| Coaching |
| Invite a referee to your next practice to talk about checking. This will help everyone involved in minor hockey. Players will learn the proper ways to check. Referees will become more involved with the teaching of the rules. Coaches will better their relationships, understanding and awareness of expectations from officials. |
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| Equipment Care |
Sticks
After taping your stick blade, rub a thin coating of candle wax all over it. This will help repel the snow and wetness of the ice. It will result in better puck control and a longer life for the tape and the stick blade.
Skates
During the summer, keep your skates out of the damp basement - the moisture rusts the blade and rivets. |
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| Game Preparation |
Warm-up
The process of warming up your goaltender before a game does not involve shooting the puck as hard as you can and trying to score as often as you can. The intent is to prepare your goalie, both physically and mentally for the game situation. You want him ready, so make sure your first 3 or 4 shots hit his pads, catching glove and blocker. This will also prevent injury such as stretched or pulled muscles. Remember, it is called a warm up.
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| Health & Wellness |
Prevent Dehydration!
Water consumption is the main defense against dehydration. Whether the activity is a work-out, a practice or a game, the following guideline shows what the average water consumption should be for any participant:
Step 1: 2.5 hours prior to the activity - drink 2 to 3 cups of water.
Step 2: 30-45 minutes prior to the activity - drink 1 to 2 cups of water.
Step 3: Every 15 minutes during the activity - drink 1 cup of water. This means taking a sip or two after every shift.
Warm up before you Warm-up!
Always warm-up by jogging, skipping or biking for 5 minutes before stretching. NEVER stretch cold muscles.
A 5-minute warm-up will also increase your flexibility by up to 20%.
Here is a test for you to try:
- Stand tall with your arms by your side. Bend over and touch your toes. Notice where your fingertips touch or how far they are from the floor.
- Skip, jog or bike for 5 minutes or until you get a sweat on your forehead.
- Stand tall again with your arms by your side and bend over to touch your toes. How far were you this time? Did you go farther?
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| Injury and Recovery |
Hockey is a fast-paced, highly emotional game that involves sticks, blades and a hard surface arena. As a result, injuries are going to happen and knowing how to handle them is imperative for every team. Coaches, Managers and Trainers need to create a very clear team policy regarding injury management. The policy should include:
- a communication plan at time of injury, for players, parents and physicians
- injury detail information for sharing with medical professionals
- a return to play policy with medical authorization
This policy must then be administered without exception. |
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| Management |
| The hockey season can be a very stressful time for families, especially parents. The more stressed the parents, the less enjoyment for them and the players. Family stress is not a desired component of pre-game preparation. Make sure you have clear and timely communication between players, staff and parents. This will help decrease confusion and increase enjoyment for all concerned. |
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| Skills |
Stick Grip
To maximize your puck handling skills, grip your stick with your fingers and not with the palm of your hands. This will allow you to roll your wrists easily and move the puck on the ice smoothly and effortlessly. |
Vision
The great hockey players have developed the ability to both see and feel the puck without looking directly at it. This is called peripheral vision and it means that while you are looking up you can still see things going on to your left and right, as well as above and below your line of vision. It is important to practice stick handling back and forth while standing still and looking straight ahead, trying to see the puck without looking down. |
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| Stick Taping |
Use cloth tape instead of plastic tape for your stick.
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Hockey pucks are not smooth around the edge. Cloth tape acts as a gripper. |
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The electric tape does not grip to the rough finish of the puck, making the puck slide off the blade of the stick. |
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The cold does not affect cloth tape. |
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Electric tape cracks in the cold. |
Duct tape, masking tape or any other non-cloth tape is not recommended. |
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| Staying Focused |
While on the bench, you can be learning things that will help you and your teammates to be successful in a game. One of these is to watch the opposing goaltender and his style. Ask yourself - Does he stand up or does he go down on each shot? Does he favour his stick or glove side? Does he come out on a shot or does he stay deep in the net? Share your findings withy our coach and your linemates. This may help when your team gets a chance to shoot on this goaltender. |
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HOW TO...
| "Close the gap" with parents: |
- Provide clear monthly schedules of all team activities at least one month in advance.
