The Inside Post

Every year around the holidays players are settling into their team and things are starting to gel. I always have enjoyed asking players on my teams what they would like for gifts over holiday break. Sometimes those lists align with their hockey skills, sometimes they don’t. Regardless, it’s always entertaining. I hear lots of the usual: video games, iPhones, iPads, gift cards, etc. I even have heard some of the strange: underwear, pogo stick, and the best, when a player actually wanted a Chia Pet.

Thanksgiving is a great holiday and provides an excellent opportunity to celebrate with friends and family who travel near and far to gather. For hockey families, Thanksgiving is also a big tournament time as youth hockey teams participate in tournaments that often provide some great bragging rights for the season. Here are 3 great ways to help your team take home the turkey trophy!

So you spent the past several months training and doing exactly what you should have to get off to a great start this season. Congratulations, you are now in the top group of hockey players who are spending the time in the garage, basement, backyard or wherever it is that you stick handle and shoot pucks. So what now? How do you show all of that talent and make a great first impression to your coach and teammates?

When it comes to hockey practice, training and development, much can be learned from watching the best players in the world. Here are our 10 takeaways after teams have played their first 10 games of the season.

When I think back to all of the conversations with some of the best goalies in the game, I can suggest the following to aspiring players as 4 things that goalies don’t want you to know:

Successful training during the off season is on the minds of many, but truly accomplished by only a few. Why? Because most players start out well intended with plenty of motivation and skills to work on, but as the days and weeks go by they get distracted and the priority to practice falls off. So what can you do to make the most out of your off season training? Here are 5 tips that will help you stick to your plan, accomplish your goals and improve your skills.

Having a dream is so important in reaching your goals. I was again reminded of this as I watched the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness horse races.

When I think back to all of the really great hockey players that I’ve played with, the players who are just ridiculous with their skills are more times than not also those that have above average ability in other sports as well.

“If it’s important to you, you will find a way. If it’s not, you will find an excuse.”

“While you are thinking about doing it, you are getting passed by someone else who is doing it.”

There are so many great quotes about motivation, and these are two of our favorites. Everyone needs motivation and inspiration in life, whether it’s for school, work and of course training to become a better hockey player. While sayings and quotes can help keep you going during times when you aren’t really in the mood to shoot pucks, stickhandle or go for a run, it takes a deeper, burning desire to become successful.

Most players want the big prize, but are unwilling to put the time in to obtain it.  It takes years of grinding it out at practices, as well as off-ice stick handling and shooting, hockey camps and clinics. To earn the right to have an opportunity for a big moment requires patience and persistence.  Remember, if you have a goal without a plan, then it’s just a wish.  But if you have a goal with a plan, work the plan, then you are getting closer to reaching it.  Just like I told my son, if you want the big fish, then you have to keep casting!

There have been many great goals, amazing passes and downright dirty dangles in the playoffs. And these are the inspiring moments when fans jump out of their seats and off their couches to celebrate. Players should use these awesome moments to inspire them to shoot more pucks.

“Keep your head up” is an important, yet over-used expression heard in every rink, literally everywhere. But what does it really mean and why do players continue to hear it over and over, practice after practice, season after season? There are many reasons, and we’ll cover a couple of the top lessons in this article, which will give you the know-how to become a better hockey player, with better on-ice vision and awareness, by keeping your head up.