IceHockeyDrills.Info Viewed All Around the World

The hosting company I use for the drills site just added a new feature that shows where the hits are coming from and below is the chart from yesterday. Thank you to all the coaches that contribute to the site and now we can see that people from all over the hockey world are checking us out. Pretty cool.

Pre-Practice Skating Drills

Here are a few pre-practice skating drills I like to use to get the players and goaltenders warmed up. Each drill has the goaltenders doing goaltender specific skating drills instead of skating with the team. As we all know goaltenders very rarely need to skate the length of the ice or do transition moves, so I keep them out of the team skating drills and give them specific goaltender skating drills to work on.

The entire set of four skating drills should take five to seven minutes at the top of your practice ice time and give the players a good warm-up. The fourth skating drill is a high speed drill and the goaltenders can use that time to get ready for shooting drills that are likely to come next.

Hope these help and give you ideas to work around. Remember, there are thousands of skating drills you can use, these are just a few I have had success with over the years.

2 Pattern Pre-Practice Warm-Up

Backward to Forward with Stops

Backward to Forward Crossover

BC Box Skate

Cold A Long Time by John Leake

There was a time when Duncan MacPherson was a promising young NHL defense prospect. The New York Islanders drafted the Saskatoon stand out in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft in 1984.

Injuries decimated MacPherson’s career almost before it started. He never played a NHL game, and was released from his contract at the age of 23.

In 1989 MacPherson decided to pursue a job as a player-coach with a team in Dundee, Scotland. Before starting with the team he headed to Europe seeking adventure and enjoying life.

MacPherson was scheduled to arrive in Dundee on August 12th, but mysteriously failed to show up. Six weeks later the car he had borrowed was found in the parking lot of the Stubaier Gletscher resort in the Stubai Alps in Austria, where he had rented a snowboard. 

His disappearance was famously detailed in the CBC news show The Fifth Estate (click to watch full documentary). Authorities and family searched desperately for hints as to what had happened to MacPherson, but nothing was found. The Austrian authorities had handled the case suspiciously, adding wild theories to the drama. They had told the family that MacPherson had indeed returned the rented ski equipment, and therefore it seemed unlikely he would have gotten lost on the slopes.

Rumors swirled that he was contacted by the CIA about working as a spy, and may have faked his death. 

Over 14 years after his disappearance his body was found by another skier. His body was fully encased by ice. The ski equipment was with the body. But the authorities continued to bungle the case. The body retrieval was sloppy and the autopsy somehow went missing.

As a result, MacPherson’s death remains mysterious. Is this really a case, as the authorities insist, of a adventurous skier losing his life in an out-of-bounds accident? Or is there something more sinister behind the story and being covered up by authorities, as the family can not help but wonder? The MacPherson family may never really know.

The case is the focus of John Leake’s new book, Cold a Long Time: An Alpine Mystery.  The official book website is http://www.coldalongtime.com/ You can also watch the full  The Fifth Estate documentary.


The book presents what the family believes actually happened, and not the official story as told by the Austrian authorities. I will not let the cat out of the bag, but I will say the family’s story is as shocking and sinister as it is plausible. 

Skating Camp for Older Defenseman

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Skating Camp for Older Defenseman

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Double Bank Pass Drill

Double Bank Pass is Great, High-Tempo Passing Drill

The Double Bank Pass Drill is quick paced, and a lot of fun. This is one you should definitely try out on the ice, as the diagram doesn’t always do it justice (at least it didn’t for me!). Here’s the diagram:

Double Bank Pass Drill:

1. 4 lines, each with pucks
2. On whistle, two players leave from diagonally opposite lines.
3. The first player fires a cross-ice pass to the opposite line, then skates up ice to receive the first bank pass.
4. Receiver steps out to create a good passing angle, then executes a bank pass to the player who passed to him.
5. The second player skates further up ice, timing it to be ready to receive the second bank pass from the first player in his line.
6. Both players attack 2 on 0

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Bank 1, Double Bank, Pucks, Skates, Tempo, Whistle

Behind The Moves: NHL GMs Tell How Winners Are Built

Every hockey fan has two dreams right from childhood.

2011 Hockey Books

When making online hockey book/dvd purchases, please consider using the HockeyBookReviews.com affiliate links. HockeyBookReviews.com gets a small percentage of the referral sale. These revenues help offset the costs of running the site and keep it free for everyone.

