Breakout basics

By Bill Ferguson & Quint Randle

Breakout 1

Have you ever noticed how effortlessly NHL teams breakout of their zone? Why is this? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that if the opposing team put enough pressure on your D, that would make it tougher to break out?

In truth, it does. But pro players have the experience to know that, short of being outskated, anything the other team does can be countered. There is nothing that forces the other team to respect you more than the ability to break a man out quickly and send him in alone on their goalie. The team that regularly gives up more breakaways than their opponents do will have trouble winning.

So how do you know where to go, and when?

At the risk of belittling America’s most popular team sport, hockey is not as simple as football, where you line up two guys to bash heads together, and the biggest or strongest guy wins. Hockey is a thinking man’s game (or so we like to think!). The key to gaining an edge over your opponent is the ability to anticipate what the other team is going to do. If you can do this, you can counter it.

Forwards need to develop the instincts to know when to drop the defensive coverage in their own zone and go to their position for a breakout. Defensemen love the forward who is always open for that first pass, and always hits his man for the second pass. This guy is the “wheel” who makes your whole breakout happen.

Be the “wheel”

All forwards need to learn to be that guy, and the best way to learn is to watch the guys who are already good at it. You’ll notice they all play “heads up” hockey, and already know where they want to go with the pass before the puck gets to them. A forward who waits until the puck gets to him before deciding where to go with it won’t get the job done. So learn to anticipate.

There is nothing as frustrating for a team as spending an entire shift trying to break out of your own zone and being unsuccessful. If this happens to you regularly, you’re either in the wrong league, or you’re doing something (or a lot of things) wrong. Let’s look at some ways of improving the breakout.

Breakout One

First of all, let’s make sure everyone is in the right place. Wingers, your job is to cover the points, making sure the opposition’s two defensemen don’t have a free shot at your goalie. You must be close enough to their D to cover them, and hopefully so close their forwards won’t even attempt a pass to them. This limits their options. Center, your job is to help your defense, either by covering their center, or covering whoever is open in front of your net. D, you know what to do. Then, once your team gains control of the puck, everyone’s job description changes.

This is the simplest breakout in the world. One D takes the puck behind his net. Most forecheckers won’t chase him there. Prior to this, as soon as your team has gained control of the puck, the two wingers covering the opponent’s D should come back a little deeper in your zone—usually between the faceoff dot and the top of the circle, right against the boards. By this time, at least one, if not two of these wingers should be open.

Seeing this, the D with the puck skates to the side of the net with the least pressure and passes to that wing. This first pass is the most critical one in the breakout. It must be perfect—on the ice, right on the tape. When your team first gains control, the center starts to circle, always keeping the puck in sight.

As the first pass goes to a wing, the center starts to angle toward the faceoff circle outside your zone, on the side where this first pass went. His movement allows the wing who received the first pass to hit him on the fly, and (hopefully) he’s gone. The idea here is that as your center angles toward the neutral zone, their defenseman must go with him or risk a breakaway. This should always open up some passing lanes for you, either for hitting the opposite wing with a cross-ice pass, or allowing the first winger to skate the puck up himself. If their defenseman pinches in on the first wing, the wing must either pass around him or backhand it off the boards, which should still result in a good breakout for the center.

Two things are critical with this breakout. 1) The winger who gets the first pass must control the puck. He should be standing with a skate perpendicular to the boards to prevent the puck from sliding under him. His upper body should also be against the boards, so the only puck that can get by him is either flipped up in the air or banged off the boards at such an angle that he can’t get to it. If it’s the latter, the center will often pick up the puck. 2) The wing who gets the first pass must clear the zone with his pass. If the winger misses the first pass, it goes right to their D—meaning not only are they still controlling the puck in your zone, but now your center has just skated out of the zone, so they also have an outnumbered attack. However, if everybody does his job this won’t happen.

Breakout 2

Breakout Two

To open up some ice for your breakouts, try floating a wing out at the red line. This “floater” has to be one of your fastest skaters, because he not only must be able to outskate their D, he also has the responsibility to come back and help out if the puck doesn’t get through to him. If your D can hit him with a long breakout pass, their D will not be so quick to pinch in on your breakouts. If you have confidence in your D, and the ice time to practice breakouts, you can have your center flying and ready to receive the quick pass from a wing stationed on the red line.

