Ice Hockey is a great game made up of great people and sometimes these great people who play this great game come up with some of the best/funniest things you’ve ever heard about the game of ice hockey. This list of top ten quotes is for all those hockey players working on off ice training to one day become the next hockey star, or for the parents of those children! Take a look at Hockeytrain’s Top 10: Hockey Quotes Of All Time!
10. -“My teeth weren’t that good to begin with, so hopefully I can get some better ones.” – Duncan Keith
9. - “The three important elements of hockey are: forecheck, backcheck and paycheck.” – Gil Perreault
8. - “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”– Wayne Gretzky
7. - “If I get run into again, I’m taking someone with me. I lost one knee. I’ll take a head if it happens again.” – Grant Fuhr
6. - “Every day is a great day for hockey.” - Mario Lemieux
5. – “You’re playing worse every day and right now you’re playing like the middle of next week.” – Herb Brooks
4. - “Goaltending is a normal job, sure. How would you like it in your job if every time you made a small mistake, a red light went on over your desk and 15,000 people stood up and yelled at you.” – Jacques Plante
3. - “It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it’s what you put into the practice.” – Eric Lindros
2. -“I could not hear what they say about me, my 2 Stanley Cup rings were stuffed in my ears.” – Patrick Roy
1. - “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” – Wayne Gretzky
Hope you enjoyed our top 10 Hockey quotes of all time! If you think we missed some please leave a comment below. Also, if you liked what you read and want more of Hockeytrain like us on facebook and follow us on twitter!
Hockey passing skills: Making a perfect saucer pass!
A hockey player’s success requires, above all else, two things. The first is time, the second is space. If one is eliminated, the other goes with it. But there are ways that a player can deal with the loss of both. He can use his body to create space; he can make a stickhandling move to create time. However, passing is one of the single most useful tools in a player’s repertoire when creating time and space, especially if the opponent is bearing down, taking each away.
The mechanics of making a pass can easily break down in the speed of a real game. This is why it’s important for a player to have the skills mastered before competition. Some good news: there are a lot of hockey passing drills and training tools, either in the home or at the rink, that can help a player develop and maintain his passing abilities, and they can all be quite a bit of fun. One example for those who prefer the privacy of the basement when putting in some extra time is the Hockey Shooting Board. This is a 48”x96” plastic surface that can simulate the feel and play of a real ice sheet in the home, so that players aren’t limited to improving their skills only when they’re at practice. The Hockey Shooting Board can be accompanied by the attachable One Time Passer, so that one timers and regular back-and-forth passes can be easily simulated on both the forehand and the backhand.
While the skills cultivated by tools like the Hockey Shooting Board and the One Time Passer are completely necessary for any player to have, a simple outlet pass isn’t always available in the heat of a real game. Traffic plugs up holes, and opponents can get nasty.Moving the puck often requires more space than the ice sheet can allow. This is the beauty of the saucer pass: it creates vertical space that a pass made flat on the ice doesn’t. This can really help out if a player has an opponent in his face, or if there are sticks clogging up an otherwise open passing lane.
Making a saucer pass, while a little more involved than simply pushing the puck to a teammate on a flat surface, isn’t very difficult, and mastering it doesn’t require any additional tools. Players can simply line up one-on-one and work on moving the puck from the heel of the blade to the toe, so that the rotation of the puck causes the desired lift. Like any other skill, the saucer pass can be mastered with enough reps, so that it can be immediately recalled in the middle of a game when both time and space are limited.
Last week we worked on our quick feet drills to get us ready to be fast and elusive around the ice hockey rink. This week we’re going to work on our hockey balance to help us maintain our ground in all situations of a hockey game. The reason hockey dryland balance is key to being a great hockey player is because it’s much easier to make a hockey play while standing up, rather than sitting on your butt or lying chest on the ice.
A couple good balance drills for off ice workouts are either down on a bongo board or a bosu ball. These two hockey training aids can help you perform at a higher level by strictly forcing you to use your smaller secondary muscles to create a balanced body.
The bongo board can be used for both the upper and lower body for gaining hockey balance. By doing both kinds of exercises you will also be working all sorts of muscles in your core(abs, back and obliques). Once the bongo board becomes easier over periods of practice you can start to add in a ball or multiple balls to play catch with either off a wall or with a partner. This will help your balance become more natural and force you to use other sorts of coordination. Even stickhandling a ball or hockey puck while balancing on the bongo board can payoff in the long run. Here is a video on a few exercises that can be done with the bongo board.