100 Things: Chicago Blackhawks
100 Things: Pittsburgh Penguins
The Art of Scouting by Shane Malloy
A Thrilling Ride by Paul Chapman
Back In The Bigs by The Winnipeg Free Press
Behind The Moves by Jason Farris
Black and Gold by Steve Babineau, Rob Simpson
Cornered by Ron MacLean with Kirstie McLellan Day
Defining Moments by Mike Leonetti
The Devil and Bobby Hull by Gare Joyce
Double Overtime by Stephen Cole
East Coast NHLers by Paul White
Extraordinary Canadians: Maurice Richard by Charles Foran
Fighting The Good Fight by Adam Proteau
Forgotten Heroes: Winnipeg’s Hockey History by Richard Brignall
Gamble In Goal: Bruce Gamble Story
Georges Laraque: NHL’s Unlikeliest Tough Guy
Grilling by Salming by Borje Salming
Hockey Playbook by Michael A. Smith
Hockey’s Greatest Stars by Chris McDonell
Hockey’s Most Amazing Records by THN
Hockey’s Original Six by Mike Leonetti
HHOF MVP Trophies and Winners
HHOF Treasures
How Hockey Explains Canada by Paul Henderson
IIHF 2012 Hockey Guide and Record Book
I Hate Hockey by Francois Barcelo
Kid Dynamite: The Gerry James Story
Killer B’s by Boston Globe
The Legendary Whitby Dunlops by Ken Lehman
The Lives of Conn Smythe by Kelly McParland
The Lost Dream: The Mike Danton Story
Masques by Richard Labbe
My Country is Hockey by Brian Kennedy
My First NHL Goal by Mike Brophy
NHL Guide And Record Book 2012
NHL Records Forever
Over The Line by Al Strachan
Patriot Hearts by John Furlong
Pucks On The ‘Net by Joe Pelletier
Rayzor’s Edge by Rob Ray
Reflections 2011 by NHL
The Salt Lake Loonie  by Brett and Jesse Matlock
Sid vs. Ovi by Andrew Podnieks
Sports Illustrated: Hockey Talk
Stan Mikita: Forever A Blackhawk
Star Spangled Hockey by Kevin Allen
Stellicktricity by Gord Stellick
Summit Series ’72 by Richard Brignall
Tales From The New Jersey Devils Locker Room by Chico Resch
Thirty Years of the Game at it’s Best by Gare Joyce
This Sweater Is For You by Sheldon Cohen
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader: Shoots and Scores
Wayne Gretzky’s Ghost by Roy MacGregor
We Won The Cup by Boston Herald
Why The Leafs Still Suck by Al Strachan
The Year of the Bruins by Andrew Podnieks

Kids Books:

Amazing Stories: Maurice Richard by Chris Robinson
Finger Hockey: No Poke Checking
Hockey Firsts: Volume 1
Hockey Firsts: Volume 2
Hockey Superstars 2011-12 by Paul Romanuk
Hockey Superstars: All Time Greats by Paul Romanuk
Hockey Trailblazers by Nicole Mortillaro
Hockey Trivia For Kids 3 by Eric Zweig
Line Change by W.C. Mack
The Magnificent Mario by Mike Leonetti
The Muskegon Lumberjacks: Life As A Hockey Puck!
My Country Is Hockey by Brian Kennedy
Overtime by David Skuy
Pond Hockey: Kita Learns To Skate
The Puck Hog by Christie Casciano
Puckster’s First Hockey Game by Lorna Schultz Nicholson
Puckster’s First Hockey Sweater by Lorna Schultz Nicholson
Queens of the Ice by Carly Adams

How to Gain On-Ice Speed with Off-Ice Training

By Jarod Palmer, Minnesota Wild Player

Note: HUGE thanks to Jarod for writing this article for How To Hockey. This article is a detailed account of how he got his speed up to NHL standards. If you want to say thanks you can tweet this article and mention him https://twitter.com/#!/palmfisher

I have always been a hockey player with average speed.  As a professional athlete, I am always looking to improve my skill set, especially in finding my way “in” to the NHL. Last season, my coach sat me down and asked me what I thought was keeping me from playing in the NHL.  After a few wrong guesses, he told me that my speed, or lack there of, was not at the NHL level. Despite the amount of training I had done the summer before my rookie year, I had to agree with my coach; I was not fast. There was only one answer…I must have been training wrong.  I began my quest to successfully build speed in the following summer. I changed my training technique and became stronger, faster, and sturdier on my feet than ever before. Here is how I did it.

