Hockey is an incredibly fun game. Groups of kids play on frozen ponds in the winter, fathers play in beer leagues to let off some steam after work, and millions of fans gather every weekend to watch their favorite NHL team on television.
But while hockey is fun, it’s also extremely competitive. The goal of most hockey players, no matter the age or skill level, is to train, improve, and rise in the ranks to ultimately play in the NHL. To make it to the highest level of play, however, you need certain skills and habits that have been practiced and fine-tuned over the course of years.
Well, what are those skills and habits? What things should you work on to give yourself the best chance to improve and take your game to the next level?
Sure, you should have a good attitude and always try your hardest. But I’m talking about more game-specific things—-things you can actively practice on and off the ice until they become second nature. Here are the 5 most common habits among successful hockey players:
Good Body Position
Good body position is crucial to your success as a hockey player. It can be broken down into two categories: personal and relative.
Personal body position refers to your physical posture. To have good personal body position, you should:
Bend your knees to maintain a low centre of gravity
Keep your feet hip-width apart
All these habits contribute to staying aware and ready to react to any situation on the ice. If you work on developing proper posture, it’ll soon become habitual and you won’t need to think about it anymore.
Relative body position refers to where you are on the ice compared to all the other players. It’s important to position yourself so that, even if you don’t have the puck, you can still affect the play in the best way possible.
Having good relative body position involves:
Using your body to block the trajectory of shots on your net
Getting in the way of enemy forwards when they have puck possession
Placing yourself open and available for passes if needed
Constant Movement
You should always keep your feet moving. Plain and simple.
Why? Well, what’s the difference between a player who’s actively skating towards the puck and one who’s just standing an watching the action? The first player has an objective and the second one doesn’t.
In hockey, you should always have an objective. Pay attention and quickly decide how you can best help your team in the moment (hint: it’s never by standing still and watching the action). As a result, you should always keep your feet moving towards your goal. Plus, if you maintain movement and a low centre of gravity, it’ll be easier for you to react to changes in puck possession and other potential surprises.
Communication
Communication is an important habit if you want to become a successful hockey player.
If you watch any NHL game, the players on the bench are always talking. Communication is key. When you’re not on the ice, you should always be discussing the game and potential strategies with your teammates. Or, you should be calling out to the players on the ice with helpful suggestions, which you can only do if you’re paying attention to the game.
Even while you’re on the ice you should be communicating as effectively as possible. If you notice an opportunity for one of your teammates, call it out to them. If you notice one of your teammates is out of position or making any sort of mistake, let them know.
Sure, some players aren’t used to calling out for the puck or shouting suggestions at their teammates, but you must get comfortable with it. Often, communication skills mean the difference between a win and a loss in a hockey game.
Always Think Through a Play
This habit is an extension of the “always have an objective” idea.
Professional hockey players assess every situation before rushing with the puck, making a check, or positioning themselves elsewhere on the ice. Hockey is a fast game, so the assessment must be made quickly, but in professional hockey it always happens. Thinking through a play allows you to avoid making costly mistakes that end up with you being out of position and granting the opposing team an opportunity to advance the puck and score.
Before repositioning yourself or making any sort of play, assess the situation. Where are your teammates and the opposing players located on the ice? Where is the puck likely to head? It is best to skate into traffic, or to position yourself elsewhere.
If you make it a habit to think through each play, you can trust that you’re making sound decisions. Then, you’ll notice that you’ll influence your games in a much more notable and positive way, helping to elevate your vision and hockey I.Q.
Good Nutrition
All high-level hockey players take excellent care of their bodies. Good nutrition can be separated into three things: sleep pattern, eating habits, and exercise.
In terms of sleep, make sure you’re consistently getting at least seven hours of sleep at night—-the more you get, the better. And that goes for every night, too, not just nights before practices or games. In addition, try your best to go to bed and wake up around the same time each night. If you set a pattern for your sleep, your body will become used to it. Then, you’ll fall asleep faster and wake up feeling more well-rested.