This epitomizes what “the worlds fastest team sport” is all about. If you can make this play work you can really string out their defenders and create some good scoring chances. There is no need to wait until late in the game when you’re down a goal to try this play. I suggest trying it early on, which will force the opponent to respect the play, and open up some passing lanes for your breakouts. Your offense will “flow” more smoothly if you have the open ice to make some good, long passes.

And what do we mean by flow?

When you think “flow,” chances are you think of the Montreal Canadiens. Their transition game (going from D to offense and back) has always been one of the best in the NHL. This is partly because their players always seem to be in position. When you watch them, notice that there are three, four or even five Canadiens in the play. They move up and back as a unit. This is team hockey.

They also practice. Most players at the amateur level get little or no practice time. If you want to look better as a team, and have more fun playing hockey, rent some ice time (you can split it with another team) and practice your breakouts. There is nothing like practice to help give you the instinct to make the proper play. Practice until it becomes second nature. While you’re at it, work on your defensive and offensive face-offs, too, so everyone on your whole team knows who has who and who goes where. There is nothing in hockey more exciting than the bing-bang-boom passing play that results in a goal. These things don’t just happen by accident; you have to work on it.

Flow Drill

Here’s a great drill to help foster flow between your forwards and defensemen (see diagram below). Pretend the opposition is doing a dump and chase into your zone (although there is no actual opposition in the drill). The coach is stationed on one side of the ice at the red line with plenty of pucks. Your forwards are on the opposite side of the ice, ready to return to their zone. The coach dumps a puck into your zone and the appropriate defensemen picks up the puck. As the coach dumps the puck, the three forwards break back into their zone and “swing” back the other way, usually no deeper than the tops of the circles. As the defenseman gains control of the puck, he then passes to one of the wingers.

As in the diagram, the D swings around the net and passes to the left wing, who has swung in towards the boards. The winger then moves forward and passes across to the center. At this point the drill can become a standard three-on-two exercise with two D and an opposing goaltender in the other zone.

Trick Plays

No article would be complete without a few trick plays that can help you late in the game. If you have a defenseman who can flip the puck high, and a center who can win a faceoff in your zone when he has to (as well as being one of the fastest guys on the ice) then check out Trick Play 1. It’s fairly easy to face-off deep in your zone, have the center draw the puck back, then take off up ice. Some defensemen won’t notice him if the puck is still deep in your zone. By the time they make the decision of whether or not to go with your center, it’s too late. Your D flips the puck over their D at your blue line and there’s no one to pick it up but your breaking center. This play can obviously only be rarely used without revealing itself to the opponent.

A more conservative variation on this face-off play is shown in Trick Play 2. If your center wins the face-off clean and draws it back to your D, the winger on the far side of the ice takes off as soon as the faceoff is won, and breaks laterally to the far boards. This predetermined play allows the defenseman to bang the puck behind the net to his far wing, who should have a fairly high-percentage pass to your center.

In the attacking zone, a trick play that works well is for your center to tie up his man, then kick or pass the puck slightly in front of the net. If their D is napping and allows your wing to get by them, he should have a chance to redirect this pass or get a clean shot.

Flow drill

Trick play 1

Trick play 2

This first appeared in the 04/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2011 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Hockey Meal Plan

Kirk Muller

By James Baxter

©BBS

Under the blazing hot glow of the arena’s mercury lights, Kirk Muller has always lurked in the shadows. The man Montreal Canadiens brass admits may be the least appreciated player in the National Hockey League has made a career for himself in those shadows.

Muller is probably the best player never to win a major NHL award. And it’s nothing new, either. Junior hockey accolades were also sparse for the player selected second overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, perhaps because of who went first—Mario Lemieux. But even since then, little has changed.

Until this season.

As an NHLer, Muller has been a dominant scorer, but never the dominant scorer on his team. The same holds true for his defensive play. Like Doug Gilmour of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Muller can rule at both ends of the ice. However, one key difference is that Muller rules with a 6’, 205-pound frame, allowing him to throw devastating bodychecks along the way—something the slight Gilmour usually leaves to his teammates.

Fans and hockey gurus agree that Muller may be one of the “greatest good players” ever to play the game. He has played in six All-Star games, but has never been selected as a post-season All Star. While he has the respect of his peers, there have been few accolades and no NHL awards.

“It really doesn’t bug me,” says Muller, his war-torn shoulders shrugging gently. “I just want to play as much as I can, when I can. I love this game.”

