If you’re a Washington Capitals fan, the last couple days have probably been pretty tough to handle after their first-round exit from the playoffs after being up three games to one in the series. While surfing through the latest hockey headlines online, I came across a question from Dave Hodge on TSN.ca titled Does the Caps’ Loss Make Mockery of Regular Season. The question is an interesting one – one which I’m sure will stir up some debate and emotional responses (especially from the Caps’ fans).
This week’s video expands on one of our most popular past videos. When we posted the original Defensive Escape Turns video, we got lots of positive feedback from the community, so we wanted to expand on the drill. The expansion of the drill adds two shots. While this addition may seem small, when incorporating them into this drill, you’ll quickly see how much more challenging the drill becomes.
Back in December, we broke down the offensive side of a 2 on 1 rush in our 2 on 1 Dissected (Part 1) post. In part 2, we will be discussing the strategies and common mistakes made while defending a 2 on 1 rush. The general rule of thumb for defending a 2 on 1 rush is: the goaltender should take the shot and the defender should eliminate the pass across. While this is a good general rule, there are more instances to look into and a couple key additions to be made.
This week’s Learn from the Pros segment look at one of Alex Ovechkin’s goals against Montreal on April 21st, 2010. The goal is scored on a power play rush started by Capital’s Norris Trophy finalist Mike Green. Some subtle plays and a great shot lead to Ovechkin’s first of the night.
Managing the bench during game situations can be difficult at best. Players get hurt, equipment fails, penalties are called – you name it, it changes your game plan. Good coaches are able to react and make decisions quickly. One of the tools I’ve found most useful over the years has been the lineup card.
This week’s video shows a very simple shooting drill to work on “roofing” the puck in close. For this video we took the same foam rink dividers we used in the jumping video last week, and stacked them in front of the net so only a small top-shelf area was open.
Over the next few days we will be rolling out a major update to the website. The look will be changed a bit, some new functionality will be added, areas will be cleaned up, and the forums will be updated. This is not a minor site update, so please be patient with us as we implement the changes. During this time, you may experience temporary outages. We will be working to restore all functionality and access as quickly as possible. The updates are expected to start this evening and finished by Thursday evening.
Harry Guittard was kind enough to share a practice plan he used for a body checking clinic recently. Much of the content is based off of Hockey Canada’s recommendations, but it’s great to see how different coaches put this content together and present it. Download the entire practice plan today for free!
This week’s Learn from the Pros clip features a goal by Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin from brother Henrik. The entire play takes less than 10 seconds, but there are lots of learning key points.
So, now you have taken the time to properly plan out your tryout sessions, and now find yourself with an evaluation sheet in hand. Many coaches get overwhelmed during this process – after all, there is a lot to watch. Assuming you’re breaking your tryout into three distinct drill categories – skill, competitive, scrimmage – we will take a look at what skills and subtleties to watch for in each of these three areas.