The bosu ball is a similar product but can be used on either side to gain hockey balance. Standard balancing exercises can be done on the bosu ball, but as you become more advanced you can start to use one foot at a time or try catching or juggling objects to force your mind to concentrate on something other than your balance. Here are a few exercises you can complete with the bosu ball.
Now balance is a key ingredient that should be worked on while performing all of your workouts. Instead of doing arm curls sitting down or standing with two feet. Stand up on one foot! Work on core balance when doing a simple bench press by bringing your feet and knees off the ground, like the position of a crunch. Doing small balance activities during your workouts or during common daily events will not only help your hockey game but help you become a better overall athlete and healthy human being.
One of the most important skills for any hockey player to develop is his passing. Shooting is a lot more fun, but the hockey passing trainer helps you develop both your passing and one timers at the same time. It’s a rebounder that sends the puck right back to you so that you can keep passing it back and forth or pass it to the rebounder, get it back and fire a one timer.
In short, the hockey passing trainer takes one of the age old hockey passing drills performed with a teammate or coach and allows you to do it individually.
Our hockey passing trainer can attach to a hockey shooting board, taking your hockey passing drills to the next level. You’ll be able to fire off passes in quick succession until your putting your passes on target time and time again. Once the game rolls around, you’ll have the precision your opponents envy.
This device is versatile, though, and you can work on your shooting with a hockey shooting board too. It can be done in the backyard, garage or driveway. Simply set the hockey shooting board and passer at approximately a 45 degree angle to the goal, and you can set yourself up for perfect one-timers over and over again.
You can also work on your backhanded passing and receiving backhanded passes and also work on catching and shooting your backhand in one motion, simply by reversing the entire setup.
The quicker you can execute in practice, the more things will seem to slow down in a game, so working your sequences in quick succession is critical. Whether you opt for a series of quick passes before the one timer or to cycle through pucks quickly, the hockey passing trainer will allow your hockey passing drills and hockey shooting to improve in a hurry.
Puck control is the fundamental aspect of ice hockey that almost always decides who wins and who loses. It’s what allows a team to successfully play its systems, to wear down the opposing team in the offensive zone, and to draw penalties. It’s also what a coach means when he says, “Let’s play our game.” Because of this, many coaches devote large portions of practice and drill sessions to effectively moving the puck within pre-designed systems. This is where the Pugi Puck comes into play.
There are many off ice stickhandling drills, as well as many other off ice hockey training methods, that can increase a player’s ability to move or maintain control of the puck. You’ve probably seen or used some of these yourself, steel stickhandling balls being one example. The Pugi Puck is something less conventional, though so effective as to be used by the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin, and the U.S. Women’s National Team. It’s used at high levels because it gets excellent results.
The Pugi Puck is an oversized rubber cylinder with removable nylon sliders that mimics a real puck. The difference is that its size makes both on and off ice stickhandling drills a lot of work. Weighing in at 2.75 pounds, this 2” high, 6” inch wide behemoth was created in the Czech Republic as teams were training with rubber tires, an obvious connection, as you might initially think that the Pugi Puck actually looks like a small tire. Though also obvious is the Pugi Puck’s connection to a successful off ice hockey training regimen. This is where the Pugi Puck gains its effectiveness: its size forces players to exercise with proper form.
The reason for this is the Pugi Puck’s natural tendency to create levels of inertia which are difficult for players to overcome. Whether practicing on an ice sheet or doing off ice stickhandling drills, the player must employ the use of his legs and abdominal muscles to effectively control the Pugi Puck. He is thus forced into an athletic stance that is necessary for him to move the Pugi Puck as he would a normal sized puck. With the lower body in action, the hands must follow. In order to get the Pugi Puck off the stick—or to handle it when receiving a pass—the player’s hands have to remain in the proper position so that the puck’s size can be controlled. Since the player’s’ hands are properly positioned, it follows that his stick is, as well.
With the player in the proper position, the remaining factor is the placement of the Pugi Puck on his stick—the large size of the hockey training tool requires the player to utilize the blade of his stick in its entirety. Since the player has already assumed a full athletic position, the complete use of his stick blade maximizes his strength in sending, receiving, and handling the Pugi Puck. The full-body symmetry necessary for using the Pugi Puck is what everybody wants when building positive muscle memory, so that they can easily and automatically execute their team’s systems while in the rapid pace of a game.
