The Psychology of Hockey

Field Generals

2005-11-01T15:55:00.000-06:00

This weekend I managed to consume a good amount of adult beverages talking to one of my best friends about coaching.

Bob is one of the best “people” persons I know.  And, with a lot of experience in coaching baseball, Bob is one of those people that I try to emulate in my dealings with others.

What he got me thinking about is how individual members of a team direct what is going on during a game.

In hockey, it’s pretty much the puck carrier.  As the guy with the puck moves around, it’s the job of other players to move in support of the puck carrier and provide him with passing or shooting options.

It’s kind of like passing.  The job of the guy passing the puck is to make the guy receiving the puck look good by putting the puck on his tape.

It’s the job of the team mates to make the puck carrier look good by being in a good position to support, in a good position to receive a pass or make good on a rebound, so that instead of the puck carrier having to find his options…the options just appear as if by magic.

Naturally, communication is essential.  Just like I mentioned defensive partners talking to each other, everyone on the team has to communicate.

Making a good pass is so ouch easier when the receiver is in such a good position that I can’t help but get the puck to him.

The puck carrier is the “Field General” of hockey.

Defense Psychology

2005-11-01T15:36:00.000-06:00

One thing that I’ve had a hard time developing over the short time I’ve been playing is the right mix of aggressiveness and caution as a defenseman.

It all kind of clicked a few weeks ago as I listened to my head coach explain to another player how a defensive pair should work together to hold the offensive blue line. And as I’ve worked as an assistant coach, I’ve been able to see a more aggressive attitude in defensemen is a good thing.

The thing is that, as defensemen, we get into this “prevent” mode. And sometimes we’re so worried about giving something up, that we tend to fade back instead of pushing up to attackers as they enter our zone.

The result is that we just plain end up getting in the way.

There are two essential ingredients to effective defense. One is that some has to challenge the puck carrier and force him to make a decision…before he’s ready to, and before he can execute what he wants. The other is we have to have a partner that’s covering our backs and we have to trust our partner to do exactly that.

Defensive pairs should communicate throughout the entire game. Both on the ice and on the bench. On the ice, they should help direct each other. On the bench, discuss plays as they happen and what you want each other to do in similar situations.

This communication builds and reinforces the ability of a pairing to work together.

Remember that as a pair, everything your partner does, you should be reacting to and reinforcing. If he takes a player to the boards, you might be looking to cover a passing option or to gain possession of a loose puck.

The partner nearest the puck should generally be the aggressive one, looking to force a play, our keep a puck in the zone. The other partner should be looking to reinforce the play, or back the aggressive partner up if he gets beat. During the course of each shift, both partners should move effortlessly between aggressive and support roles as the plays develop.

The New Lines

2005-08-16T16:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I have to admit that at first glance I've not really been a fan of the new blue and goal lines that the NHL put into place.

However, after playing on them Sunday, I've changed my mind.

One of the rinks I play at is also the practice rink for the Dallas Stars.  Recently, they staff there re-did the ice and laid out the new lines.  My first look at them as while coaching.  And, yeah, it was a little wierd.  Then Sunday I got to play on that ice.

As a defenseman, I like them a lot.  There's a lot more room for the D to move around in.  Basically, I tried to play about the same position as I did with the old lines, which put me about 3-4 feet  inside.  What was nice was that if I was being covered, I had more room to move around in and try to get free.  Also, by being in the zone that far it was a lot easier to jump down and get in front of the opposing wings to get a puck that they were trying to clear up the boards.

From the defensive side, I did notice that we did have more trouble getting the puck out, but then I'm thinking that was really just more a case of bad passing and poor positioning of the wingers.  As far as clearing the puck, pretty much the same thing.

Speaking of wingers, and forwards in general, I'm going to get on a rant here.

Forwards, lean in and listen closely...when the D has the puck and we're trying to get a breakout going, your job is NOT to head up the damn ice!!!!!

I mean, really, I've got the puck, I'm coming out of the zone and I'm looking at a bunch of forwards' asses.  Guess what guys...I can't pass to your ass.  About the best I can do is either try to skate the puck up, and I'm no Zubov, or try to bounce it off the boards and hope I can hit your stick.

It's pretty simple, keep facing the play.  If you keep your shoulders facing the play, then it's much easier to either get the puck passed to you, or to be able to adjust to what happens with it.

So, guys...when the D is coming out, the winger on the side he's coming out on needs to get his butt on the boards, about the hash marks and be ready to the breakout pass.  The center and weka-side winger need to be looping in to recieve the pass from the winger.

And defenseman, listen up too...if the winger is in his position, pass the damn puck!  I hate it when I play winger and I'm in position and wide open and the D just skates.  You can move the puck faster with passing than with skating it, so pass it.

Oh, and that thing about seeing forwards butts...well, the centers especially have to realize that also applies on the second breakout pass.  Guys, you've got to time out loop and make it wide enough so that when the puck arrives on the wingers stick, you're entering the area where he can make a quick, short pass to you.

If everyone does their jobs, you end up breaking out of your zone and entering the neutral zone with speed.  The nice thing is that this forces the opposing forwards into a panic mode as they try to back check and intimidates the defense.

It's all about moving across the ice, not just up and down it.  It's about keeping your head up and moving the puck smartly onto your team mate's stick.  It's about giving the puck carrier a good target to pass to by keeping your stick on the ice in front of you.

At pick up today, there was another guy out there, light turnout.  But this guy would skate with his stick pointed behind him or off the ice!!!  Arrrgh!  How do you expect to get good passes if you don't give a good target??

With the new lines, I think good passing is going to become even more critical in hockey.  There is a lot more room to work in both zones and the teams that move the puck well are going to benefit.