It is this affable, “just-put-me-in, coach” approach that has endeared Muller to the ever-demanding fans in Montreal. His effort and desire to win are beyond reproach, and Muller was an integral force in bringing a 24th Stanley Cup to the Montreal Forum in 1993.

Yet somehow, under the oppressive fan- and media-magnifying glass that is Montreal, Muller is one of the few Canadiens players who has found a shadow on the Forum ice. Muller is far from anonymous in Montreal; he’s just underappreciated. But, until now, Muller said he preferred to just be one of the team rather than be singled out—one way or another.

Third fiddle?

“It definitely helps that Patrick (Roy) is the real star here,” says Muller, who would not go as far as to say that the notorious French media who roam the rafters in hockey’s “shrine” can make life miserable for Montreal players they choose to excommunicate. “And when it’s not Pat, it’s Vince (Damphousse). I’m not really even second fiddle here, I guess,” jokes captain Kirk.

“The media here can be quick to make you a star and just as quick to take it away,” observes Muller. “They have always treated me well.”

Indeed, Muller was the team’s Molson Cup winner in 1992-93, which is based on three-star selections made by the media throughout the year. He simply doesn’t get much ink or air time otherwise.

The fact that Muller generally escapes the praise or wrath of the fickle local media is of little concern to the 29-year-old Kingston, Ontario native. What does matter to Muller is that his dogged play and selfless nature hasn’t been overlooked by his teammates and coaches. His leadership and hard work made Guy Carbonneau, the Montreal captain and three-time Selke Trophy winner (as the NHL’s best defensive forward) expendable, and the Canadiens dispatched the aging and moody Carbonneau to St. Louis over the summer.

The truth was that Muller had begun taking over from Carbonneau the day he arrived in Montreal in a trade that sent Stephane Richer and Tom Chorske to New Jersey. Unlike many players from US-based teams who complain when traded to a team in Canada, Muller was genuinely thrilled. This was in stark contrast to Carbonneau, who was threatening to bolt the Canadiens at his first free-agent opportunity. While Carbonneau’s defensive play was spectacular in the Canadiens run to the ‘93 Cup, it was Muller who was clearly working the hardest—next to Patrick Roy, of course.

Last season, Muller suffered a massive separation of his left shoulder during the first game of the exhibition season and reinjured it seriously while trying to return to the ice too quickly. In the end, Muller—an ironman who had previously missed only six regular-season games over a nine-year NHL career—sat out just eight games, and played in pain for nearly half the year.

Selfless inspiration

“I definitely came back too quickly,” says Muller, somewhat sheepishly. “It was a very serious injury. It was also my first real injury of my career, and I think I pushed too hard and did a lot of damage. It really didn’t get better until February, and is only now really getting back to what it was like before.”

But Muller’s selfless attempts to return to the ice proved inspirational to the rest of the team, especially the younger players. The Canadiens ultimately decided that it was time for Muller to assume the role of top dog among the players.

“Personally, I know we’ll miss (Carbonneau) and I was sad to see him go,” says Muller, who was named the team’s new captain just days before Training Camp One opened last August. “Carbo is a great hockey player, not just a great defensive hockey player. We will miss him on the ice and in the room.”

Homage paid and received, Muller looks at the challenge ahead and the team he will have to lead into battle. “We have a great, young team,” says the captain, noting that Brian Bellows is the only player on the squad who’s over 30 years old. “We have a lot of young guys and some of them are going to have to step up and come through with big years for us.”

Coach Jacques Demers isn’t so sure he can count on his younger talent, so he has put Muller, Damphousse and feisty veteran winger Mike Keane on notice. “I don’t know precisely what he told Vince and Mike, but he told me to expect to play between 30 and 35 minutes per game,” says Muller, who carried a similar workload under coach Jim Shoenfeld in New Jersey. “I’ll have one of the top two lines to center, as well as the power play and some penalty killing. I can’t wait.”

Muller’s boyhood hero was Philadelphia’s hard-nosed Hall-Of-Fame captain Bobby Clarke. And Muller, who considered himself nothing but a scorer in minor hockey, credits having been drafted by an expansion Junior team, the Guelph (Ontario) Platers, for making him one of the best two-way players in the NHL.

“For the first few years (in Junior), I was one of the only guys they had up front. I had to do everything. The coaches were also the kind of guys who believed that the game needs to be played hard at both ends of the ice. They taught me to put as much emphasis on the defensive aspects of my game as I did on the offensive end.”