Also, ensure you’re eating healthy. It’s okay to treat yourself occasionally, but if you want to become a top-notch athlete, you’ll need to fuel your body properly. Stick to veggies, carbs, and lean protein. Drink plenty of water throughout the day and try to refrain from eating a lot before bed.
Lastly, exercise. NHL players exercise more than just during practices and games. Perhaps join another sport in addition to hockey for some extra exercise. Maybe go for a half-hour jog every second night or go to the gym a few times a week. To become an elite hockey player, you need to make sure your body is in peak physical condition so you can perform your best on the ice. The hard work you do in the gym should transition onto the ice.
There you have it: 5 of the most common habits of successful hockey players.
Of course, these aren’t the only things you need to work on to become a high-level hockey player. There are many skills and techniques that must be practiced in order to compete in elite hockey. Plus, you also need great work-ethic and immense dedication to the sport to succeed.
These 5 habits are a fantastic start, however. Work on body position, maintaining constant movement, communication, thinking through plays, and keeping good nutrition, and you should see rapid, notable improvement in your game.
Always strive to do your best, but remember to have fun, too. Hockey is a game, and it’s meant to be enjoyed by all those who play it. So, whether you want to make the NHL or just play minor hockey as a hobby, make sure to enjoy yourself along the way.
NHL Shooting Coach Tim Turk was born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario. Tim found his start in hockey by playing shinny on the Mississauga streets with his friends almost every day. Although Tim had a relatively late start in organized hockey at the age 12, but his interest and passion continued from there.
During his first hockey season, Tim played at the single A level. The very next year, he had risen to playing triple A. At the young age of 14, Tim accomplished a rare feat for minor hockey players: he was recruited by a Junior B team a few years ahead of the usual age. That was the moment that Tim realized he was meant to do something more in the sport of hockey.
While Tim was attending high school, he worked as a shooter for a goalie school in his spare time. After watching Tim display shooting talent, the owner of the goalie school suggested that Tim teach his shooting technique to other hockey players. At the time, there were very few shooting schools, so Tim wrote off the idea and continued as a shooter for the time being, while keeping the idea to branch out and teach his own, in the back of his mind.
At the age of 20, Tim got his first hockey coaching experience when he helped lead a peewee A team with a friend. For Tim, the experience was a breath of fresh air, because he revealed a hidden talent for teaching. After a few more years of successful coaching, Tim decided to take the idea of teaching shooting on his own and run with it.
Tim quickly gained notoriety as an expert shooting coach and, in 1999, found an opportunity to work with his first NHL-level team, the Buffalo Sabres. Since then, Tim has continued to teach shooting and scoring to other NHL teams such as the Montreal Canadiens, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Arizona Coyotes.
With the acclamation of having worked as an NHL shooting and scoring coach, Tim has since taught shooting all over the world, including China, Malaysia, Russia, Switzerland, and many other distant countries. Tim also offers an affiliation program for hockey schools and instructors who would like to offer the Tim Turk Hockey Program. Tim currently has affiliates located in Chicago, Ottawa East and West, Switzerland, Oakville, and Pennsylvania.
Today, Tim continues to run local, national, and international training sessions and hockey camps to teach the art of shooting. He works with players and teams of all levels; from minor hockey to NHL. Tim also founded www.HockeySkillsTraining.com where he offers online hockey shooting video training for players everywhere.
NHL skating coach Lucas Lawson was born on August 10th, 1979 in Braeside, Ontario. Lucas grew up loving the sport of hockey and played it any chance he got, but he really buckled down and began to take the sport seriously at the midget and junior levels of minor hockey.
Lucas played three impressive seasons as a left wing for the Kanata Valley Lasers of the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL). For his outstanding performance with the Lasers, at age 19, Lucas received an NCAA scholarship to the University of Maine to play hockey. He played for the University of Maine for four seasons, posting more remarkable results each year. In his final year with the University of Maine, Lucas set a record for the most consecutive games scored with a goal, at 8 games in a row.
