While coaches spend a lot of time teaching breakouts, passing, and positioning, the moment of retrieving the puck is where everything begins. If a defenseman cannot get to the puck cleanly, handle pressure, and make a smart first decision, the entire play breaks down before it even starts.
Net‑front play isn’t about being the biggest or strongest player on the ice. It’s about understanding leverage, timing, angles, and how to make life miserable for the opponent without taking penalties. When a player learns how to own the space around the crease, everything about their game becomes more dangerous. They become harder to defend, harder to move, and far more valuable to their team.
Follow along with Dave as he shows you how to use these bands to train your body for more strength and endurance…
A lot of players grow up hearing that the key to skating faster is simply pushing harder, and it sounds reasonable enough on the surface. But the truth is, the fastest skaters aren’t the ones muscling their way down the ice — they’re the ones moving efficiently…
Many young players are taught to skate as hard as they can all the time, believing that constant speed is the key to beating opponents. While skating speed is certainly an important hockey skill, experienced coaches and skilled players know that the real advantage often comes from something much more subtle. The ability to change speed at the right moment, sometimes called tempo control, can be far more effective than simply racing up and down the ice at full speed. Learning the art of changing speed allows players to become less predictable, more creative with the puck, and far more difficult for defenders to handle.
A young hockey player can improve faster when he or she starts seeing the game as more than just skating hard and chasing the puck. High‑school athletes who separate themselves from the pack usually do it by understanding the deeper mechanics behind every stride, every pass, and every decision. When you begin to recognize how rhythm, timing, and body control shape your performance — and get to use the Skater’s Rhythm Bar, the game slows down in the best possible way.
Winning puck races is one of the most underrated skills in hockey, yet it often determines who controls the game. Coaches talk about speed all the time, and players assume that the fastest skater always wins the race to the puck. The truth is very different. The hidden skill behind winning puck races is not just straight-line speed. It is anticipation, smart angles, explosive first strides, and the ability to read the play before it fully develops.
This site has always been about teaching the game — and teaching it in a way that actually helps you, your players, or your son or daughter. And here’s the truth I want to put front and center today:
I can only do that if I hear from you. Not once in a while. Not once a season. Regularly.
Follow along with Dave as he shows you how to use these bands to train your body for more strength and endurance…
Don’t forget to grab all you can from this awesome site, and make this coming month one to truly remember…