Category: clinic

Today’s clinic started with a High-Low drill:

Two skaters from the goal-line along either side.  Take the puck around cones set on the face-off dots – either far or near, depending on which side you’re starting from – then into the zone for a shot.

We ran this drill with groups at both ends of the ice, so there were four skaters converging in the neutral zone at any given time.  Good practice for keeping your head up and knowing where the other skaters are.

This was followed by a passing drill the length of the ice:

From the goal-line pass to the blue-line, then to the far blue-line, finally to center-ice.  The skater at center-ice takes the puck into the zone for a shot and everyone else follows their pass to a new position.

Finally we went around the face-off circle, picking up a puck after once around, then around again and take a shot on goal. 

After a few reps of this, we changed it up to include skating backwards – always facing goal.

Only seven skaters at the start and eleven when the late arrivals finally showed, so Coach went easy on us as far as the end-to-end skating went.  Tonight we stayed around the net, practicing deflections.

First off, taking position between the goal and the point, about at the paint of the face-off circle.  Face the point, legs apart and stick on the ice in front of you with the blade in-line with the path the puck will take.  Now pray that the guy taking the shot from the point doesn’t lift it to groin level, because we had enough of that shit last week.

When I started this drill, I was reacting late and trying to pull my stick back and toward the puck.  This created something of a curling motion, which I was told to avoid.  So hold the stick firmly and just move it side to side, trying to get it into the path of the puck a bit.  By the time the evening was done, I was getting a bit and earned some praise from the goalie when I did it right.  Did I get any past him?  I have no idea, it was behind me.

Also lots of advice about making a ramp with your blade to lift the puck and how it has to be a way-shallow angle to keep it below the crossbar.

A few reps of this on one side, then Coach set up two shooters, so we’d take a shot from one point, then hightail to the other side of the net for a second shot.

Then we took turns shooting, lining up at the blue line.  Take the shot and then follow it to the net to deflect a shot from the next in line.

Last was a two-man attack from center ice.  Skate the puck in and pass back, backhand, to the trailer who’s stopped near the top of the circle.  Then head for the net and set up to deflect his shot. 

This was a high note for me, because my passes were generally on target.  I may not be able to shoot or skate that well yet, but if I can touch the puck I have a decent chance of getting it to someone who can.

This week’s clinic got off to a rocky start.  The regular goalie was out of town, but no one at the rink knew to find a replacement and the Zamboni dumped a lake of water on the ice – so we got a late start waiting for the water to freeze and spent half the clinic without a goalie.

Skating drill was forward only, goal-line to blue-line, center, and far blue-line and back.  We followed that with end-to-end puck carries, first side to side, then forward and back.

Then shot practice – wrist, snap, and shot.  In general, the discernable difference in my attempts at these is the progressively greater degree by which I miss the net. 

Once a replacement goalie arrived, we spent the rest of the time on two-man dump recoveries.

Yes, Sunday.  I’ve added a second clinic to my week, this one at the other ice rink in town.  Conveniently, I live about the same distance from each, so can take advantage of both.  This rink is more crowded, though, with about two dozen skaters on in the clinic, and it isn’t week-to-week.  This is an upfront fee for all ten lessons in the current “season”.

Skating drill was through all the faceoff circles – forward crossice and backward down the ice:

Three reps of this and then once forward only.  We were started on this drill in groups of three and, of course, I got passed a lot.  But having to do the drill in-line, instead of line-abreast like we typically do at the other rink, changed things up for me.  I had to concentrate more on what was going on around me and what I was doing, rather than on what I was about to do – if that makes any sense. 

In the line-abreast drills, I find myself preparing to do what’s next, whether it’s stopping at the blue-line to reverse direction or whatever.  In this drill, because I had to watch out for other skaters, including those passing me, I did less thinking and simply reacted.  Oh … there’s a dot already, time to change direction. 

I’m not claiming I was any better at it, but it was definitely different.

The first puck drill was more complex than we’ve been doing at the other rink.  Three skaters start at the goal line – they start forward, with the center carrying the puck.  He passes to either wing, his choice, and then follows the puck to switch places with the receiver.  This continues down the ice and ends with a shot.

I think everyone got two or three reps at each position, before we moved on to something else.  Next was much simpler, just skate the puck down the ice and take a shot.  Then they split us up into two groups – beginners and not-beginners.  I was not a not-beginner.

The guys running this clinic take a more rapid approach than at the rink I’m used to.  Two or three reps of something, then move on to different drill.  I think both formats have their uses and going to both will help my game. 

Next up we did a one-handed carry of the puck around a cone, and then back for a shot on goal.  I’ve never had to carry the puck one-handed in a drill before … and given that it’s only useful if you’re in front of everyone else and can stay there, I don’t anticipate needing it any time soon.

Next up we added defense to the mix, with the person in line behind the next puck carrier skating as a defenseman.  First to a nearer cone than the puck carrier and then pivot to skate backwards and defend.

Pivot, of course, meaning that still magical foot thing whereby a skater moving forward at speed is suddenly moving in the opposite direction with seemingly no loss of momentum and clearly in violation of Newton’s Second Law.  I cannot pivot and still don’t understand it, no matter how often I’ve watched the move in slow motion.  I am convinced there’s a magic pivot potion I’m supposed to drink before a game, just no one’s clued me in where to get it yet.

Because of how we wound up back in line, both my reps of this were on offense, so I didn’t have to demonstrate my non-pivot.  The first rep resulted in the puck being knocked away by the defenseman, but the second had better results – after rounding cone, I went to the defender’s left as I had before, but then I cut hard to my left and got by him. 

The next drill had more cones.

Damn cones. 

My first rep of this was bad – I kept trying to skate through the turns and that clearly wouldn’t work, so it was awkward.  Second rep was better, I leaned more and cut harder in the turns, despite my legs feeling weaker this late in the clinic, and made a better showing.

I can say that my passing was spot-on today.  Both in this drill and earlier ones, nobody had to reach for my passes.

The last drill of the day had us skating a puck in from center ice, then cutting hard across the slot before taking a shot.  They ran this with two skaters simultaneously from either side, so we also got to play don’t-run-into-the-other-guy-who-just-turned-straight-for-you.