Blues Hockey Hat Tags

MENTAL PREPARATION The game of goaltending is 80 percent mental. Prepare your mind before you hit the ice. Take five to 10 minutes and find a quiet spot where you can be alone to focus. Visualizing plays and seeing yourself make the right play will help you immensely. It may...

Chest Protector. The size of a goaltender's chest protector should be determined by the goaltender's height. After gathering a goaltender's height the next step is to match the height with the selected company's size chart to determine the appropriate size....

Enthusiasm is contagious. If you find it hard to drag yourself into the rink and onto the ice for practice how can you expect your players to be engaged and motivated? We have a few tricks to keep everyone excited about practice. Sometimes we'll pump music over the PA system...

To carry out the proper checks along the boards you must learn to force the puck carrier towards the boards. The key is to steer the puck carrier in the direction you want by angling him or her into the boards under a controlled speed : Keep yourself stick-to-stick and...

Enthusiasm is contagious. If you find it hard to drag yourself into the rink and onto the ice for practice how can you expect your players to be engaged and motivated? We have a few tricks to keep everyone excited about practice. Sometimes we'll pump music over the PA system...

Everybody loves to skate with the puck and stickhandle through the opposition defenses on the way to the net. Still it′s much more effective if you let the puck do the work for you. Passing is without a doubt the best way to move the puck....

Remember This... The backhand shot shouldn′t be a dying skill. It′s just as important as a good wrist shot. Most players don′t have a strong backhand shot because they don′t practice it enough. Coaches need to develop drills that will help you practice this very important but under-used shot....

WORK ETHIC AND FITNESS You need to be the hardest worker and most fit player on your team. New York Rangers goalie Mike Richter won the fitness award every year. Hall of Famer Ed Belfour used to run triathlons. St. Louis′ Brian Elliott is the hardest-working goalie I′ve ever coached....