is better that the goalie not play the puck in those situations.

Help Your Coach Develop a Warm Up That Suits Your Needs

It may not work with all coaches, but it is certainly worth a shot! There may be nothing worse (or better in some cases) than an angry and upset goalie before the start of a game. Warm ups can set a goalie off if he/she feels that they are not ready for the match. If you have certain drills that you like for warm up, tell the coach and ask if he/she will make them part of the warm up period. The worst they can say is no.

It make sense that a goalie faces drills that help him/her prepare and since the goalie is such an important part of a team's success. I believe most coaches will accommodate.

Visualize

Once again, visualization is a big part of mental preparation for the game and should be done before going out onto the ice and any time your team goes back in the locker room between periods. Visualization helps you prepare for things to come and helps prepare your mind to react the way you want it to.

Conclusion

We have given you a lot to do as a warm up and most goalies in youth hockey only get 5 minutes to warm up. Thus, it is extremely important that you develop a routine, prepare for the warm up period itself as well as prepare for the game, and warm up before the pre-game, on-ice warm up. If you do all these things, you will be ready for each and every game and that is half the battle! Best of luck.

Skate Saves

2010-11-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

Skate Saves
By Darren Hersh
Taken with permission from http://www.goalieacademy.com/articles/skatesave.htm
Check out Darren's website www.goalieacademy.com

In the "old days," the skate save used to be taught at goalie camps as much, if not more than, any other save. It is a difficult save to make and therefore required (and still requires) a lot of practice to master. Now, you are lucky to find the technique taught at all. It is undeniable that the game has changed tremendously and that the skate save is not as effective of a tool for stopping pucks as it once was, however, there is still a time and place to use it even though that particular situation doesn't present itself all that often.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the skate save was used a lot to stop that slap shot along the ice headed for the far corner of the net. Back then, goalies, except for Tony Esposito, used mainly a stand up style, which almost forced them to be reaction goalies. They wore face masks very close to the face that didn't allow for much protection, so who could blame them for not going down so often. Goalies like Bernie Parent had very quick feet and flawless technique, which made the skate save a thing of beauty and almost an art form.

Parent skate save to his right...

...and to his left

It wasn't until Vladislav Tretiak's technique was studied more closely in North America and handed down to younger generations that the skate save started to be replaced with what I call the extended half butterfly. In the extended half butterfly save, the skate isn't turned onto the outside edge redirecting the puck to the corner, but rather the toe of the skate remains facing the puck so that the face of the leg pad makes the save on the extension of the leg rather than the skate blade. Arguably this is a faster, less technical and, therefore, an easier, more efficient way of making a save on a shot to the low corners, but the extended half butterfly doesn't control rebounds nearly as well as the skate save.

Dan Cloutier makes an extended half butterfly save.

So many changes in the game of hockey and the techniques of goaltending have lead to a more limited use of the skate save. It seems that in today's game players do not take as many 40 and 50 foot slap shots in open ice (where tips and screens do not exist) and when they do the shots may be going a lot faster on average. Thus, the goalie is more apt to perform an extended half butterfly save to get more equipment in front of a puck that he/she has less time to save rather than try to perfectly time a well executed skate save where only 12" of skate blade come between the flying puck and a goal.

At any rate, goalies still do use the skate save, but as stated before, it seems to be used in one unique situation, the dump in. When teams are calling for a line change and the puck needs to be dumped into the opposition's zone, you will sometimes see an NHLer dump a long slap shot on goal, low to the corners at times. It is in these situations where you may still see Martin Brodeur and other NHL netminders flash the skate blade and steer the puck harmlessly into the corner.

So, work at the skate technique for when this situation arises, because it is much better to be able to steer these shots into the corner rather than leaving out a rebound on a shot that should be easily handled. Also, for younger goalies that have not yet reached that NHL type size of 6'0" or more, the skate save should be used more often, since the shots a squirt and a pee wee face are not nearly as fast paced and the goalie has more time to perform the skate save technique. Don't abandon this great save, because by controlling rebounds with the feet, you get less shots on goal, which will likely help both your goals against average and your save percentage! Be able to do it all!

Brodeur nicely executes a skate save.