A chance to be like “those guys”

That fits right in on St. Catherine Street, where the motto “From failing hands to thee we pass the torch. Be it yours to hold high” is prominent in the Canadiens locker room. It’s an inspirational message written just beneath the faces of every Canadiens player or coach who now dwells in the NHL Hall Of Fame. A few of the faces, Bob Gainey’s in particular, seem to have an extra impact on Muller, especially just before games.

“Every one of those guys was a great hockey player,” says Muller, quietly noting that the best measure of greatness is the number of championships they won. “Each one had a great talent and gave a lot to this team. What Jacques (Demers) has given me is a chance to be like those guys (on the wall).”

If his own playing duties were not enough, Muller has taken on the task of helping former linemate John Leclair to emerge as the Canadiens “other” center. Leclair, a bruising product of the University of Ver-mont, emerged as a potential star in the Montreal roll toward the 1993 championship. However, his development as a Cam Neely clone stalled last season, and Demers decided that Leclair’s future was at center rather than on the wing. Relearning a position at the NHL level is never easy, notes Muller, so he decided to help Leclair in any way he could.

“We need Johnny to have a big season for us to be successful,” says Muller. “In my mind, he is one of the two key elements in whether we will have a good year. The other is some of our rookies have to come through. Turner Stevenson and Brian Savage do, in particular. I wouldn’t be much of a captain if I didn’t do what I could for the guys on the team.”

Does that mean he is ready for the spotlight?

Muller pauses, and then answers, “Sure.”

With his “Bleu, Blanc et Rouge” number 11 coming out of the NHL shadows, Muller is preparing himself for life at center stage…er, ice. He spent the summer and most of the recent NHL lockout learning to speak French. Though never one to shun the cameras before, Muller now seeks them out, especially when it is time to face up to a bad game. He still squints a little when he emerges from the shadows, but he knows it is time for him to face the heat.

“This is what a player should dream of,” says Muller, allowing himself to enjoy saying “captain of the Montreal Canadiens.”

“A player should want to—should strive to—be asked by his coach to step up and take on these responsibilities.”

Special players like Muller always do.

This first appeared in the 04/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2011 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Cascade M11 Review

Another one of our short and to the point reviews of the M11 helmet from Cascade. Check it out and … Continue Reading

Cascade M11 Review

Here is our review of the Cascade M11 helmet. Currently Andy McDonald, of the St. Louis Blues, is using the helmet. Andy, like many others, has been using the helmet as he recovers from a chain of concussions.

So you want to start a college club?

By Joe Bernardy
College club hockey programs are growing tremendously in the US, as are programs for all age groups. And while college club hockey can be just as exciting and competitive for fans as NCAA hockey is, there are several key elements that must be in place in order to get a league up and running—and to achieve success over the long term.

You begin with one simple fact: you want to start a league. But now what?

Initially, a philosophy needs to be established as to what the league will try to accomplish. In other words, a statement of purpose. Is it just for recreation—a place for college students who happen to play hockey to knock the puck around? Or is the league meant to be as competitive as possible, with player recruitment, sponsors, and gate receipts set as goals for the future? That’s the first decision point.

Next—and this is true in either of the above scenarios—quality people need to be involved at the schools which have been determined to be viable league members. These individuals can be students, faculty, staff or even parties from outside the university, but they should be responsible, and as interested in the start-up as you are. Most schools will require someone affiliated with the university to set up the club. Club sport programs typically will be registered through a club sports department, campus recreation, or extramural sports department.

Follow school rules

Registering properly, through the school’s channels and according to their procedures, and then following the department’s operating requirements is critical. Why? Because, as a new sport on campus, the team needs to build credibility both within the university and within the community. Many clubs register with the university just to be able to use the school name, but the school’s policies and procedures are not actually followed. If it’s a kick-around league, that may work out. But if you have long-term goals for your league to become a serious part of the school’s athletic department, attention to school rules is vital.

After the schools are officially registered and have their officers, constitution and internal organization in place, an extra step which will be helpful in numerous ways is to obtain a supportive and enthusiastic faculty advisor. Having such an individual on your “team” can be beneficial as campus political situations arise—and they inevitably do.

