Hockey Player Magazine

Category: Hockey Blogs

  • DIII Head Coach Jack Arena of Amherst College Offers 4 Small Area Half Ice Drills

    Coach Arena has been the head coach at Amherst University for over 30 years. In 2008-09 he won Coach of the Year honors for NESCAC and New England hockey writers ECAC East. In 2011-12 he won National Coach of the Year honors from the AHCA. I contacted Coach Arena and asked him if he would…

  • Video: Quick Shot

    I often run this ‘Shoot and Break’ drill in my practice.  I like it because it does 2 things:Focuses on the drive toward the net and a quick shotBreaking out with speedIn Game 1 of the Blues/Kings game, I saw a great example of how the first half …

  • Play Manager Coaching Software now a FREE Download

    I just saw this yesterday and wanted to pass it along to all the readers. I’ve used the Play Manager software for years to do drill and system animations for my teams and now the developers have made the program available for FREE. You can use this software to also draw out your drills/systems and…

  • Pylon Plus Review

    The Pylon Plus can be a Great Way to Add Diversity to your Drills I recently had a chance to check out the Pylon Plus. It’s a great little product, and gives you an easy way to add some diversity to your drills! What you get The Pylon Plus comes with the following items: 8…

  • What evaluators look for during try-outs

    I’ve been asked a lot over the years what I look for in a player during evaluations.  After watching my son during various AA & AAA Ice try-outs, I’ve been thinking more about this topic and wanted to share a bit of what I look for and some ot…

  • 3 Tips for Defencemen when Using the Boards

    In this article and video Ken delivers three tips on how to use the boards in the defensive end. The boards are a great tool to have, and as a defensemen you should know how to use them. There are a few ways that you can use the boards or the glass to elevate your…

  • Positional vs Tactical Play in Hockey

    Positional vs Tactical Play in Hockey We talk a lot about positional play on this blog. Positional play is extremely important, but it’s only part of the equation! There are tactical elements that must be executed in any given scenario for the positioning to be worth anything. In other words, it’s great to be in…

  • “The Beast” Penalty Kill System DVD

    I purchased “The Beast” Peanlty Kill System DVD from Championship Productions two weeks ago and have watched it a few times since. My thought was that I would like to see what type of concepts Coach Arena was teaching that would be beneficial to my team. I have to say that if you are looking…

  • Bongo Board for Improved Hockey Balance

    Use the Bongo Board to Improve your Hockey Balance While Away from the Rink! I recently had the chance to test out a number of new products from HockeyShot’s balance line. I’m a big believer that developing balance and coordination off the ice can lead to improved performance on the ice. The first product I…

  • How to do the Mohawk Turn

    The Mohawk turn (some people call it the Eagle turn) is a fairly simple skating maneuver to perfect if you are already comfortable on your edges. One player who seems to use this move quite a bit is Sidney Crosby (when he’s not getting hit in the face with pucks). In order to perform the…