So I know I am no Don Cherry, but his influence lives a little bit inside of me as I watch him a ton and 99.9% agree with everything he has to say... except for blocking shots with your stick. He's a little bit hard on that saying you never block a shot with your stick. I'm like, "Dude I have blocked thousands of shots with my stick and a lot of those could have been goals. Maybe "twice"... count em 1, 2, in my whole life, I have accidentally deflected it past my own keeper. So either I have a terrible memory, or blocking shots with your stick as a no-goal to goal ratio of about 50-1... and I think I'm being pretty generous." But the devil's advocate in me says that maybe I just haven't played high enough hockey to know that the better shooters shoot right through your stick. Hmmm... I might have to research this.
Anyways, to the point, S01E01 is the first batch of coaching tips I have for my young pups in adult beginner 3 on 3 hockey. We are covering:
- Setting up a forehand shot on a penalty shot for lots of options. To do this, you have to be able to carry the puck with your head up.
- Defending Arvid on a 1-1. Tip don't go straight at him!
- When to play conservative... is there ever a time to play conservative?
- Crossing defensive zones... How to confuse two defenders!
- Offensive Support: Your teammate is behind the net battling for the puck, what do you do?
- Retreating backwards with the puck instead of standing still looking to make a play.
- How to create a passing lane
- Line changes... 2 goals were results of 2 bad line change decisions. Simple patience would have prevented these goals
- Defensive coverage: Don't follow the puck, play the man
- Face-Off Coverage
- 2 on 1: Defend the pass, don't attack the puck carrier. Let him have the bad angle shot.
- Hitting the wall. This is a famous Wayne Gretzky play
- Clearing the puck in front of your own net... sit on the bench.
OK lots to cover... Let the video roll: