Scoring Part 1
Written by Todd Drevitch
Todd Drevitch's Hockey Techniques: www.hockeytechniques.com
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One of the hardest and most frustrating aspects of hockey to deal with is scoring, or should I say the lack of scoring. In games, players get breakaways at crucial times, but do not score. Why do teams out shoot opposing teams by amounts of 30 to 10 and still lose the game? There is no easy answer to this question. Every player is different and every team is different. However, there are some small techniques and concepts that can help all players become better goal scorers.
When shooters look at the net, they are trying to find an opening behind the goalie to shoot at. The problem is that their eyes are deceiving them, because what they see is not necessarily open. For example, I am 6’3" tall and 6’6" tall on skates. When I look at the net, it usually appears to me that the upper left corner is open. The problem is that with my reach, the puck is 6’6" down and as a right handed hockey player, the puck is 3 – 5 feet over to the right of where my eyes are located. The goalie aligns himself/herself with the puck not me. Therefore, if I get down on my stomach behind the puck, in an essence seeing what the puck would see, the top left corner is not open. In fact, with bigger goalies, there isn’t much up top that is open. Instead, I should be shooting low. This is an optical illusion that many players do not keep in mind when shooting at the net.
A result of the optical illusion would be that players shoot low. This would be a wise decision, because most goalies have strong glove hands and upper bodies. If the shot is taken high, the goalie smothers the puck or controls the rebound into the corner giving the offensive team little chance at a second shot. If players shoot low, they have many different chances for a goal.
Shots that are taken low:
Remember that goalies set up on the puck and will often cheat slightly to one side. The problem is that most shooters will put the puck to the side of their body and shoot the puck straight at the goalie. The goalie is most situations do not even have to move. Try this the next time you shoot the puck. As you are shooting the puck pull it towards your body laterally first. This will help you in two ways. By pulling it into your body, you will get more power behind the shot. Second, and more important, by doing this, you are forcing the goalie to move slightly to the side to compensate for the change of angle. This will potentially open up the five hole and low corners.
Making the goalie move laterally is a very good thing for a player to do before shooting. It creates openings at the same time as possibly throwing the goalie off balance. This brings us to shooting across the grain. The player is going to cut across the ice in the offensive zone side to side. As he/she starts to skate by the net the goalie will need to move with him/her. The player delays and holds onto the puck until he/she is on the other side of the net. The player then shoots the puck to the back corner. At this point the goalie is fully leaning and moving in the same direction, as the player is moving. It is very difficult for the goalie to stop and move back in the opposite direction. Especially for a low shot. This works particularly well when a player comes down his/her offside. For example, I am a right-handed player. This would work better if I were coming down the left side of the ice. As I hit the face-off dot in the offensive zone, I cut across the ice heading for the right side face off dot. I would be on my forehand and would have more accuracy and control. I can also shoot the puck harder which would make it more difficult for the goalie to react to the puck. Shot goes inside the left post.
This can be used any time that the goalie has clear vision of the player’s shot. During this situation the player can execute the move in two different ways. First, if I were a right-handed shooter, and I were looking at the net. I would open my blade as if shooting at the right side of the net. Some goalies will start to move or lean to the right post. At this point, I close the blade and shoot to the left corner. This move is not as effective at the higher levels, because the goalies are focusing on the puck not your stick. In this scenario I never move the puck until it is shot. Second, as I approach the net, I open up my stick blade and start to shoot the puck towards the right corner. With a quick snap and without hesitation, I close my stick blade and change the direction of my follow through to the lower left corner. This is much more effective than the first method, because the puck has started to move towards the right corner. At this point, the goalie starts to lean or move in that direction. When you close the blade and snap the puck to the left corner, the goalie is caught off balance. The player will need fairly good accuracy to pick the corners while using this technique. However, with practice, this can be a very deadly shot to opposing goalies.
Try these five new concepts or techniques, you may find success with one or all of them. Just remember that it always takes time and practice to master a new skill or to use a new concept in a game environment. Keep your eye out for the next issue of Breakaway Magazine where I will discuss six more techniques and concepts that will help you score more goals.