Reaction vs. Percentage Butterflies

2010-11-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

Reaction vs. Percentage Butterflies

by Darren Hersh

Taken with permission from http://www.goalieacademy.com/articles/reaction.htm

Check out Darren's website www.goalieacademy.com

When you dissect goaltending down to the least common denominator, there are basically two (2) categories of saves, reaction and percentage (or blocking). Of course, there are many individual types of saves such as skate saves, kick saves, glove saves, two pad stacks and butterflies, etc that fall into to one of these categories. Of all the saves, however, goalies use the butterfly save in both reaction and percentage situations. It is important that goalies understand the detailed differences between percentage and reaction butterflies and that they learn to use them at the appropriate time.

Reaction Saves

Reaction saves are those saves in which goalies react to a shot by putting in front of the puck the piece of equipment that is closest to where the puck is shot. On reaction saves, the goalie reads the shot and moves to stop the shot. Reaction saves are usually made on one-on-one types of confrontations between the goalie and the shooter, where the shooter carries the puck and then fires on net and the goalie reacts to the shot with the proper save technique.

Reaction Butterflies

There are several reaction-type butterflies used to stop the puck (and control rebounds). Each of these butterflies are used under different circumstances.

Full Butterfly

The full butterfly is reserved for low shots along the ice or just above the ice that are headed for the goalie's "5-hole" or close to the "5-hole." The full butterfly as a reaction save is performed by the goalie quickly snapping both knees to the ice, closing the "5-hole." Both legs are fanned to the best of the goalie's ability and the hands and gloves basically stay in the same position as they had in the goalie's basic stance.

For shots along the ice, the goalie should use the stick to make the save on a full butterfly whenever possible because the stick is a better tool to control rebounds than are the leg pads. For shots along the ice, the full butterfly backs up the stick in case the stick misses the puck or the puck jumps over the stick. A goalie should always try to get as much equipment in front of the puck as often as possible.

Below are pictures of Belfour, Billington and Graham going down into the full butterfly as they react to low shots close to the five-hole. They are all snapping down to close the five-hole and making the save with the stick to control the rebound.

Full Butterflies with Body and Glove Saves

On reaction saves, goalies often also use the full butterfly when shots are taken from closer to the goal (say inside the tops of the circles) and are higher and to the body or to the gloves. This isn't a bad move, of course, if it stops the puck! Reacting in the butterfly on these types of shots also makes sense because it is more difficult to move the feet than to move the hands and therefore the goalie is covering low with the knowledge that on shots taken in close, it will be very difficult to stop the shot unless he/she anticipates the low shot. However, the goalie must always be careful not to go down in the full butterfly BEFORE the shot is taken. The goalie can go into the full butterfly AS the shot is taken but not BEFORE! It is extremely important that goalies react to shots and not guess as to where they are going. So, although going down in the butterfly to react to shots that may even be saved by the gloves, it is advisable to learn to read shots off the shooters' sticks and stay up on higher shots and go down on low shots.

Below are pictures of Biron, Barrasso and Kolzig going down on both knees into the full butterfly as they react to mid range shots to the body and gloves. They are going down to cover the low portion of the net and to get as much of the equipment as possible behind the puck.

Half Butterflies

Another reaction save goalies make on low shots is the half butterfly. The half butterfly save is used for shots that are close to the body, but are a bit to the left or right of the "5-hole." Once the goalie quickly identifies that the puck is coming close to the body, yet to one side, the goalie snaps down to both knees and "fans" the leg closest to the puck. Fanning the leg means that the goalie's leg pad is slightly extended and the inside of the pad fully flush to the ice, showing the front face of the pad. The opposite leg's pad is placed face down. This technique puts more leg pad behind the puck to ensure that the net is covered.

Again, the goalie tries to make the save with the stick to better control rebounds. Some key details of the half butterfly save is that the goalie keeps his/her eyes on the puck, places the glove hand on top of the pad (on the appropriate side) to get it closer to the puck and when the puck is closer to the five-hole, both of the goalie's knees are together completely closing the five-hole.

Below are pictures of Burke, Dunham and Irbe going down on both knees and fanning the leg closest to the puck to make a half butterfly save. To the best of their ability, they are making the save with the stick to control rebounds and they are getting the glove on top of the pad in case of deflections and to get as much equipment as possible close to or behind the puck.