Once the teams are established and the schools have agreed to join together to form and participate in a league, a league commissioner or president needs to be chosen or elected. This can be a political challenge as well. In the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Hockey Association, of which my team is a part, the commissioner is the individual who helped set up each school’s program, and then later simply assumed the position of commissioner. If possible, it is best to select or elect an individual who has no ties to any of the universities in the league. This can help ensure impartiality and objectivity.

After the commissioner is in place, subsequent volunteers can be recruited to handle league finances, publicity, statistics and so forth, or it may be decided that the commissioner can handle it all. The RMCHA was very fortunate in that the booster club of the former IHL Salt Lake Golden Eagles agreed to get involved. This has helped tremendously, due to the booster club members being knowledgeable hockey fans and knowing many of the league administrative and technical ropes. It must be understood that the commissioner is the manager of the league, although he or she will wear many hats. A board of representatives, with delegates from each team, then needs to be formed for discussion and voting purposes.

Policies & procedures

Next, the framework by which the league will operate—its policies and procedures—needs to be set up. In the RMCHA the decision was made to model itself after a highly successful NCAA Division I league, the WCHA. Basically, we borrowed the WCHA’s policies and procedures and then adapted them to the RMCHA’s club level programs. There is rarely a need to reinvent the wheel, and there are many highly successful college leagues and programs after which the league can be modeled.

A league policy and procedures manual can then be drafted, keeping in mind that flexibility needs to be built in. Guidelines must be set up and established as voted upon by the board. Like any “business,” principles must guide the process of operation. Programs need to know their limits and procedures in order to operate effectively and efficiently.

Once the league’s brain trust has agreed upon the policies and procedures—which includes a whole host of topics such as number of games, discipline guidelines, credit-hour requirements, length of periods and penalties, grade point requirements and so forth—then the emphasis can shift toward the promotion of each team.

Again, we must begin with quality individuals being in the critical positions such as club president and coach. In these positions, individuals must want to be involved and accept the responsibility and requirements that go with the territory. These are the front-line people—the ones the school administration and the public will consistently see and pass judgment on. They also need a long-term vision as to what can be accomplished by setting up a quality college club level hockey program for student-athletes.

Especially at the club level, it must be emphasized and accepted that the players are in school first and foremost to get a college education, and then perhaps to play hockey. Even at a recreational level, players play because of a desire to compete. But the end goal in club hockey, it must be remembered, is not getting drafted to play pro.

Each school’s hockey program leader must work in conjunction with the league commissioner, the rink managers and each other to set up a schedule. Competition teams need to have income from gate receipts to pay expenses, which will run substantially more than they will for a recreational team. Many club level programs operate with budgets of $100,000 or more per season.

Pay to play?

In starting out, teams may want to charge their players to play in order to build up some operating capital. Some teams may get sponsorships and not have to charge their players. Keep in mind that by charging players, some authority may be lost by the team’s leadership since players who are paying their own way often feel they’re entitled to their own “freedom.”

At the beginning of the season it needs to be determined if the league and its teams will join any particular national association such as USA Hockey or the American Collegiate Hockey Association. Coaches can also decide if they want to become members of the American Hockey Coaches Association. Insurance coverage for players and administrative personnel needs to be examined at the team and league levels. Check first to see if the schools provide any coverage for its club teams.

Uniforms, of course, need to be purchased. Your budget will determine how extensive the uniforms will be. Just jerseys? Jerseys and socks? Complete uniforms? Home and away uniforms? (We should all be so lucky!) Whatever the case, jerseys seem to take forever to get, so order them early.

If you plan on using the school logo check with the school first. Some schools may not allow their club teams to use their NCAA team logo or lettering style. Some schools will make you jump through hoops to get an approved logo design, but don’t give up! Just do what is required, because then it can’t come back to haunt you—and you won’t end up with a snazzy jersey that you won’t be allowed to wear.

The local referee’s association needs to be contacted to secure a fee schedule. Tell them if you’re playing USA Hockey rules, NCAA rules or a combination of both. If NCAA rules are adopted and the team has joined USA Hockey, check with the District Registrar to ensure USA Hockey will provide insurance coverage. Any individual adaptations of the rules your league may decide on needs to be conveyed to the ref’s association, and it should definitely be done in writing.

Dress for success

Set up your minor officials team. Make sure they are comfortable running the clock. Request that the minor officials wear home team colors and dress nicely for the sake of image. A dress code can be instituted for players as well. Coat and tie is not inappropriate even for college club level programs.