Changing Your Mind Set

In order to work your muscles “smarter” rather than “harder,” you must:

1. Switch the focus from your quadriceps to the “back of the leg” muscles. These muscles include your gluteals, hamstrings and calves.
2.  Shift from two-leg training to single leg training. By doing this you are able to recruit more stabilizer muscles.
3. Train with little or no weight and focus more on speed than strength.

I’m happy to say that my new techniques paid off.  The very next season, I was noticeably faster and did get my shot in the NHL with the very same coach that gave me the great advice.

 Back of the Legs

Focus your mind on working the gluteals and hamstrings during all of your hockey exercises, especially sprinting and jumping.

• One way to practice flexing the right muscles is by doing a wall set (sit in a chair-like squat with your back against the wall and hold).  Most likely your quadriceps muscles will begin to burn.  Without changing position, you can relieve the strain on the quads by tightening up your gluteals and hamstrings.
• Think about sitting in that squat position with someone in front of you trying to pull your feet out from underneath you.  You would automatically flex your hamstring and glute muscles in order to keep your feet beneath you. This is what you want to flex during the exercise.
• Make sure your weight is not on your toes but rather on your heels.  Try to lift your toes off the ground.  You might feel your lower back begin to pull away from the wall.  Counter this tendency by flexing your core and keep your back flat against the wall.
• Your hamstrings and glutes should be tight during the entire motion of a squat. Try tapping your fingers against your hamstrings. This will help tell your brain to work those muscles.
• When you are doing it right, your hamstrings will be hard. Believe me, this is as much of a mental work out as a physical one. It takes practice to get it right.

Wall Sit Video

Having troubles?  Try standing tall.  Now drop into a squat position as fast as you can and hold.  Your body weight should drop faster than gravity can pull you down because your hamstrings flex to pull your body downward.  Continue to flex the hamstrings and fire the glutes on your way up finishing with a slight forward hip thrust – thus forcing the glutes to flex as much as possible.  Getting the right muscles to fire during the squat motion took me several workouts.  Don’t get discouraged if it takes you some time.  Unless you are an Olympic sprinter, you are quad dominant.  You have to retrain your muscles to become “back of the leg dominant” and this takes practice.

 Stablizers

Every time you take a stride you balance on one blade until your other foot recovers.  Thus, single leg balance is key to becoming more stable on skates. Stand with one foot on the ground and do a four to five inch squat.

• Your free leg should be bent with your foot slightly behind you.  Remember the “back of leg” principals learned above.
• Your body weight should be over your heel.  To maintain balance, tighten up your core, keep your chest and head up with your arms loose.
• Try to breath in on your way down and out on your way up.  Now try to do the same squat with no shoes on.
• Progress in difficulty by squatting deeper each time.
• Don’t worry about going fast. Focus on controlling your balance with core body strength. Use your arms as little as possible.

Want More?  Try kneeling on an exercise ball.  The pros can stand on the ball and do squats.

 Speed and Quickness

When attempting to develop strength, movements should be slow and controlled. When trying to develop speed, all movements should be done with speed and grace.  Do every exercise as fast as you can while maintaining control.  When you do a squat, try to go down quickly.  When you reach 90 degrees (more or less) change direction as fast as you can.  Doing squats in this motion works both deceleration and acceleration strength.  The muscle fibers work one way to stop your body from moving and another way to get it moving again.  You need power through both movements in order to be able to change direction quickly on the ice.  When doing jumps or lunges focus on landing soft, using your hamstrings to pull your body down quickly with your hamstrings and exploding upward with your glutes. Again, this is very challenging and takes time to get right.

Changing the way I worked my muscles was not easy.  My body wanted to revert back to over using the quadriceps.  My workouts were as challenging mentally as they were physically.  What kept me going were the results.  My hamstrings and glutes grew in size and strength.  I began to spring off the ground rather than push.  I felt lighter and more stable on the ice, which is exactly what I wanted. Without a doubt, training this way improved my speed and stability on the ice.

I hope this information helps you as much as it helped me.  Good luck!

Star Spangled Hockey by Kevin Allen

Kevin Allen is back with another flag waving, patriotic book about hockey in America: Star-Spangled Hockey

Buy The Book: Amazon.ca – Chapters – Amazon.com

Here’s more from Triumph Books:

In Star-Spangled Hockey, legendary hockey writer Kevin Allen takes readers on a journey from the earliest days of USA Hockey to celebrate the organization’s 75th anniversary. From the beginning, when the organization was started literally out of a shoebox in Tom Lockhart’s New York City apartment, to the excitement generated by the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, this book covers the fascinating history of amateur hockey in America.