Doc Hockey Corner: Developing for the new NHL

By Dr. Shayne Baylis, Doc Hockey

The NHL has been taking on a new approach to the way hockey is played. They have struck down the obstructions of the game such as interference, holding, hooking and slashing, which all play a role in impeding the game. These changes are to enhance the speed and skill of players while allowing the game to be more exciting, with a plethora of scoring chances resulting in more goals.

Before this enforcement, it was possible for teams to play trap systems and be able to win championships simply by suffocating other teams.

The new rules were to deter this sort of thing from happening; and thus the emphasis is placed on the players’ speed, stick skills, scoring ability and overall good hockey smarts, and not on the size of the player.

As we grow up, our most important developmental skill is skating. I grew up power skating with Cheri Shaw, a former professional championship figure skater who adapted her skating approach to hockey.

Emphasis was placed on always having proper upright body position with deep knee and hip bend, and maintaining weight over skates to increase power, responsiveness, and stability. Other elements included developing explosive power and acceleration, keeping two hands on the stick at all times to be ready to carry the puck (since 90% of the time you do have two hands on the stick), and a puck was always used since there’s a puck in the game and we need to know how to skate with it.

At the upper levels of hockey, good skating becomes almost a baseline and it is those that have the stick skills that are noticed and continue to excel. These skills are often overlooked, not taught in detail, not taught properly, or not taught entirely. Skills like stickhandling moves and appropriate times to utilize them in a game, shooting with your head up (slapshots too), knowing where to shoot, and as something as simple as stopping at the net when there is a possible rebound or pass.

One of the hardest skills to master is separating stick movement from skating. We often have telltale signs that give away what we are going to do next. For example: we glide and lift one leg to shoot the puck, we stickhandle only as fast as our feet move and we pass to where we’re looking.

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Darryl Belfry – the founder of Pro Playmakers Hockey and an L.A Kings performance analyst who has worked with players such as Patrick Kane, John Tavares, Dan Girardi, and Nathan Horton – was one teacher I had who instituted drills to accomplish these goals. We would jump over the dots while stickhandling quickly, we’d stickhandle 2 to 3 pucks while moving backwards and forwards, shooting while in stride; we did any drill to speed up our hands faster than our feet.

Thanks to my playing experience in NCAA and the great teachers I enjoyed in my past, I have an abundance of these concepts as my basis for teaching young, up-and-coming players at the Doc Hockey/Rayvens Development Camp. Come join us at the Ray Friel Complex in March and in the summer for fun and learning.

Visit dochockey.ca for more information.