Move to NHL
After finishing up at UMaine, Lucas signed an NHL contract with the New York Rangers in 2003. He played in the American Hockey league (AHL) for the Hartford Wolf Pack, The Rangers’ affiliate team, for two seasons from 2003-2005. Lucas won the regular season title with the Hartford Wolf Pack in his first year with them.
Lucas spent the next five years playing hockey all over Europe. He first played in Finland, then in Belarus for a couple seasons, then in Germany, and finally in Sweden, which is where Lucas’s claim to fame from his European hockey days took place. While in Sweden, Lucas scored a game-winning goal for his team, AIK. That game happened to be the deciding factor that got AIK promoted to Sweden’s top hockey league.
After his illustrious playing career, Lucas turned to coaching, specializing in skating. With years of playing experience under his belt, Lucas began instructing skating for the Montreal Canadiens’ summer development camp. Lucas has also instructed at many different hockey development camps in Ottawa and around the world.
Lucas has years of experience playing and coaching hockey at the most elite level. His knowledge and training make him an expert-level skating instructor. In 2017, Lucas joined HockeySkillsTraining.com, where he offers his skating expertise through his online training videos available to hockey players everywhere.
Anyone who has ever been to or even watched a professional hockey game on television has some idea of how difficult coaching hockey is. The coach is responsible for managing the actions of many players and developing their skills and teamwork, all while competing against other coaches and their teams. They need to come up with effective drills and meticulously watch each of their players to be able to deliver effective feedback on how they are playing.
This is very similar to coaching minor hockey, despite the players being a bit younger. True, coaches of minor hockey teams don’t have the pressure of being in the public eye and millions of fans counting on the success of their team, but it is still a tough position. Coaching minor hockey requires a lot of time and effort, and it can be crushing when all that effort results in a loss for your team. However, it can also be extremely rewarding when your effort results in a win, and you notice the skills of your players improving.
Whether you’re the current coach of a minor hockey team or are thinking of becoming one, you should know that the position comes with tremendous sacrifices, but also tremendous benefits. Below are a few of the most common pros and cons that come with being the coach of a minor hockey team.
Pros
1. Pride in improving the lives of kids
The main reason why people get into coaching in general is to make a difference in the lives of their players. As a minor hockey coach, you will feel great pride throughout your season in knowing you are helping your team have a fun experience and become better hockey players as well as better people. It’s that pride that often carries coaches through the rough times as well. You’ll feel it every time a parent thanks you for the difference you’ve made in their child’s life. Or, when you witness the happiness on a player’s face when they realize they’ve gotten better using the skills you’ve taught them. It’s moments like those which make coaches thankful for their jobs.
2. You’ll become a better person too
Ironically, while your role as a coach is to develop your players’ skills and character, you’ll do the same for yourself. As you get more experience coaching, you’ll find you’ll become better at public speaking, teaching, planning, multitasking, compassion, and a whole bunch of other skills. While a lot of coaches take the position for the satisfaction of developing their players, another big benefit of coaching minor hockey is the personal development that comes along with it.
Cons
1. You need to deal with parents with opinions
Everyone has an opinion on everything. Even worse, many parents of kids on a minor hockey team will often think they know more about hockey than the coach. One of the most frustrating things as a minor hockey coach is dealing with parents arguing with you: not giving their child enough ice time, teaching them “ineffective” or “useless” drills, not focusing on their child enough, etc. To combat this, you need to have a fantastic ability to let things go in one ear and out the other. Of course, this doesn’t mean ignoring everything parents are saying; a lot of times they have legitimate concerns. Just be selective.
2. It takes a lot of time and effort
There are a lot of hours throughout the week that need to be dedicated to coaching a minor hockey team. First, you need to host a weekly practice and attend your team’s games. Then, there’s the time spent planning your practices as well as how to distribute ice time and positions at the games. Finally, you also need to dedicate time and effort to planning (or, at least, helping to plan) extra activities for your hockey team, like fundraisers and travel tournaments.