- Have a clear process for the inevitable schedule changes.
- Be in constant contact and discussion with parents while at the team activities.
- Be attentive to all questions and inquiries and provide clear and timely responses.
- Support verbal communication with written documents. When appropriate (i.e. team rules, policies, etc.)
- Make sure team lists contain all the information that parents require to assist in activity management tasks, such as carpooling.
- Schedule regular meetings with parents around team activities other than games (e.g. on-ice practice and/or off-ice training sessions.) Provide a written agenda well in advance of the meeting so people can prepare. Keep the agenda short and specific. Be clear where you want input and discussion and where not. Start on time and end on time.
- Encourage and expect the same "team principles" between Managers and Parents as exists between Coaches and Players.
- Simplify your management tasks. Get your TMS today!
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Tape Your Blade : |
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Start by putting a strip on the bottom of your stick blade. It will add a protective layer to the bottom of the blade which will also add some strength. (Diagram 1)
Apply the tape beginning with the toe on the back side of the blade. Keep rolling the tape around the blade, slightly overlapping the last piece, until your desired length across the blade. |
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Note:
If you were to put the tape side by side (like wallpapering), it would easily peel away. It is difficult to get an exact match and with the constant hitting of the puck, the tape would eventually lift up. Furthermore, the water would get into your stick. By overlapping the tape slightly, you create a sponge effect and seal. (Diagram 2)
The overlap method causes one side of the taping to feel smooth and one side to feel "bumpy" sort of like a step effect. Since you shoot the puck from heel to toe, it is important to have the smooth effect go in that same direction. If you were to tape your blade from heel to toe, when you shoot, the puck would catch slightly on each edge of the tape.
Goalies should also tape their blade from toe to heel. |
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Frugal tip: Some players only do a portion of the blade, for example, the toe half, the heel half or the middle of the stick blade. It is a matter of preference.
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Tape your butt-end:
Start with wrapping the very top of the butt-end with cloth tape, preferably white. Wrap around your stick until you obtain your desired thickness.
Next, twist about 8 to 10 inches of tape so that the sticky side is exposed. Wrap it around the top of the stick, spiral fashion. It will look like a candy cane swirl. The distance between each twist should be a little bigger than the width of your fingers.
Finish by taking the roll of tape and wrap it over the twisted tape. Push down firmly to tighten the grip.
| There are 2 reasons to tape the end of your stick end: |
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To keep the stick from sliding out of your top hand |
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To make it easier to pick up your stick off the ice |
A 3rd reason for Canadian hockey players is to follow rule 21(a), which states that "The end of the shaft of all sticks must be covered to protect against injury."
Taping your butt-end can also help extend the life of the glove palm. |
Adding a grip:”
The “Oggie Grip”, the newest grips to hit the market are composite hockey stick grips. They only fit into hollow composite sticks and are shaped to fit your hand better than a rectangular stick. They have a “shaved” grip feel and provide excellent glove wear. The soft rubber outer of the grips give players a firm and secure feeling.
You insert the new style grips into the shaft hollow composite hockey sticks with hot melt glue, just like a replacement wood end plug. They are also reusable, so if you break your stick, you can take the grip out and put it in your new stick. They are also great to use as an extension when a youth player grows out of his/her composite stick, extending the use out of an expensive composite stick. The Oggie Grip is USA Hockey approved.
Learn more about STICK TAPING |
www.howieshockeytape.com/tips.htm
Learn about stick taping and get advice from professional hockey instructors.
www.vaughnhockey.com/goaltending_resources/stick_resource.htm
Learn how to tape a goalie stick.
The Hockey Source does not necessarily endorse all the information on the linked pages it provides.
Shop the SOURCE to find solutions to your hockey needs! |
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