Extended Half Butterflies

For low shots that are sent to the low corners, the goalie can also use the extended half butterfly save. Once the shot is taken and the goalie identifies where the shot is going, the goalie drops to one knee and fully extends the leg closest to the puck. The difference between the extended half butterfly and the regular half butterfly is that the extended leg pad is not fully flush to the ice. Only the toe portion of the pad is flush to the ice and the goalie's knee is off the ice allowing space in the five-hole area.

It is very difficult to control rebounds with this save, so it is extremely important that the goalie, once again, makes these saves with the stick to steer rebounds to the corners. The leg pad is placed behind the stick to be sure to cover the net should the shot avoid the goal stick.

Just as the goalie does with the other reaction butterfly saves, the goalies keep their eyes on the puck and they place the glove hand on top of the pad (on the appropriate side) to get it closer to the puck should tips or other unexpected bounces of the puck occur.

Below are pictures of Barrasso, Cloutier and Brodeur going down on one knee and extending the leg closest to the puck as they react to make an extended half butterfly save. Again, they are making the save with the stick to control the rebound! Also the eyes follow the puck into the equipment.

Percentage Saves

Percentage saves are those saves where the goalie gets into position before the shot or deflection is made. With percentage or blocking saves, the goalie's job is to fill as much of the net as possible by "building a wall" with the body. The goalie tries to get into a position that covers the most net possible forcing the opposing forward to score on a low percentage shot. Percentage techniques are used for bang-bang pass plays, screen situations and deflection situations. One of the more difficult aspects of percentage saves is for goalies to identify these situations.

Percentage (Blocking) Butterflies

There are basically four types of blocking saves, paddle down, two-pad stack, full butterfly and full butterfly slide. For the purposes of this article, we will only cover the two types of butterfly saves.

Full Butterfly Slide on Passes

The full butterfly slide is used mostly on pass plays where the threat of a shooter using a one-time shot is prevalent. The full butterfly slide is also used on very tight to the net pass plays or on dekes during breakaway situations.

As with all percentage saves, the purpose of the full butterfly slide is for the goalie to cover the area of the net that is easiest for the shooter to hit. In a sense the goalie "builds a wall" and forces the shooter to be as accurate as possible in situations where the opposing forward does not have time to "pick corners."

In the full butterfly slide, the goalie basically slides on two knees with five-hole completely sealed and with the arms straight to his/her side sealing off the "funnel" area under each arm. The goalie must also be sure to keep the torso as upright as possible by having the upper body remain perpendicular to the ice. This allows the goalie to more effectively cover the top portion of the net where he/she is most vulnerable. The goalie's stick remains on the ice covering the five-hole area, but can be slanted due to the fact that the blocker arm is straightened and tight to the side of the goalie's torso. Goalies need to be careful, however, when straightening the stick side arm that he/she shoots the stick straight forward and not to the side, which will leave the five-hole uncovered by the stick.

Below are pictures of Khabibulan, Luongo and Roy performing nearly perfect butterfly slides by keeping a very compact butterfly and "building a wall." As you can tell, the goalies are not reacting to the puck, but rather they are in position and are simply allowing the puck to hit them. Net is showing behind them, but it is net in areas that are most difficult for attacking forwards to hit given the short amount of time they have to make a play.

Full Butterfly on Screens and Tips or Butterfly Slide on Tips

The full butterfly percentage save for tips and screen situations is very similar to the full butterfly slide without the slide. The goalie again wishes to cover those more vulnerable areas of the net and to leave open those areas of the cage that are the most difficult for forwards to place the puck. Like the butterfly slide, the goalie gets into the position in those situations where he/she understands that there will not be enough time to react because the puck will either not be seen at all or it will be shot, tipped or deflected from too close to the net leaving only fractions of split seconds for movement. It is an intelligent and realistic goalie that understands his/her limitations with these plays and who compensates with percentage style saves to make up for the disadvantage they have on plays like those described.

Again, in the full butterfly percentage save, the goalie snaps down on two knees with five-hole completely sealed and with the arms straight to his/her side sealing off the "funnel" area under each arm. The goalie must also be sure to keep the torso as upright as possible by having the upper body remain perpendicular to the ice and the goalie's stick remains on the ice covering the five-hole area.