This time commitment is in addition to anything else you have going on during the week, like working a full or part-time job, volunteering, etc. So, if you want to get into minor hockey coaching, make sure you’re ready to give up the necessary amount of time, or else you risk being very stressed or doing a poor job.
3. You need to constantly keep your emotions in check
After you’ve finished spending your time and energy creating drills, planning practices, and coaching your players, it’s time to watch your team perform during their games. Sure, you might go into the games thinking: I’ll just coach them along, and so long as they demonstrate the skills I’ve taught them, I’ll be happy. However, you’d be very wrong.
You’ll get frustrated when you see any of your players not utilizing the skills they learned in practice. You’ll feel like shouting at the ref for making poor calls against your team. And, most prominently, you’ll want your players to destroy the other team. Being a successful hockey coach involves keeping your emotions in check and reminding yourself that the minor hockey experience shouldn’t be about winning for you, or your team. It should be about turning your team into better hockey players, and everyone having fun in the process. Well, it should be about that, but everyone enjoys winning, at least a little.
The main point to remember is that so long as you are willing and able to face the cons listed above, then coaching a minor hockey team will be a very rewarding position. The pride you’ll get in improving your players as well as yourself is invaluable. That is, if you can keep from ripping your own hair out in the process!
If you selected a handful of professional hockey players in the NHL today, they would have many skills in common: dedication, stamina, strength, fortitude, etc. However, one of the most interesting things they would have in common is that, when they were playing hockey as kids, they always listened and focused during their hockey practices. Every NHL player had the proper sense to make the most out of their hockey practices, even when they were very young.
Hockey practice requires the right attitude and mindset. Here are 5 helpful tips on how to use these practices to your full advantage.
Listen to Your Coach
The most important thing that any hockey player can do during practice is listen attentively to their coach. They have the coaching position because they know the game of hockey inside and out, and can best instruct you on how to become a better player.
Whenever your coach goes to instruct you on something, whether they’re explaining a drill or giving a suggestion, make sure you’re quiet and attentive. Even when they’re talking to other players on your team, you should still be listening if you can! Often, the things they are saying to that other player can still apply to you in many ways. So, make sure you have your ears open, because you might catch something you can apply to your game to become better.
Ask Questions
Coaches know their stuff when it comes to hockey. If you want to quicken the development of your skills as a hockey player, you should ask as many questions as you can! Some examples of helpful questions are: What is this drill helping with? Is there anything I can be doing better? Also, always make sure to ask for help or clarification when you don’t understand something; that’s what your coach is there for!
Don’t Distract Others or Let Others Distract You
Even if you’ve made the decision to listen intently to your coach, your other teammates may still try to talk to you or distract you. Although keeping friendships is important, during practice, the most important thing is staying quiet and listening. Make sure to tell any teammate trying to distract you to stop, and remind them to pay attention. You’ll have plenty of time to talk and fool around off the ice.
By the same token, make sure you’re not distracting others. If others have made the decision to pay attention, try to respect that and develop the same attitude yourself. Your teammates will be grateful when everyone learns more as a result.
Come to Practice with the Right Attitude
Did you lose your last game and are still upset about it? That’s okay! Hockey players (or anybody, for that matter) can’t be happy all the time. But it’s important to try your best at leaving any issues you might be having off the ice and coming to practice with a clear head and a great attitude. This will really help with being able to focus on what your coach is saying and the drills you’re doing, so you can make the most out of practice.
Give Your Best Effort
Professional players see every practice as a fantastic opportunity to improve. The only way to ensure you’re making the most out of your practices is to put in your best effort. Give your all in every activity that you do, from start to finish. This means not only trying your hardest physically in the drills, but also trying your hardest mentally in terms of focusing on and internalizing what your coach is saying. This will put you well on your way to becoming the best hockey player you can be!
If you make it a habit to attend every practice applying these five things, you’ll have one more thing in common with every successful, professional hockey player out there. You know what they say, “A proper mindset is the first step toward success”, and making the most out of practices is one of the best things you can do to develop your skills as a hockey player!
