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player tips

27

August

Rails

August is the perfect summer month.

Running a hockey camp in August means that things are winding down after few great months instructing aspiring athletes who have been working hard to take their game to the next level.

Of course it never gets old walking out of the cool rink into the hot and humid summer air.

And in August, the excitement of the summer months is turning to thoughts of Labor Day, school, football and of course the start of another hockey season.

Yes, these are the dog days of summer and they are great times for hockey players.

All of the instruction received over the summer can be put to use during your personal training in preparation for the season.

Shooing pucks with proper form and increased velocity.
Stickhandling with your head up and practicing your new dekes and moves.

We really enjoy watching players in August as they have grown over the past few months, both as hockey players and also in height!

As you finish out your summer vacation we encourage you to continue working hard on everything that you learned at hockey camp this summer.

Players leave camp with the tools they need to become a better hockey player, and we sincerely hope that you use those tools each and every day in practice.

Repetition is a key ingredient to mastering skills so take the time and bring the energy to your training and preseason preparations.

Work the same skills over and over again until you are comfortable executing at full speed.

Enjoy the final weeks of summer and we look forward to keeping up with you this season!

Rails

The excitement for the NHL Playoffs may be greater than ever. Regardless of whether your favorite team is in the hunt for the Stanley Cup, watching the best hockey players in the world compete at the highest level for the top prize in the game really is must watch TV.

From the intensity and speed to the awesome goals, amazing passes and phenomenal dekes, if you are a fan of hockey you are probably glued to the TV. For youth players it is a time when they can really sit and learn from the best of the best.  Cheering for your favorite team is always exciting, but for true students of the game who want to learn a new move, how to back check hard and pick up the weak side wing and everything in between, the NHL Playoffs are a great learning opportunity.

Not only can players watch intently on the individual and team play, but the NHL Playoffs should also serve as inspiration to take your own game to the next level. Watching a great wrist shot beat a goalie top shelf should inspire you to shoot more pucks. Watching a player dance around a defenseman into the open ice should provide the motivation to practice stickhandling even more. Watching the ‘give it all’ attitude of every  player on the ice should encourage you to train throughout the summer, stay in shape and hit the ice in the fall ready to go.

Most great players have that ‘ah-hah’ moment where they realize that to get to the top of the game they need to train hard to get there. Watching the best players in the world and picking out a few moves from a favorite player and then trying over and over to master the skill is a great opportunity to help your overall hockey skills.

Great players have all grown up watching their idols inspire them, and then headed out to the driveway or down to the basement to reenact the big play.

During the next NHL game keep an eye out for what you can learn and apply to your own game. Not only is watching NHL Playoffs awesome from a fan perspective, but it can really be the inspiration to help take your game to the next level.

 

08

April

The Season of Champions

Posted by Greg Carter

Rails

April is one of the great hockey months. In the NHL we have the push to the playoffs, which means a few things: the intensity ratchets up several notches, the speed of the game shifts up a gear or two and of course the facial hair is grown out. During April we also have college hockey’s Frozen Four. This is another great tournament as unpaid players are putting it all on the line not for a huge paycheck, but rather for the simple right to win a championship.

You can’t help but watch the incredible hockey this time of year and wonder, ‘what does it really take to get to that level of play’ . . . not just playing at the highest level, but to advance through the regular season and the playoffs and ultimately hit the ice and play on the biggest stage, under the brightest lights for the right to hoist the biggest trophy.

For most of players, and you’ll hear this in post-game interviews, the ‘what it really takes’ is determination. Not just team determination, but individual determination.  And that determination didn’t just start at the end of the regular season or the weeks leading into the playoffs as the team fought to make the post season. For the most successful players, that determination started a long time ago in a basement, garage, backyard rink or local park.

Determination goes hand and hand with hard work. The great Vince Lombardi once said “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”

Every hockey player wants to win, wants to make the playoffs, wants to play for the championship and wants to hoist the trophy. The reality is that the players who do end up in these games are the ones who have realized at a young age what it really takes to get there. First and foremost it requires a love of the game. After that, it takes commitment, determination and hard work.

The best players that I’ve played with have all possessed these traits. They were the guys at the rink first and off the ice last. They loved shooting pucks. They loved practicing and trying to get better every day. And I mean every day. They loved being at the rink, and when they weren’t they were making mom and dad upset by staying at the local rink two hours too long. They were quintessential rink rats, who also had skill, determination and weren’t afraid of hard work.

So when you see players on TV hoisting a trophy, some doing so in tears, it’s important to understand that the journey for these players didn’t start at the beginning of the season. It started at the beginning of their recognition that with determination and hard work, there can be no limits to your success.

When does your journey begin?

22

January

Tips for scoring goals

Posted by Greg Carter

Rails

What is more fun than scoring a goal in hockey? Well, maybe assisting on a goal! But there is no arguing that putting the puck by the goaltender is what every player strives for to help their team win, and here are 5 tips to help you score more goals this season.

1. Shoot like you mean it. Too many players shoot like they are trying to just get the puck across the goal line. We often see this when players come to our hockey camp. Shoot like you mean it, and not only want to put the puck in the net, but right through the back of the net!

2. Crash the net. When you know a teammate has a shot on goal, crash the net. This means getting yourself to just outside the crease, not the hash marks or 10 feet out. Getting the rebound just after the goalie gives it up catches him/her out of position, and gives you the greatest opportunity to score.

3. Keep moving. Great players anticipate the play and where the puck is going. Wherever you are on the ice, move your feet and get to the open area or get to the puck first. Using your hockey sense and knowing where to go, and actually getting there, will put you in prime position to score goals.

4. Be confident and patient. These two goal-scoring attributes often go together. Some of the prettiest deke goals result from being confident in a move, and patient enough to wait for the play to evolve to the point you have a clear lane to the net, shot on goal or opportunity to put your move on the goalie.

5. Good old fashioned practice. There are no shortcuts to scoring success, and for every player that scores with a rocket ‘snipe’ and makes it looks easy, they have shot hundreds, if not thousands of pucks on and off the ice. Something we preach at our hockey school is that in practice, finish every drill with a shot on goal like it’s a game situation, not just a shot to finish the drill.

At our summer hockey school and hockey clinics we take great pride in teaching players the fundamentals, as well as advanced skill sets needed to score goals. Check out our summer hockey camps for more information about how we can help you become a better hockey player.

Have you found success scoring goals? We’d love to hear your story, share it

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