Stickhandling, Skating and Shooting: The ‘New’ Game

So dramatically has the game changed in the NHL that any plans to get there better change to the same extent. To put this on a more immediate level for kids in high school or youth hockey — if you want to become as good as you can be, your training better reflect the shift toward skillful hockey.

The creative, smart, talented players in the NHL are loving it right now — and laughing all the way to the bank. Some say it’s going the same way in college, juniors, and high school — and it is — only a bit slower.

Defensemen who can quarterback a power play, who can skate and make the quick, accurate breakout pass — they’ve replaced the goons who’s sticks were nothing but a weapon. Forwards who make deceptive passes, who protect the puck with their bodies, who have the audacity to cut to the net with only a half-step on the D — they’re on every team’s shopping list.

It’s all about skill, so make sure your efforts to chase your dreams are spent wisely. Skating, stickhandling, shooting — these are the highest priorities on-ice and off.

Not that strength training is less important than before, but now, more than ever, the focus should be strength workouts that support hockey skills. Do your leg workouts make you a better skater? Can core exercises be modified to make you a better shooter? Does stickhandling practice include exercises to strengthen the shoulders, arms, and core muscles? When you work on agility and explosiveness, does it transfer to skating?

Endurance has always been important in hockey, and it always will be. The important question is: Can you improve endurance while working on hockey skills? The answer is yes — definitely yes. You just have to incorporate interval training.

Skating, stickhandling, shooting — you can’t get enough. It’s interesting that in just 90 days, the NHL has done more to lead young hockey players in the right direction than anything it’s done in 90 years. Consider a young teen-aged Tiger Woods, dreaming of being the best golfer in the world. His parents were willing to try anything, and they sought the best advice available.

Some “experts” said Tiger should work on strength, endurance, flexibility and core stability, because these are all important for golf (as they are for hockey). However, no one could have convinced Tiger or his parents that any of these things were more important than the skills of golf.

His plan left nothing to chance, so he worked hard on strength, endurance, flexibility and core stability. But, of course, the vast majority of his time was spent perfecting golf skills. The same plan works for basketball or tennis or any sport. But somehow, personal trainers have convinced hockey players that training in the weight room or riding a bike for aerobic fitness is more important than practicing hockey skills.

It took the referees in the NHL to remind us how important skills are to hockey success — just as they are in every sport. Don’t be misled; hockey is a game of skill — the skills take years to master — and every skill is highly trainable.

Jack Blatherwick has a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Minnesota. He is a physiologist for the Washington Capitals, and has held the same post for the Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Minnesota North Stars. He was also a coach/physiologist on the U.S. Olympic hockey teams in 1980, '84 '88, '92 and '94. Check out Blatherwick's website at http://www.overspeed.info/

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