Below are pictures of Potvin, Tugnutt and Kidd performing textbook percentage full butterflies by keeping that very compact butterfly and "building a wall." As you can tell, the goalies are not reacting to the puck, but rather they are in position and are simply allowing the puck to hit them. They are covering the largets percentage of the net in a situation where too much movement may create holes. It is these screen and tip situations also, where the best goalies know that they do not have time to react to make the save, thus they use the blocking full butterfly.

Conclusion

There are two categories of saves, reaction and percentage, and different types of butterfly saves are used in both categories. For the reactions saves, goalies use full, half and extended half butterflies. For percentage save, goalie use blocking full butterflies and blocking full butterfly slides. To become an expert goaltender it is extremely important that goalies 1. be able to identify reaction versus percentage situations and 2. be able to make the appropriate save when the situation demands. Keep working on perfecting each butterfly technique and also work on using the right butterfly in the right situation.

Secret To Success

2010-11-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Secret To Success
By Darren Hersh
Taken with permission from http://www.goalieacademy.com/articles/success.htm
Check out Darren's website www.goalieacademy.com

The secret to goaltending success isn't really a secret. The problem is that the key ingredient to success is very difficult to attain. That ingredient is consistency. If you want to be a successful goalie, and by that I mean the best possible goalie you can be, you have to be consistent. Consistency itself is formed from other components such as, focus, desire to win, good habits, and hard work.

It seems almost pointless to argue over who was or is the best goalie of all time. When I think of the best, I think of Patrick Roy, Dominic Hasek, Jacques Plante, Glenn Hall, Terry Sawchuk, Ken Dryden, Bernie Parent, Tony Esposito, and Grant Fuhr to name a few. Each reader will have their own list, but regardless of which goalies you believe to be among the best of all time, look closely at your candidates. The first thing you may notice is that they all had or have different styles. None of the above goalies played the position the same way. Some were butterfly goalies while others were stand up. They all have different statures, as well. Some were (are) quicker and played a more reaction style while others played a more solid positional game. Although all the best goalies have had differences, they all had consistency in common. Thus, the main ingredient for greatness would have to be consistency.
So how does a goalie become consistent? Well, as previously stated, there are many components to consistency and we'll touch on a few of the most important ones here.
HABITS. The first main ingredient is developing positive habits. We're all creatures of routine and we have both good and bad habits. To become consistently good in goal, you must develop positive habits. That means that you have to perfect the fundamentals of the position so that in games, you respond to shots on goal with flawlessly executed saves as often as humanly possible. This is what coaches mean when they say the old adage, "perfect practice makes perfect." When you consistently perform your saves without a glitch, over and over again, you have taken another step closer to consistency.
WORK ETHIC. Going hand in hand with perfecting your fundamentals is developing a solid work ethic. Since you will have to perform the fundamentals over and again to perfect them, you must have the desire and work ethic to keep the pace. Of course, your desire to be consistent is also of the utmost importance. The desire to improve and to achieve consistency will help your work ethic develop and it will also help make the task seem less daunting.
FOCUS. Lastly, a goalie must be able to maintain focus throughout practice and games in order to reach a successful level of consistency. Let's not pull any punches here. Sometimes, depending on the team you play for, goaltending can actually get boring. At times, the mind begins to wonder and you catch yourself thinking about pizza and locker combinations rather than the puck. It as at these times, that the goalie has to bear down and keep his or her mind where it belongs, on the ice, on the puck, and thinking about reacting to make the very next save. At practice, if there is a lull in the action, discipline yourself to do something constructive. Work on an aspect of your game that you know needs fine tuning. Or challenge yourself to stay still and keep thinking about the puck and watch the play at the other end and see how long you can stay focused. The more you do it, the longer you be able to maintain your focus in games.
If you begin practicing toward the perfection of your saves through desire, a good work ethic, and focus, you will start to gain consistency, which is the key to longevity and even greatness as a goalie. But make no mistake, it isn't easy. There are a lot of very good goalies out there who never reached the heights for which they seemed destined and the main reason is consistency. It is not enough to take the Randy Moss, Vikings' wide receiver, approach of playing when you want to. Not if you want to be great. You have to do it night in and night out to reach the highest levels. It doesn't do you any good to have all the tools and not use them.

Interview with UMass Amherst Coach Donald Cahoon

2010-11-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

Coach Cahoon,

Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge with players and coaches who might be reading this interview.

