Skate Better With the Puck

Lessons from Nylander & Marchand

Question 1

I’m coaching U9 this year and we have a lot of very good skaters but they turn into awful skaters with the puck…(why?)

-Byron

It could be that they’re overhandling the puck in front of them rather than pushing it softly to their side, in their hip pocket. In which case the fix is rather easy - carry the puck by default at their 10 o’clock (for a lefty) or 2 o’clock (for a righty) instead of 12 o’clock, and push the puck up-ice as if they’re plowing snow. The puck remains docile. The hands are free to stickhandle only if need be.

If that doesn’t improve matters, the second thing to look at when you run into a good skater without puck, bad skater with puck issue is the player’s chin.

Yes, their chin.

Let’s look at William Nylander’s when he carries the puck.

TOR88’s chin basically never moves even when he drastically changes speed or direction.

Why is this important?

A brief and all-too-obvious anatomy lesson:

The chin is attached to the neck, which is attached to the torso, which is attached to the arms and hands.

Any excessive upper-body movement will cause a player’s chin to bob up and down. When the chin moves up and down, so do the hands, which unsettles the puck.

Nylander keeps his entire upper body strong but stable. The chin doesn’t move. The hands are free. The puck is settled and plays get made.

Question 2

A bunch of our rec league 10U players can make tight turns on their outside edge with the puck to turn away and escape, but in-game they turn into inside edge skaters…(why?)

-James