Play Pick-Up to Pick Up Some Skills

If there’s one thing about the level at which I play hockey is that the chances of me actually improving is pretty slim. Players at my level are often out of position, too slow, making the obvious pass, and panic when they have they puck. I include myself in all of these categories. So the bad habits that I bring to the ice are the same bad habits that are being reinforced by my teammates and opponents. Not much hope of improving.

This is why I’ve taken a couple of Power Skating and Hockey Skills courses over the past couple of years. Without the benefit of these courses stressing the importance of proper skating techniques and positional play my game was doomed to be stagnant and laughable. But there are still two negative aspects to taking these types of courses. The first drawback is the cost. Who can afford both the league fees and the cost of lessons on a regular basis? The second problem is that the skills and drills are still being performed amongst players at the same low skill level as you are. The instructor may do a fantastic job of providing a verbal description of how the play or drill should be executed, but when performed by players at my skill level, with players at my skill level, there is only so much progress can be made.

What is needed is ice-time and puck-time with players more advanced. So join a team a few divisions higher than your skill level? No way José. Do this and you will be left in the snow spray. Your chances of keeping up with the play are minute and you will be nothing more than a decoy for a pass or two. Not much fun for anyone. So what can you do?

For starters, join a game of pick-up.

Pick-up or Drop-in or Open Hockey, depending on where you’re from, is a casual game of hockey, no refs, no time-keepers, no contact, and no matter what the score after 60 minutes, its always “next goal wins.” Pick-up hockey is played year-round where I come from, and in the summer it’s intent is mainly to keep your ice-legs and maintain some semblance of game conditioning. Players of all skill levels attend it, and the open style of play provides many opportunities. When you with the truly skilled players who are not out there to showboat and show-off but have the uncanny ability to elevate the play of others less skilled, then you get a chance to play at a higher level in an atmosphere that encourages you to try things you otherwise wouldn’t attempt in a league-game situation. Like hang on to the puck for a second longer, raise your head, and take a look around. And imagine your astonishment when you see, not one, but two teammates in the open and calling for the puck. Ask yourself how they got there and what they did to get open. Consider what went through their mind so they could anticipate where they should be to receive a pass and the next time they get the puck try to do the same for them.

Pick-up hockey allows you to be more selfish with the puck. It encourages you to try to stick handle around a defensive player, it pushes you to try to thread the needle with a pass, it supports you to take a shot on net from a bad angle. By trying these things you find out what works and what doesn’t, and the results may surprise you.

Pick-up hockey is beer league equivalent to a practice, and it is during practices where you gain the confidence and learn the skills to puck handling. In a regular game situation average possession time with the puck is so minimal that skills and confidence cannot be learned. You get so few opportunities with the puck in the game that you already have to be proficient when it does hit your stick.

In 2002, members of USA Hockey’s Coaching Education Program recorded the action of players competing in 31 men’s and 24 women’s Olympic games. Prior to each game, three players who were expected to be key performers for their teams were selected for the study. The coaches calculated the length of each player’s shift, how long they had the puck on their stick, how many passes they received and made and how many shots on goal they attempted. They also counted the number of un-timed touches – those when the puck hit their stick if only for a brief moment.

Canada’s Joe Sakic, who dominated play in the gold-medal game, touched the puck for only 1 minute, 19 seconds (in that time he tallied two goals and two assists). There are some very intriguing statistics in their 70-page report, which we have made available for your here, and some of the more interesting statistics are not the short duration of puck control but what the players managed to do with the puck during that short time. For example, Mike Modano of the US team over a span of 5 games had an average ice time of 17 minutes per game with an average puck possession time of one minute per game. But during that one minute he made 15 pass attempts and received 24.

In order to take advantage of that one minute of puck control, there has to be practice time, time with the puck that you wouldn’t get during a game. The study suggests that in order to get one hour of quality work in practicing the basic skills of puck control, it would take approximately 180 games.

But for us beer-leaguers ice-time is expensive and free time is in short supply. So perhaps one of the best ways to improve your puck control is to head out to “Stick and Puck” or if you’re from the Canadian Prairies, “Shoot Around”, where they open up the ice for skating and allow you bring your stick and puck. Although no slap shots are allowed you should also bring your shin guards and helmet just in case. In fact many facilities may require you wear full equipment.

Here you get as much puck handling as you want and you soon learn to keep your head up while controlling the puck lest participating in a mid-ice collision. “Seeing the ice” is a term that describes a players awareness of the play and ability to anticipate what is going to happen to next in order to take advantage of the situation. Seeing the ice not only improves your game but also makes it a lot more enjoyable to play. Pick-up hockey and stick-and-puck can do this for you.

So for $10 in your spare time get out there to improve your skills, build on your confidence and boost your fun