Please give the readers some background information

Check bio on UMass Hockey website: www.umassathletics.com (http://www.umassathletics.com/sports/m-hockey/mtt/cahoon_don00.html)

What are the 3 biggest things you look for in a recruit?

Once I have the knowledge that the recruit has the requisite skills to play at our level, I look for character, competitiveness, and work ethic.

What does a potential recruit need to do to get noticed by college scouts/coaches?

Play well against the best competition available.

How would you describe the "character" of your team? Do you coach that or recruit that?

Our team in 2010: Excellent. We both recruit it and coach it.

Do you coach the mental aspect of hockey? How?

For sure! We reference many great writings and notable leaders’ excerpts from speeches, as well as competitions.

What are some of your attributes that have helped you reach such a high level of coaching?

Passion for what I do, the perseverance to stay with it, and the joy of being in the thick of it—the game itself.

What is your best advice for a young coach looking to make a career in coaching?

First, they must understand what is required for them to make a career of it. Things like sacrificing weekends, long daily schedules, and heavy travel.

All of this, without making a lot of money initially.

What are three things you look for when hiring an asst coach?

I look for intelligence, presentation and preparation, and hockey knowledge

Thanks again Coach.

New Interview With Des Moines Buccaneers Coach Regg Simon

2010-11-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

Coach Simon,

Thank you for taking the time give some insight to all the coaches and players reading the articles at Boston Hockey Education.

Please give the readers a little background information on yourself.

Born & raised in Elk River, Minnesota. Grew up playing there. Played high school hockey there. Played two years in the USHL for Des Moines after high school. Got a scholarship to University of Alaska Anchorage out of Des Moines. Finished playing in 2001 for UAA. Got into coaching in 2002-03 in the USHL with the Tri-City Storm. Worked ½ year there as assistant coach and ½ year as interim head coach. Came to Des Moines as assistant coach in 2003-04 and held that position until 2005. Took over as Head Coach & General Manager until 2008. Left for two years to go back to UAA as assistant coach. Came back to Des Moines this past August as Head Coach & GM again.

What are the 3 biggest things you look for in a player (on ice) when recruiting for your junior team?

Hockey sense, skill and competitiveness.

What are the 3 biggest things you look for in a player off of the ice?

Character, desire and manners.

Can you give us some insight into the recruiting process for your junior team? Is it simply holding tryouts or do you actively seek out players?

The USHL has a draft in May – so we scout players throughout the season and build a draft list from that. During the season we actively look for free agents (players not on USHL lists) and if we think they are good enough we’ll bring them on to our club.

What should high school/midget players do to help get noticed by junior teams?

Stay out of trouble off the ice. Do well in school. Play hard every night because they never know who is in the stands. Be the best at what you are: You don’t have to have 50 points as a defenseman to get to junior or pro hockey. If you are a great defensive defenseman – be the best at it. If you’re a great 3^rd line checking wing and penalty killer – be the best at it. You don’t have to get 100 points to get to higher levels of hockey. There’s just as many “role” spots on a team as there is “skill” spots when you build a team.

Do you try to coach the mental aspect of hockey? If so, what are some tips in doing so?

Yes. We try to teach the players how to properly prepare for games and to do visualization to picture themselves having success.

What did you do during your playing days to set you apart from the competition?

I competed very hard, was a good penalty killer and leader.

What is your biggest advice for someone who loves hockey and is looking to dive in and make their living in a hockey related business?

You have to be passionate about it and if you are with a woman or partner they better know what they’re getting into as well. Most people that work in hockey are under-paid and over-worked – but we all have fun doing it. That’s why you need to be passionate about it.

What made you want to be a coach?

I always understood the game and was a smart player even though I wasn’t the most talented player. I felt I’d be able to take the lessons I learned as a player and teach them to young men and help them grow and mature as a person and player.

How does a coach improve their skills?

By talking a lot of hockey with other coaches, watching games and how other teams play. There are no original ideas in hockey. We all steal from each other and make it our own.

Who was your most influential coach? Why?

Bob Ferguson who is now an assistant GM with the Anaheim Ducks. He was a hard-nosed coach but you knew he cared about you as well – which made all of his players want to go through a brick wall for him and the team.

What are 3 things you look for when hiring an asst coach?

Loyalty. Character. Personality.

What are the 3 most important things to do to ensure you're running effective practices?

