Chalk Talk

Deflecting the Puck

Deflecting the puck requires good eye-hand coordination, timing and a willingness to “pay the price” in front of the net to put points on the board for your team.

Eye-hand coordination can be practiced both on and off the ice. Hitting a moving object like a baseball, tennis ball, or racquetball is beneficial in improving this skill.

The other factor that is important in a physical sense is timing, the ability to move or position your self in front of the net and make contact with the puck as it heads toward you. It might seem simple, but in reality it is an acquired skill and must be practiced.

The third component is the mental aspect. It takes competitiveness and toughness to hold your ground in front of the net while being physically abused by the opposition.

Although there are many ways of tipping or redirecting the puck into the net, the most effective is when a player is positioned in front of the net, with his back to the goaltender, facing the shooter at the point. In this position, the tipper has a couple of advantages. He can see and follow the shot as it approaches, but he also acts as a screen on the goaltender.

One common error in this setup is for the tipper/screener to be too tight to the goaltender and the net. If you are set up too close it is difficult to tip the puck on the net (and you may cause a stoppage in play if in the crease). Most of the time, the puck is actually tipped wide of the net on a shot, that if left alone might very well have scored.

The second most common error is getting too much of the stick blade on the puck, causing it to slow down.

The reason redirections or tips are successful is that the goaltender is moving on the initial shot to a spot where he believes the puck is headed. When a goaltender moves, he must open up his legs and makes himself very vulnerable to low shots. Slight changes of direction and speed of the shot gives you the greatest chance of success.

The best form to eliminate these errors is to stand in a “tripod” stance, legs a little more that shoulder width apart for stability with the stick on the ice in front. The tipper should begin close to the net and, as he sees that a shot is coming, start to move slowly out toward the shooter. As he does this, he can use his body to “protect” his stick from being lifted or contained by an opposing defenseman, while still screening the goaltender. Another advantage of this is that as he moves out from the net, he improves his angle and gives himself more of the net to tip the puck into.

The heel of the blade is the best spot to use in tipping the puck and the less stick on the puck, the better. The more blade that meets the puck, the more it slows down and the less chance it has of scoring. Using the heel of the stick blade gives you the most control and lessens the chance of getting too much blade on the puck.

The most effective way to deflect the puck in this position is off the heel of the stick and through the tipper’s legs which makes it very hard for the goaltender to pick up. Typically, goaltenders are moving to where they think the puck is going, are very vulnerable between their legs and aren’t able to react. Most times they never even see the puck.

After the tip, the job is not finished. A screener/tipper must complete the job by spinning around to look for rebounds, because most goals are not scored on the initial shot, but on the rebound.

Using the Snap Shot

Having a quick release is an important part of being a productive goalscorer and the snap shot offers the advantage of shooting before the goaltender has the opportunity to move into proper position.

The disadvantage is that you lose some accuracy and control that you would have by using a wrist shot. Nonetheless, the snap shot is a valuable weapon and allows players to shoot from a number of different positions and situations, where they would be unable to utilize any other form of shot.

Body positioning - The snap shot can be utilized while virtually in any position; stationary while facing the net, stationary while perpendicular to the net, moving toward the net, moving laterally across in front of the net, and even backing away from the net.

As in any shot, players should get their legs involved as much as possible. Transferring the weight from back foot to front foot while shooting translates into a more powerful, heavier shot. Certain situations such as moving laterally across the front of the net make it easier to push off the inside edge of the back foot while shooting. When players are stationary facing the net, moving toward the net or backing away from the net, it is harder to get the legs involved in the shot.

Addressing the puck - For the best control, snap shots should be taken from the middle to the heel of the stick blade. The blade has more “whip” in it toward the toe causing shots off the toe to rise quicker, but also giving you a little less control. More advanced players can snap pucks off the toe when they are in tight to the net and want to get the puck up high over the goalie in a hurry. Very little back swing is required – bringing the blade of the stick 12 to 18 inches behind the puck is sufficient – the more backswing, the more time required to get the shot off. The blade of the stick should begin in a closed position over the top of the puck and the stick blade should actually hit the ice just behind the puck. This results in flex in the blade and shaft of the stick, which translates into more power on the shot.

Hand & arm positioning - The bottom hand should slide down the stick (farther down than when normally handling the puck). The top hand should be out in front of the body as the power in the shot is created by pulling back on the top hand while pushing through with the bottom hand. It is essential to be able to move the wrists and arms during the shot. Inexperienced players tend not to use their wrists and also tend to keep their arms close to their bodies. Pushing through with the bottom hand and pulling back with the top hand, the stick blade should start out “closed” over top of the puck, then briefly “open,” then “close” over the puck again on the follow-through. This is the “snap” in the snap shot and is essential to create power for the shooter.

Follow-through

Transferring the weight and following through with the body in the direction of the shot always adds to the speed of the shot. It is also important for shooters to “stay down” on the puck during the follow-through with good knee bend. Many times shooters follow through in an upward motion when they should be following through in a forward motion.

Move the puck

No matter how fast you can skate, the puck can always move faster.  That is why it is essential for players to be able to pass and receive while moving – not breaking stride – as well as touch pass the puck to move it quickly before defenders can react and get into position.

Good passes are crisp and clean, flat on the ice and on the tape of the intended recipient.  The fraction of the second that it takes a player to control a bobbling pass or kick it up from his skates to his stick, or the speed a player loses while having to slow down to receive a poor pass – is the difference between a good pass and a poor pass – the difference between getting out of your own zone right away or 30 seconds from now – the difference between getting a good scoring a chance or turning the puck over.

On the forehand, players are able to snap the puck when passing it because of their ability to use their wrists.  This is virtually impossible on the backhand – the pass becomes more of a slap pass which usually results in poor control.  On the backhand it is better to rely on the sweep backhand pass for better accuracy and control.  But on the forehand, players should be able to use their wrists only to snap the puck:

• The puck should start on the heel of the stick and be released off of the middle-to-toe area of the blade.  This will cause a spin on the puck – keeping it flat on the ice resulting in better control.

• The blade of the stick should be “closed” over the puck at the beginning of the pass – while pushing through with the bottom hand and pulling back with the top hand (snapping the wrists) the blade of the stick “opens” and then quickly “closes” again on the follow-through (resulting in the spin on the puck).  If the blade of the stick is not “closed” at the beginning and end of the pass the puck will bounce and wobble.

• The follow-through should result in toe of the stick blade pointing in the direction of the intended target with the front of the blade down (closed).

Players should work on snapping the puck while their feet are moving (striding – not coasting).  It requires coordination to be able to snap the puck with your wrists while continuing to stride with your legs.  However, this is an essential part of quick puck movement.  Having to slow down to make a pass often results in the pass not even being made – because the puck carrier gets caught or checked by an opposing player.

The technique for touch passing is very similar to that of snap passing.  However, with a touch pass the player never really has possession of the puck – he or she receives the pass and makes the pass all in one motion.  It is essential that touch passing be done on the heel of the blade.  The stick is much stronger here and will result in better control.  Trying to touch pass off of the toe of the stick blade where there is more flex will result in a bouncing wobbly puck.  The puck should again be spun from heel to toe to keep it flat on the ice.  Keeping the stick blade closed at the beginning and end of the pass is important in keeping the pass on the ice.

One important element of touch passing is that players need to react to the puck – meaning they need to position their bodies before the puck gets to them so that they can touch pass the puck on the forehand.   Passes don’t always arrive exactly where you want them – and to receive and make a pass all in one motion – players need to position themselves to do that as the puck is heading toward them.