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Hockey Sense: Can it be taught? Part 4

By Andy Blaylock, 04/11/17, 2:15PM CDT

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Expanding the Importance of Time and Space

In part 3 we gained an understanding of things that players, parents, and coaches can do to develop better hockey sense.  Here we will learn about some strategies players can use to give themselves a better chance of being able to apply their hockey sense in games.

The concepts in this part all speak to and expand upon the idea that when a player has limited time and space, they won’t be able to consider a lot of options in terms of plays that they could make. They have to go with the best play they can come up with in the time that they have.  However, if they have a good set of tools in their tool box for buying time and space they’ll be able exercise patience in waiting for the play that is best for themselves and their team.

In order to become very proficient at buying time and space, five key areas stand out which should be developed.

  1. Puck protection on all sides of the body with an ability to move the puck rapidly between the protection zones around the body
  2. Deception so that when opposing players are reading and reacting to you, some of their reads will be inaccurate ensuring they won’t always close the gap on you quickly
  3. Skating agility both in terms of direction change and in terms of being quick to accelerate from low to high speed
  4. Unwillingness to settle for a “decent” play when there is an opportunity to keep possession and wait for something better
  5. An instinct to seek open ice both with the puck and without the puck in order ensure time and space when the puck does come

How can players work on these?  These days, the foundations of great puck protection are established in an off-ice setting doing stickhandling drills that feature contortions of the upper body to get the stick to positions all around the player.  This expands the region around the body within which players are able to control the puck.

Expansion of reach (where players pull the puck from far out wide on the forehand to far out wide on the backhand and back repeatedly) is a great example, but keeps the puck in front of the feet so it only covers so much.  In order to be great at puck protection, players should be comfortable rotating the puck even to positions behind the feet on the forehand and, to a lesser extent, on the backhand.

Deception and skating agility work together to get players into a position where opponents cannot contest the puck.  One can say that a player will deceive with their hand skills and then once the opponent has committed or is off balance they separate from a defending player using their feet.  This is not strictly true because sometimes the deception can be done with the feet and separation can be done using the hands via puck protection.  Regardless these things all work together to ensure the defender will not be in position to contest possession of the puck for a period of time that a player can then use to make the best decision.

The last two elements above (4 and 5) are very much on the mental side of the game.  The idea of not being willing to settle for a decent play can be difficult for some players because they are simply afraid of making mistakes.  

This can be the coach’s fault, but is often a simple result of being a risk averse type of personality and thus wanting to pass the negative risk of taking responsibility for a play off to the next teammate.

Conservative Play Late in Games

Toward the end of high stakes games that are close, especially when in the lead, this sort of overly safe play can actually make for the best play.  

However, the bulk of the time, players who will become the best at buying time and space and eventually at hockey sense, will want to take charge.  These players will make mistakes as a result, but profit in the long run because they will simply learn more about what works and what does not.

And some players develop an instinct to find open ice when their team is on offense.  This can become an unconscious habit and can be used reliably in certain situations.  Consider the following scenario as an example.  If you have the puck, the best place to go is to the other team’s net.  However, everybody knows this so other teams take this away.  

In doing so they take “inside position” in order to keep the opposing offense to the outside.  This ensures open ice on the perimeter.  Therefore, often, the second-best play is to escape to the perimeter of the rink in order to maintain possession.  

This can be done almost automatically once players get to a level of play where the other team can be counted on to consistently work to inside position.  Thus, it can be a great automatic habit to fall into when a better play is not available.

Wide Open Spaces

Finding open ice is also key for players without the puck.  The opposing coverage will still take inside position to make sure offensive players away from the puck aren’t dangerous when they get the puck.  

In this case, offensive players don’t need to escape to the perimeter, but simply find the temporary holes in the coverage… especially the ones that offer a clear passing lane between them and their teammate with the puck.

Building these habits will enhance each player’s ability to utilize and even to develop rink sense by giving them more time with the puck and more time to consider better and better options as far as plays to make once they get the puck!

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