Skill development built into each drill. Players are getting the proper work-to-rest ration so conditioning is built into each drill. Be prepared and have a basic plan as to what you want your team to achieve that day (defensive concepts, offensive zone play, transition game, ect.).

What are some major mistakes you see coaches making?

Not enough skill development built into practices and practicing systems too much. Players do need to learn systems – but if a kid can’t skate or handle a puck – how is he going to make a play within that system to help you win a game? Youth coaches especially try to win too much – and they get pressure from parents to do that. I’d rather see a youth coach skill his team to death and be a .500 hundred team than a 60-10 team that plays great systems with players that have no creativity. What’s more gratifying – sending 10 guys to the USHL 5 years from now because you developed their skills or winning 60 games as a peewee or bantam but none of your kids play at a higher level because they lacked skill development at a crucial point in their careers? Youth coaches – and parents – need to recognize and see the big picture with this. It’s not how good little Johnny is at 12 years old – it’s should be about how good can we get little Johnny to be when he’s 22 years old. You can’t jump across the whole creek. You need to hop from stone to stone to get the other side. Unfortunately, too many times players, parents and coaches think they can get to the other side without going through the logical process.

Is there anything you want to promote, plug, or have our readers take a look at? (Website link, facebook, etc...)

www.bucshockey.com and www.ushl.com

Thanks Coach.

Interview with US National Team Development Program Strength and Conditioning Coach Darryl Nelson

2010-11-04T22:59:00.000-07:00

Coach Nelson,

Thank you for taking the time to help us understand some of the basics of coaching hockey players while they are working hard off of the ice.

Please give me a little background information.

I have an MEd from the U of Georgia and a BS from U Maine Presque Isle. I am certified by the National Athletic Trainer's Association. This is my 11th season with USA Hockey NTDP.

Do you favor a certain "style" of training?

No. Instead, I try to incorporate lots of variety in the team's training.

What are the 3 most important things that youth players should be doing off of the ice to reach the next level? High school age players?

Youth players need to develop the ABC's of human performance...agility, balance, and coordination. Play multiple sports such as baseball and lacrosse or track and field and football. Have fun!!!
High School players can still play multiple sports. Have fun!!! Also, at this age a good strength and conditioning program should be a significant part of your athletic career.

What age is appropriate to start weight lifting?

How do you structure in season training to ensure enough rest when your players are skating so often?

In Season we typically perform strength training 2 days per week.

Are the 2 strength sessions "in season" on skating days? why or why not?

yes, they strength train on skating days. the national teams skate 6 days per week. 4 practices and 2 games. Usually we do a third off ice training day as well. either boxing or a plate circuit also performed after a skate.

What are the main areas of focus of off season training?

Developing power, gaining lean mass, Injury prevention, and of course fun.

What place do the powerlifts have in hockey training? What about olympic lifts?

well, "powerlifts" and Olympic lifts are part of the training. However, I have not done back squats in our training since the mid 90's. I perform front squats for beginners. Good, experienced athletes should do all their squatting on one leg. We perform bench press some times. Also, lots of bench press variations with dumbbells is critical. I don't perfrom any lifting off the floor such as conventional deadlifts. We do straight leg deadlifts (SLDL). Again, SLDL on 2 legs is for beginners. Experienced lifters should perfrom all their SLDL on one leg. We perform lots of Olympic lifting...again no lifting from the floor. We do all our Olympic lifting from the hang position.

Why use front squats over back squats?

Front squats are far more athletic that back squats (although not nearly as athletic as 1 leg squatting). it promotes a more upright torso posture and decreases lower back stress.

Is aerobic training necessary for hockey players?

What are your thoughts on static stretching?

Static stretching is very valuable. We do it as part of every training session.

What advice do you have for a young coach interested in making a living training athletes (specifically hockey players)?

First, education is very important. you need atleast a 4 year degree in a exercise science related field. Also, some credential like bing certified by the National Athletic Trainer's Association, The American College of Sports Medicine, or the national Strength and Conditioning Association. Next is getting some experience working under an experienced strength and conditioning coach. Even if hockey, or another sport, is your passion you should get experience with as many different sports as possible.

Is there anything you'd like to add about training hockey players?

If you want to train hockey players learn the game. This will help you communicate with the coaches better. Also, take the time to really learn the nuts and bolts of good skating mechanics. Although you won't be on the ice this will help you a lot.

