Thursday, July 18, 2013

Hockey Homework Series- Video #1 Wrist Roll for Stickhandling

The first instructional video in a forthcoming series called "Hockey Homework" from HC Dallas. These videos are designed to offer players techniques and tips to maintain and improve their skills at home.

In Video #1, Coach Jouni Lehtola demonstrates proper wrist roll for stickhandling and offers a fun, quick drill you can do at home to keep up and improve muscle memory.




Thursday, July 11, 2013

Commitment


By Stew Carson

Commitment.

You can't play hockey without it.

And we're not talking about making it to practice or off-ice training on time. We're talking about sacrifice, extra effort, going beyond what's expected to give your absolute all.

Hockey is a fast-paced, physical sport-even for those leagues that don't have full contact-that requires players to block shots, fight for loose pucks in confined spaces, and sacrifice for the team.

This week's post is not so much a 'tip' as it is a statement about commitment to work ethic and sacrifice that separates the 'passengers' (those along for the ride) and those players who work to make a difference for their teammates and themselves.

You can't be successful without the extra effort, and sometimes that means taking a shot of off your ankle, or taking a pasting by an opposing player to make a key play---like getting the puck out of the zone (we're looking at you wingers). You don't have to score highlight reel goals to get noticed, to make a difference, or to be a valuable member of a team! Often, success is in the small, normally unnoticed plays.

Check out this sequence, all during the same penalty-kill, by former Toronto Maple Leaf Matt Stajan. This sequence is all about sacrifice for the team.......unbelievable. You can bet that the newspapers didn't report on this sequence, but Stajan's coaches and teammates noticed big time.

You gotta love it.