Of course, the Pugi Puck isn’t hockey’s version of snake oil; it will not cure a player’s or a team’s ailments instantly. In order to be effective, the Pugi Puck must be properly used as one of many tools in a player’s on or off ice hockey training program. With this in mind, the Pugi Puck is certainly worth a try. It’s a unique tool that can help refine a set of skills that is immensely useful for players who are either developing or maintaining their stickhandling abilities. And with its weird size, the Pugi Puck can be a whole lot of fun, to boot.
Hockey Dryland Workout: Foot speed and acceleration
Hockey revolves around many different skills but some our more important than others. Quick feet and acceleration are on the top. Being able to explode to the puck, get your feet up ice, and to separate yourself from a defender become even more important as you move up in the level of play.
Here are some quick feet drills that can help speed up your game:
-The ladder can be a great way to gain foot speed and acceleration. Here are four good footwork drills to work on to obtain faster acceleration.
-A low box workout can be another effective foot speed workout for dryland hockey workouts. Here are three good low box drills that can improve your hockey game on the ice.
-A five dot workout is a cheap way to gain foot speed and coordination. You can create your own patterns to go through in short bursts of time to help gain foot speed. Here are four dryland hockey workouts for foot speed and acceleration.
Now foot speed and acceleration aren’t meant to work on conditioning and endurance. When you’re working on your dryland hockey acceleration drills you want to make sure you’re at 100% when starting the drill. You’re working on quick twitch muscles and muscle memory, NOT endurance and conditioning! Here is a informational video on gaining acceleration and foot speed for your favorite game, HOCKEY!
After seeing this product I was a little skeptical with how it would perform. Its size may have turned others down but after using it for about 5 minutes I really began to like it. Because the product was so big it gave me more feel for the puck and the weight of the puck let me keep my head up, knowing that the puck was on my stick.
After stick handling with the Pugi Puck for about 10 minutes with a couple short breaks I mixed in a few reps with a normal sized hockey puck and I noticed a huge improvement in my stick handling technique. My hand speed was much faster and I had more control than before. The Pugi Puck was easy to use for both on ice stick handling drills and on a shooting pad. There were many great stick handling drills and passing drills that you could do with the Pugi Puck and it was great for increasing my stick handling speed.
The Pugi Puck was also a very good way to improve the strength in my wrists. I recommend this product to any kid or adult that wants to improve their game! Don’t underestimate this product, using it 2 times a day for a week has improved my stick-handling immensely and I feel more confident with the puck. It has also taught me to be a smarter stickhandler. Even though this puck is big and weighs a lot, don’t go wasting your money on orange weighted pucks, instead buy the Pugi Puck and improve within days.
The Pugi Puck is also made of rubber just like an official puck giving you the real feel of an authentic puck. Like I said “I was very skeptical buying the Pugi Puck” but after using it for a while it really has helped strengthen my wrists and increase my wrist speed. The Pugi Puck also has given me a good workout for my off ice stick handling routine.
Check out the Pugi Puck yourself because it could help you with your overall hockey game!
What type of curve should you have for your hockey stick?
Finding the appropriate curve for your hockey stick is an important decision. Many players use curves that limit their stickhandling and passing ability, but improves their shot. Some of the best players in the world have used straight sticks throughout their lifetime and have had great success. Players that are just starting hockey should use a straight stick, this will allow them to choose if they prefer a left or right handed curve. As players develop a better sense of what curves work for them, they can experiment with more advanced blade patterns.
Here are 5 tips for selecting the appropriate curve for your hockey stick.
When you pass and receive the puck, the puck should lay flat on the ice.
You should be able to control the height of your shots.
You should be able to control the accuracy of your shots (ex. left, right, etc.)
When stickhandling the puck should rest comfortably on the blade of your stick.
Stick lie should be 5.5 so the blade rests flat on the ice.
This table provides a guide for selecting the appropriate curve for your stick. The best bet for most players is to use a moderate curve that allows them to control the puck when shooting, passing and stickhandling. Many blade pattern charts are available online. The patterns we have used in our example are from the Easton stick blade patterns.
Ice Hockey is a great game made up of great people and sometimes these great people who play this great game come up with some of the best/funniest things you’ve ever heard about the game of ice hockey. This list of top ten quotes is for all those hockey players working on off ice training to one day become the next hockey star, or for the parents of those children! Take a look at Hockeytrain’s Top 10: Hockey Quotes Of All Time!
