In-Season Secret 1 - 3 Mental Skills That Will Take Your Hockey Performance to the Next Level
Hockey experts agree that 80% of hockey performance is mental and 20% is physical. We often focus all of our efforts towards building the physical side of the game, instead of taking the time to develop the mental game. And it is this lack of attention to the mental game that is preventing so many teams and players from taking their performance to the next level. Figuring out how to improve the mental side of the game presents a huge challenge to coaches, parents and players alike. To ensure that you and your players are 100% prepared for every game and the team can perform its best, you need to have mental performance strategies in place at the start of the season.
In-Season Secret 3 - How Off-Ice Warm-Ups Will Dramatically Increase Your On-Ice Performance
Many players and teams are starting to get the message that off-ice warm-ups are never optional. Players must prepare the muscles they use to skate, shoot and save before every ice session if they want to guarantee that they feel and perform their best. While most players do some kind of off-ice warm-up, many of them are not getting the maximum benefit from their pre-ice routine. Most start the warm-up with a few minutes of jogging and then finish with some quick stretches. The whole routine is usually over in less than 5 minutes - and that just isn't enough time to get ready to perform your best.
Maple Leafs Player Review - Nikolai Kulemin
The Toronto Maple Leafs will likely be starting one of their most promising young players in the upcoming NHL season. That player is Nikolai Kulemin, and he has been guaranteed a spot on this year's Leafs roster after some good seasons in the Russian Super League. Lately, it seems that all the rage in the NHL is over young Russian forwards. Players such as Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, and Malkin have dazzled hockey fans with their speed, skill, and flashy goal scoring. The excitement surrounding these young players has helped to rejuvenate the league's fanbase. This season, fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs will get the opportunity to watch a Russian superstar of their own.
Don t Expect to See Ales Hemsky in a Canadiens Jersey - Oilers Debunking Rumors
With hopes of Mats Sundin donning a Canadiens jersey swiftly fading, Habs fans are looking for another star player to help end their long Stanley Cup drought. Message boards have been abuzz with the rumor that reluctant shooter, Ales Hemsky might be coming to Montreal via the trade route. Edmonton brass, however, has been quick to shoot those rumors down. Edmonton assistant GM, Kevin Prendergast actually laughed out loud when queried about the trade rumors, calling it a one-sided flirtation by Montreal. According to the forums, Chris Higgins is the central figure being dangled as Hemsky trade bait.
In-Season Secret 5 - How Off-Ice Training Will Set Your Team Apart This Hockey Season
More and more hockey players are doing a better job of arriving at training camp in shape. More and more coaches are doing a good job of getting their team physically ready to compete once the puck drops on the first game. But what are you doing to be better once the games start? It is great to be the most prepared team on the ice in September, but how do you make sure that you are miles ahead of your competition in December? Developing your team's skills, strategies and fitness on the ice will only take you so far. Every team you play against will be making a similar commitment to on-ice improvement.
In-Season Secret 6 - 3 Recovery Keys That Will Allow You to Play Your Best Hockey All Season
Off-ice recovery has a significant effect on on-ice performance, but most hockey players neglect it completely. The first 30 minutes after you get off the ice are critical to starting the recovery process and preventing injuries and burn-out this season. There are 3 key components to proper recovery that hockey players must address if they want to feel and play their best day after day: 1) Cool-Down While many players do dynamic warm-ups before hitting the ice, very few do a cool-down afterwards. For the majority of young hockey players, the cool-down involves taking off your equipment, and jumping into the car for the ride home.
In-Season Secret 4 - How Using the Last 10 Minutes of Practice Properly Leads to Playoff Success
There are 10 minutes left in practice. You want to instill a strong work ethic in your players and develop their conditioning levels. So you line the players up on boards or across the blue-line and have them skate widths, lengths, circles or laps until they can barely move - for what is commonly known as "bag skating" in the hockey world. The truth is that "bag skating" isn't going to cut it if you want to ensure that your players are as energetic and explosive in the 2nd overtime period as they were in the 2nd period and they are ready to peak in time for the playoffs. It is important for players to learn to push themselves when they are already fatigued, but there needs to be a plan.
Victory of Pakistan Hockey in 1994 Sydney World Cup
One of the most memorable wins for Pakistan in Hockey is the World Cup win in 1994 that brought to the forefront a hero - Shahbaz Ahmad. He went on to become one of the best forwards in the history of Pakistan Hockey. After having joined the national hockey team in 1986, he masterminded a brilliant win - the 1994 world cup. Shahbaz Ahmad was nicknamed "the man with the electric heels" and led Pakistan from the front in the 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 Champions Trophy tournaments; 1988 Seoul Olympics; 1989 Asia Cup in New Delhi; 1990 World Hockey Cup in Lahore; 1990 BMW Trophy Amsterdam; 1990 Beijing Asiad and the most memorable of them all - the 1994 World Cup Hockey in Sydney.
Hockey Performance - 6 Secrets of In-Season Success That Will Take Your Game to the Next Level
Hockey performance is more than just learning how to skate, shoot and score. While every coach has their own plans for on-ice skill development in place, there are six other critical pieces of the performance puzzle that you must fit into your hockey training program if you want to guarantee that you have your best season ever. In order to take your game to the next level this season, you have to address these 6 key areas of player development. 1) Mental Preparation Elite players and coaches agree that 80% of performance is mental and 20% is physical. To ensure that players are 100% mentally prepared for every game and your team can perform their best, you need to have focus, confidence and composure-building strategies in place.
The Real Hockey Fans
Hockey - The Greatest Game I became a hockey fan in 1963. I watched my first game at a friend's house as a freshman in high school. He was a Chicago Black Hawks fan. I was always an avid baseball and football fan but hockey was different. It was like a tug of war. At times, momentum would shift from minute to minute. Other times a team would control the other and dominate them for entire periods. The players had different combinations of talent and toughness. Like other sports of the era, many players were on the same team for their entire career. Just name the player and his image will come to mind in their team uniform.