Hockey Tips for Beginners

Hockey Tips for Beginners
If you're a beginner hockey player looking for a few tips on how to improve your game, you've come to the right place. This blog if full of great hockey tips for beginners.

Here's a few tips to get you started, or try the search box in the right column.

Beginner Hockey Tip #1Try all your new hockey equipment on before you go on the ice for the first time.
Try putting

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Hip Checks

How to throw a Hip Check
You don't see hip checks in the NHL much now a days. Players and coaches have realized that most of the time a hip check is a low risk-reward play. The risk of either taking yourself out of the play if you miss the opposing player simply isn't worth the reward of the solid hit. More often than not, both players are taken out of the play.

When all the planets do align

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Passing Drills for Defense

Passing Drills for Defensemen
Here's a great series of passing drills that will benefit all players, but in particular defensemen.

The back and forth passing practiced in the Quad Passing, and Cross Ice Passing drills are valuable skills when playing defense. D to D teamwork often involves a lot of lateral passing, compared to up ice passes sent up to the forwards on a breakout.



Always be

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Best Drills for Power Skating

Best Drills for Power Skating
One of the best power skating drills to practice is called sculling. This drill helps you increase the power of your stride.

Start this drill by getting low into a hockey stance, dig in with your heels, and push all the way out for a full leg extension, then bring your feet back together directly under your body. Extend your leg without lifting your skate off the

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Defense: Control The Gap

How to Control the GapGap control is one of the trickier decisions you will have to make when playing defense. The 'Gap' refers to the amount of space between you and an opposing player entering your defensive zone with the puck - usually a one-on-one.

The first step in controlling the gap in to skate backwards at the same speed as the oncoming forward. The is definitely no easy task. If the

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Offensive Positioning: Go Hard To The Net

Offensive Positioning:Go Hard to the Net
You may have heard other players yell "Go hard to the net!!" but might be unsure exactly what they meant or when you're supposed to do it.

What your helpful teammates are referring to takes place during a two-man rush in the offensive zone. The player who crosses the blue line with the puck is often in an outside lane (coming down on the right or left

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How to Screen The Goalie

How to Screen The GoalieWhen your teammate is lining up for a shot on goal, you can play a big part to increase the chances of scoring a goal by screening the other team’s goalie.

Getting if front of the goalie’s line of site isn’t always as easy as it sounds. You’ll be standing in prime real estate with a huge target on your back square in the sights of some big-ass defenseman whose job is to

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Sedin Slap Pass

Sedin Slap PassNo other two players come close to Henrik and Daniel Sedin's uncanny ability to play hockey together. Each seems to know the others position on the ice at all times and can anticipate the others every move.

A great example of this is their patented Slap Pass.

Before the Sedins perfected this play, pucks were either deflected near the goalie, or picked out of the air to redirect

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Pucker UP Puck Picker-Upper

Pucker Up!If your tired of bending over or crouching down on one knee to pick up pucks after a practice, check out the this cool new puck picker-upper called Pucker Up.

Fortunately they were nice enough to send me one to try out, and it really does work. It's light, super easy to use, and holds up to 25 Pucks. It's long cylindrical design allows it to fit it nicely your hockey bag, or you can

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Shoot Low to Create a Rebound

Shoot Low to Create a Rebound
When carrying the puck into the offensive zone, it's the defensemean's job to try to push you to the outside lane, away from the prime scoring area in front of the net. If you find yourself quickly apprroaching the corner of the rink, he's done his job.

Now that you've essentially run out of ice, you have 4 basic options.
Make a pass to an open player in front of

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One Timer Slap Shot

How to Shoot a One-Timer
A One-timer is simply a slap shot that you shoot as soon as you receive the puck.  Your stick only makes contact with the puck once.

The big advantage to any slap shot is the speed of the shot. Fast, hard shots are harder for the goalie to stop. What you gain in power, you loose in precision and accuracy compared to a wrist, or snap shot.

The goal of a one-timer is get

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