Is there anything you'd like to promote, plug, or have our readers check out? (website, etc...)

Good sources of information are hockeystrengthandconditioning.com and strengthcoach.com. Also, check out hockeymasters.net

Thanks a lot Coach Nelson. I greatly appreciate it.

New Interview With U-Maine Associate Coach Bob Corkum

2010-11-04T22:49:00.000-07:00

Coach Corkum,

Thanks for taking the time to help educate our readers on how to reach the next level playing and coaching hockey.

What are the 3 biggest things you look for in a player (on ice) when recruiting for your team?

Speed and agility ( skating), stick skills and hockey sense

What are the 3 biggest things you look for in a player off of the ice?

Academics, character, discipline

Can you give us some insight into the recruiting process?

The quick response is we look all over the US/Canada and sometimes Europe trying to find players that we think can continue to move our program forward, our budget is limited as well as the number of times we can legally see a player per NCAA
rules. Once we have identified the player we talk with them, there parents and coaches present and past and just try and get as much info as we can on a particular player. After all that we try and bring him in and show him why he should choose the
University of Maine over other colleges and Universities to further his academic and athletic career. The process can last from weeks to years....

What should high school/junior players do to help get noticed by college coaches/scouts?

They can play in select high profile invitation tournaments, send us emails with Bios and academic info

Do you try to coach the mental aspect of hockey? If so, what are some tips in doing so?

We do try and coach the mental aspects of the game, we do alot of visualization exercises and are actually working with some video software for that very purpose, positive self talk, not worrying about results but the small things that lead to
wins

What did you do during your playing days to set you apart from the competition?

Focus in practice and training very hard in the off season

What made you want to be a coach?

I began as a volunteer to see if I would enjoy it at the high school level and had fun, but wanted a more dedicated athlete with interests more about hockey than the three sport athlete who may just be playing hockey for something to do in the
winter, I then moved to Junior hockey and reall enjoyed working with those players who were very excited to try and make it to the Div 1 level, from there a spot opened up at maine and I was thrilled to go back to Maine after having played there for
4 years.

How does a coach improve their skills?

We improve our skills just the same way everyone else does by trial and error and learning from past experiences, along with listening to other coaches and reading new philosophies.

Who was your most influential coach? Why?

Shawn Walsh and Jim Shoenfield, both because they were tireless workers and really displayed the love for the game in the way they handled on and off ice situations. They both could be described as players coaches and I could sit an talk with
them about anything, just not hockey.

What are 3 things you look for when hiring an asst coach?

I have never had to hire anyone , but would look for someone that could challenge me and not just yes me to death all the time, someone that was good at some of my shortcomings.

What are the 3 most important things to do to ensure you're running effective practices?

Plan ahead, review tape so I know what we need improving on and probably most importantly get insight from the players, you must make practices challenging but fun and be sensitive to the health of the team.

What are some major mistakes you see coaches making?

At the Youth level,it most surely would be using the whole ice surface for games and scrimmages, the kids simply do not touch the puck enough to get better at it, at the college level I would say poor bench management, and overworking a tired
team.

What is the best part about working in hockey to make a living? Worst?

The best thing would be able to get paid playing and now coaching the greatest game on earth and seeing your players move on in hockey and life and thinking you helped them a little along the way. the worst thing would be the late hours and
roller coaster of emotions with wins and loss, as soon as you think you know your team they will do something to send you back to the drawing board.

Thanks for your time. I look forward to following Maine's play during the season.

Introduction

2010-11-04T22:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Boston Hockey Education!

It is my goal with this website to help develop better players, coaches, and hockey related businesses by asking the advice of experts in interviews, posting articles, and eventually having an interactive "ask an expert" Q &A section.

My name is Cole Clifford. I am a hockey coach in the Boston area. I currently coach for the Bridgewater Bandits 99 Elite team that plays in the Eastern Hockey Federation. I am also the goalie coach for Cohasset High School and owner of Next Level Goalie Training. I am looking to advance my coaching career and make a living in hockey full time in the next 4 years.

Boston Hockey Education is looking for articles and interviews from established coaches, players, scouts, hockey related business owners, and anyone else willing to share their knowledge with the masses. Feel free to send any info or feedback to ColePClifford@gmail.com.