Fundamentals

2005-07-15T12:35:00.000-05:00

Over the last year or so, I've become involved with coaching at the Adult beginnger level.  It's interesting to deal with the challenges of meeting the needs of learning hockey players.

For one, thing, let's face it...Hockey is just plain a very hard sport to pick up as an adult.  You have to learn how to skate, pass, shoot, position, anticipate the play, and all kinds of things.  And none of it is easy.  True, some people have natural talent that makes the process easier, but for the majority it takes a lot of damn hard work, effort and frustration to make progress.

One thing that I've noticed, both in Hockey, and in Martial Arts (which I've been teaching for over a decade) is that people are not mentally prepared to learn the fundamentals.

Mind you, my approach to learning something is Mastery.  I've always been this way and it's something that my martial arts instructor has confirmed and reinforced over the years.  My goal is to master what I'm learning, and to master something, you have to do it a thousand times.

That does get tedious after a while!

But, in American society, we've all been conditioned to expect and demand fast results.  Fast food, faster Internet, faster computers, faster cars....in just about everything, we want it fast!

I'm no exception.   I mean, really, there's so much stuff to take care of during the day, so much travel to get to where I need to go, anything that can get things done faster just helps ease my life.

The problem, for us all, when learning a difficult new skill that takes time to master, is that we're just not used to dealing with the time it takes.  It's downright frustrating.  I get that.

In coaching, while drinking beer after games, there is always to pressure to teach the next thing.  We want to learn this, we want to learn that.  And often, the problem is that it's hard to teach the next step when the foundation just isn't there yet.

Now, this isn't a criticism of players and students.  But maybe it will help them understand why the process is so long and frustrating.

When I'm asked what the fundamentals of hockey, it's a simple answer.  Skating!

Everything you do in the ice is predicated on the ability to skate.  The better you skate, the easier it is to work on all the other aspects of the game.  When you're learning, just skate as much as you can.  And not Stick & Puck, just plain public skating.  Every time you hit the ice is a good thing, but taking the time to make sure you focus on your skating drills and techniques is eventually going to pay off.

Good Ice, Bad Ice

2005-07-12T17:28:00.000-05:00

This is some stuff that came from a e-mail exchange between myself and the coordinator of one of the I-League teams I coach.   We were talking about break-outs when the defense has the puck behind the net and isn't being heavily pressured:

One thing to think about, when someone sets up behind the net,
the other players have to think about skating to a position
for a good pass.  A lot of times, folks  tend to stop and wait
for something to happen.

You can make things happen just by skating to the
right places.  Being in the right area, at the right
time often opens up opportunities that you wouldn't
expect at first.
> It's just a matter of finding open ice right?Partially...

The other thing is to understand "good" ice and "bad"
ice.  You can be in open bad ice and, well, it's
just not going to do you any good.

But if you're open in "good" ice...then your odds are
vastly improved.

To understand good/bad ice, let's look at a typical
game situation.

Offensive zone.  Your team has the puck.  Puck
carrier is in the corner.

Most guys try to pass the puck to the area right in
front of the crease.  The thought is that you have a
guy in front of the net, so he's got a good shot,
right?

But the job of the guy crashing the net is not to
take a pass and shoot.  His job is to screen the goalie,
maybe deflect a shot, try to fire in a close
rebound, antagonize the defense and generally create chaos so
as to disrupt the defense and goalie.

There is too much traffic in this area to really
make anything happen with purpose.  Most of the time, the
defense snags that pass and they start breaking out.

But, the high slot, above the hash marks.  That's
prime real estate.

1.  The Defense don't tend go up there becasue then they
are out of position.

2.  In many cases, in this league, no one picks up
that guy.  Even if someone does, circling back and
forth along the tops of the face off circles will
open you up.

3.  The person in the high slot is also positioned
to help out defensively, this may even free up your Defense
to be more aggressive about holding the blue line.

So, the puck carrier looks to the high slot.  A team mate
is wide open, another team mate is being a real
nuisance in front of the net.  A shot into this mess may have
a better chance of finding it's way to the back of the net.

Plus, the player in the high slot can still look to clean up rebounds.

Here's another thing to think about.  At higher
levels, there is less time available to decide what to
do with the puck.

To quicken the decision-making process, more
experienced players will scan certain areas where they
expect people to be.

For example, when I come from behind the net, I look
along the boards starting at the hash marks, looking
for the wingers to be ready for a breakout pass.

So, if someone is skating in, to, or between these
"good" areas of ice, and their stick is on the ice, in
front of them, the more likely you are to be on the
receiving end of a pass that will allow you to advance
the puck with momentum or have a quality scoring
chance.

The key is to be open, and be looking at the puck
carrier so not only can he see you, but with eye
contact, he knows you are ready.

That's why skating horizontally is so important, it
places your stick blade at a good angle to catch the
puck, makes a good target and most importantly, makes
possible the rink-wide eye-to-eye communication.

Sometimes, a quick glance and good eye contact will
say more than a thousand words.

By way of introduction...

2005-07-12T15:46:00.000-05:00

Almost 3 years ago, I started a really great and ongoing experience of learning how to ice skate and play ice hockey.  As I've continued, I've worked my way up from Instructional Adult leagues to higher levels and have even started coaching.  While answering a question posed by one of the people I coach, I figured this might be a better way to share what I've picked up and hopefully learn from what others might want to share here.

Comments are always welcome!

Hockey is a great sport!  It combines so many elements, and it's the most challenging thing I've ever tackled.  It requires physical skill, hard effort and quick reflexes.  And it has a mental challenge that ranges from finding a way to draw more out of yourself to learning to have an understanding of the game, the strategies, and many other mental aspects.  It requires both great individual skill and efforts and tight teamwork.  It's a challenge on so many levels.

I hope you enjoy!