As each team gets organized, the players can be a good source of talent to help with the various aspects of running the program. The team may have accounting majors who could handle the team’s finances; a communications or marketing major who could handle publicity and the media; a physical education major who could set up off-ice conditioning programs. Use the resources readily available with the players. This will benefit your league and the students, who will gain experience in their field of endeavor.

Publicity is especially important for the competition teams. The sports media has an obligation to inform their reading public about pro sports and major college sports. Club sports, however, are usually left to bulletin boards, youth hockey association newsletters and flyers. Club sports are not the mainstream. But the media does like to know what’s going on, even at the club level, and they like to consistently be informed. Calling every Sunday night with updated stats from the weekend games builds credibility, and helps the reporter who most likely is assigned to the pro game or major college game. Gradually, standings and articles might make the grade. There is only so much space and time for sports coverage, so the main thing is to make your information available, take what you can get, and be grateful.

Your league might want to establish that players be required to take a certain number of credit hours over and above what the club sports department may require. Some schools may only require the student be enrolled in one class in order to be eligible. After all, this should be a college league, not a senior league for pseudo-students. Also, in being a club league, players do tend come and go. In the RMCHA, we have cutoff dates in the fall and winter after which no players can be added and the rosters are frozen. This provides some stability and flexibility at the same time.

Stay calm, be organized

As the season approaches, many other topics need to be addressed. Does the team need to purchase any equipment? Will they have tailgate parties or promotions? Should you set up a booster club? How about fund raising events? Recruitment of players? Travel to out-of-state venues? Inviting out-of-state teams to your arena? Will there be team awards? League awards? Selling of team merchandise?

At first it all may seem overwhelming. But understand that each team, and the league, is its own small business and needs to operate as such. Make lists of things to do; write down ideas as you think of them; discuss the ideas and then follow up. Before you know it, your team and your league will be up and running.

The above ideas, procedures and suggestions are intended as an outline, and will hopefully help you bring your league to life. For those willing to tread into these waters, I offer these final words: keep a positive outlook, keep your goal in mind and remember—to paraphrase the late Bob Johnson—everyday is a great day for hockey!

Joe Bernardy is the Utah State Coaching Coordinator for USA Hockey and commissioner of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Hockey Association.

This first appeared in the 04/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2011 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

The word on converting to wheels

By Paul Chapey

Paul Chapey

John Black coached the RHI Portland Rage to a second- place finish last year, but is moving on to coach the Sac-ramento River Rats. That means he’ll be going from the second-best team in the league to the second-worst. Last season he had to teach all his recruits from the ice hockey minor leagues how to in-line skate, so I asked him about the many aspects of converting from ice skates to in-lines.

“I’ve found that professional ice hockey players make the conversion in approximately 4-to-10 days, depending upon their own athletic ability and skating level. Remember, they’re getting paid to train. There’s tremendous motivation to learn and make the cut.

“The pros are focused on skating before trying to play.”

The pros, unlike many amateurs, are also learning on the right equipment.

“Most of them want the same boot they’re using in ice. That’s why the top pros and amateurs aren’t using off the shelf, marketed for in-line skates. They want the best boots and I also think they want an ice hockey look and not some weird design that someone thinks represents roller hockey.

“Most pros are comfortable with stuff that looks and feels like ice hockey (gear), and doesn’t have some graphic designer’s roller hockey touch to it.”

How about wheels?

“I find that it’s very important to learn on the right wheel. Initially, you should sacrifice speed for grip so you can feel comfortable on your edges. You’re used to digging into the ice, and on in-lines you’re not digging into anything and you have a tendency to slide a little bit when you put the same amount of pressure on in-line skates. So with a tighter or grippier wheel you get your edging and strides a little quicker.

“When you get into stopping and more advanced techniques, then you want to get a wheel that has a tendency to give just before stopping.”

I remember the first full season in RHI (1993) when most of the pros were wearing an open grill design aluminum plate that had a very wide wheel base. Did that affect learning because a different stride was necessary?

“That frame was like a cross country skiing effect. The good ice hockey players couldn’t duplicate their same strides because the wheel base was too long.

“The chassis should be mounted back far enough so that the front wheel is underneath the boot. The test is simply run the boot and chassis against a wall. If the boot hits first, it’s right. If the equipment is right, you can learn the edging and strides quickly. What takes time is stopping, and playing under game conditions where you’re darting left, darting right, quick spins and getting bumped in the process, especially in a full-check game like RHI. There’s no substitute for repetitious skating drills.

