Andy & Diane Ness 2012

A slide stop is a difficult skill to grasp and understand. Imagine a puck carrier skating into the offensive zone 1-on-2. The skater then makes a hard escape turn towards the boards and delays, waiting for his linemates to give him an outlet as they join the rush. The skater will more than likely execute a slide stop in this situation. 

When breaking down a stride we like to break it down into three main components, the load, the push and the extension. I was able to take some video and photos of some of the New Jersey Devils prospects during their camp this summer. 

So your power play is in full swing, not to mention the penalty kill, the D zone, neutral zone, and all the Xs and Os are in place. But how do you mainantain the skills that got you there?

A couple weeks ago, I discussed the skills that young skaters can learn at the mini-Mite level. Stopping is one of the first skills young skaters should learn after they have gained enough balance to push and glide. Stopping is also a skill in which we need to get really creative in our drills in order to fully engage our young skaters. 

For the last article, I explained how to do an inside Mohawk or an inside pivot. In other words, learning how to do transition. I will give you three drills that can be used for skaters of any level.

For this article we will try to understand how to teach a power turn to a younger skater as well as what things to look for that help or hinder a skater’s ability to execute this skill.

As we start a new hockey season, many hockey parents will be out in search of a new pair of hockey skates for their son or daughter. When trying to buy skates, fit, type of skate, stiffness of a boot and sharpening are some things to consider.

Being able to have a fifth gear is a trait desired by almost every skater but only few really possess. Can we teach our skaters to develop that extra gear or is their genetic make-up going to hold them back?

We all know how important it is to have a strong outside edge while skating. For this article, I would like to make sure people really have an understanding and an awareness of an outside edge.  

As we are training many skaters throughout the summer, the No. 1 thing we continue to stress is a deep knee bend. Repeating and working on this throughout every drill is of the utmost importance. Executing drills while building muscle memory is the only way to create good habits.  

So we’re at the point of the year in which we would call the “offseason.” This is the valuable time of year in which you want your son or daughter to improve their individual skills.  What is development? What does it really mean? What’s the best way to do this?

The mohawk turn is one of the most vital skills to learn in skating and the game of hockey no matter what position you play. Whether you are a forward or a D you will use this maneuver because you are continually turning to face the puck. It is a skill worth working your practice around.

Whether you are gliding, turning in traffic or standing in front of the net, a skater needs to give themselves a wide base. This means the skater’s feet should be about shoulder width apart, sometimes wider, with knees bent in a stable position.

At the end of a long season you may notice that most players’ skating technique begins to suffer. Minor things like a skater’s stride getting choppy or a skater not bending his/her knees is most evident.

In skating, one of the main areas of concern is getting every skater’s center of gravity lower to the ice. This means getting your knees bent, your ankles flexed, and your butt down. This does not come with a few repetitions of drills, rather countless hours of an actual concentrated effort.

Stopping is one of the first real challenging skills that any young hockey player will learn. Actually, every skater should learn a snow plow stop first before they can tackle the much more difficult hockey stop.

One of the most important skills that we can work on is changing our speed. Whether we go from slow to fast or fast to slow, changing speed allows you to create space and never allows your opponent to get a beat on you.

I have come across some great photos of young Wild skaters while we were working on their stride during a summer session. While looking at the pictures, it should give you a better understanding of the three main elements that go into a stride. 

As we get into the deep stretch of our winter season, practices can get difficult. The excitement of the beginning of the season has passed and holiday tournaments have already played out.  We still have a few weeks before district tournament games and even longer before end of the year Mite tournaments.

One of the most underrated skating skills used is a basic inside edge shuffle. If you watch a college or pro game you will notice a lot of times skaters are mostly gliding or trying to maintain their speed.

Recently one of the areas that I have noticed is a real struggle for young skaters is backward skating. I always tell my students anything you can do forward you should be able to do backward.

We recently had our first day of our Learn to Skate program for the new winter session. For this program, we see all types of ages and abilities. The basic fact is that it still comes back to understanding that skating development is a progression.

Recently, I have had some parents of students tell me that their son or daughter has mastered their edges and really don’t need any work at all.

Most of us have heard coaches encourage skaters to push themselves or even fall during some skating drills. I do agree that falling while skating is OK in some situations, but other situations the skater should really be encouraged to stay on their feet. It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

Ah yes, the start of another hockey season. I thought I should write one more article on transitions, but now my attention has turned in another direction— mite hockey.