Senior Hockey Blades Tags

Change it up. Over the course of a long season it's not unusual for players to begin to tune out a coach. Try turning a practice over to one of your assistant coaches or perhaps bring in a guest coach to run a practice.

SKATING SKILLS The foundation of goaltending is based on balance and edges. The better skater you are the better goaltender you will be. Before every practice and every game your warmup should consist of simple skating drills: T-pushes shuffles and slides. You use a T-push for long crease movements. Push...

Never slap at the puck. You want it to roll off the blade from the heel toward the toe in a sweeping motion as you transfer your weight from your back foot to front foot. As the puck leaves your stick make sure to follow through and point the toe...

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...

USA Hockey strongly discourages checking from behind but if it should happen while you′re facing the boards get your stick and gloves up to spread out the area of impact. Use your arms as shock absorbers....

There are three major types of body checks: shoulder check hip check and checking along the boards. The shoulder check is the most common. It is normally used by a defenseman when taking out an onrushing forward : Concentrate on the chest of the attacker since it is the most...

The following are guidelines to follow on how to fit a goaltender for equipment. Due to different heights weights playing sizes and brands of equipment goaltenders should see a local expert equipment dealer for proper equipment fitting. Selecting the proper size of equipment is important. Proper development requires that a...

Few topics polarize hockey's pundit populus and fan base like supplemental discipline and for good reason. Plays that spark calls for suspension are dangerous and often result in major injuries. We should talk about them....

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....

Change with the seasons. Take advantage of the holidays that take place over the course of the season. We'll host various events to correspond with holidays such as Halloween Thanksgiving Christmas and the New Year. It can take a little extra effort but the same team effort you expect of...