“They’re gonna fall and fall and then gradually get it.”

Necessary adjustments

What about any adjustments on wheel placement?

“The back three wheels can be 76 mm and the front 72. Or go with 72 and rocker the front wheel. This helps duplicate the feeling of skating on an ice blade because you actually skate on just a few inches of ice blade.”

If all these components are right, do you feel a good ice hockey skater can change over wholesale and not have to change stride?

“Yeah, but it only takes part of the formula to be out of place to warrant a different stride and therefore a more difficult learning process.

And then there are the tools.

“You’ve got to carry allen wrenches, a plate wrench, extra wheels, extra bearings, quick-change tools, wheel cleaner, lubricant, a whole bunch of accessories. Pros have equipment managers, but amateur players better have all this stuff or they’ll find themselves sitting during a game because of a skate problem.”

Does the skating surface affect the learning process?

“I’ve found that most players don’t like to learn on a real tight surface. But it’s after they become good skaters that they appreciate a good skating surface. My players last year liked Sport Court at the Portland Memorial Coliseum when they were learning. But as time went by and they became very proficient skaters and could do everything at will and play the game without thinking, they grew to dislike Sport Court and liked our practice facility and arenas with a roll-on type coating.

“They loved the Vancouver Aggrodome, which was roll-on. On roll-on surfaces they were able to hit greater speed and deeper edges, accelerate and stop and really come close to the action of a blade on ice. They could use narrower wheels that are more blade like and stop on a dime. You can’t stop on Sport Court, you have to sort of side slide.”

This first appeared in the 04/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2011 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Cardio Training: Good News & Bad News

Two days ago we sent you a link to the first video of a 3 part series on off-ice training for hockey. The topic was periodization for hockey; a weightlifting technique that helps keep strength gains consistent, and let’s you avoid plateaus. The video was a huge hit, and we’ve had a lot of very positive feedback about it!

Let’s start with the bad news…

The bad news is, the 1st video has been taken down, and replaced with the 2nd video in the series, which is all about Cardio Training for Hockey. The information contained in this video will show you how to TRAIN your body to be able to skate HARDER, and FASTER, for LONGER, then RECOVER MORE QUICKLY after doing so.
You can check out the video here:

HockeyDevelopmentSystems.com

Now here’s the good news…

The good news is you can still catch the first video, even if you missed it the first time around! Jeremy has made the first video available, all you need to do is enter your email address at the link below, and he’ll send the video straight to your inbox!

HockeyDevelopmentSystems.com

We have a lot of confidence in Jeremy’s techniques. We recommend that all looking to be step ahead
next season look into this develop system.

Passing, shooting and skating drill

By Hockey Player Staff
Oct 23, 2001, 15:04

With one player each at Positions 2 and 3 (both just inside the blueline) and 4, the rest of the team starts at Position 1. The dashed line represents puck movement, while the solid line represents player movement.This drill is a great all-around tool because it combines all major aspects of the offensive game: passing, skating and shooting. After the goalie has been warmed up, run this drill before moving on to more complicated ones.

Station 1

The player at Station 1 starts the drill by making a quick, brisk pass to Station 2. Immediately after making the pass, Player 1 quickly skates up along the boards and around the blue line face-off dot (and the Station 2 player), then streaks directly toward the net, anticipating a pass (from Station 4) upon entering the slot. The player tries to score from the slot, and then moves on to become the new player at Station 4.

Station 2

This is actually the last station of the drill. After receiving the pass from Station 1, this player makes a quick pass to Station 2, waits for Player 1 to skate around him, and then skates to the back of the Station 1 line, picking up a stray/unused puck along the way.

Station 3

Upon receiving the pass from the Station 2 player, Station 3 makes a quick pass to Station 4 and drives along the blue line to the other side of the rink to become the new player at Station 2 for a new cycle of the drill.

Station 4

After receiving the pass from Station 3, this player makes a pass to Player 1, who by this time is streaking into the slot, ready for a pass. Upon making the pass to Player 1 in the slot, this player skates briskly up the boards to become the new player at Station 3. By this time a new cycle of the drill is underway.

Points to remember

• This is quick drill; cycle two can begin before Player 1 has taken a shot.

• Passing should be quick and brisk.

• Skating should emphasize swift starts and stops.

This first appeared in the 03/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Hockey Development Systems: Part 1