[The Province] David Booth seeks skating coach to get his game in order

[Plaguez]

His confidence could be tied very directly to his skating, much like Raymond's is. If you have been exceptionally fast your entire life and people identify you with speed, then losing a step HAS to affect you mentally.

This may sound weird but I think if he does get his step back then the goals will come. I think Booth can be a real surprise still this year. By then end of January he'll probably have 10 goals and be on a tear. Just a feeling. Could be completely wrong too.

[SergioMomesso]

Skating is the one skill that underlies all other hockey skills. If you don't have confidence in your skating ability, then you won't score or otherwise be effective.

Very true. I went into retirement for 5 years and didn't touch the ice. I got back into playing rec league and it took me 2 years to really get my game back. I never had much game to begin with but my skating was my only strong point. Once you get that confidence back. Beating guys wide and reading plays gets easier if you know you have the ability to get where you want to go. It's not like he has had trouble putting the puck in the net at every level he's played at. If or when he gets his speed back he should be fine.

Maybe Booth should look into hiring a Russian trainer when it comes to puck handling.

[Phil_314]

His skating isn't the issue IMO, he was driving the net pretty well against the Kings. If anything everyone needs to work on their shooting (and keeping their D on high when the game's on the line)

[PhillipBlunt]

Booth is going to bounce back big time with Kesler. Looking forward to it.

[guesswhere]

Booth is going to bounce back big time with Kesler. Looking forward to it.

Plus 1 for positivity.

Don't even care if serious.

[Erik Karlsson]

His confidence could be tied very directly to his skating, much like Raymond's is. If you have been exceptionally fast your entire life and people identify you with speed, then losing a step HAS to affect you mentally.

This may sound weird but I think if he does get his step back then the goals will come. I think Booth can be a real surprise still this year. By then end of January he'll probably have 10 goals and be on a tear. Just a feeling. Could be completely wrong too.

This.

He does look a lot slower and less explosive then he used to. Once he gets that back he should start producing, his whole game relies on his speed. It seems like every time Booth got going he got injured again, so he hasn't really had much of a chance to prove himself.

All his injuries were also always lower body, which would prevent him from training his legs. His cardio is probably a lot worse then everyone elses right now too.

I think if he plays the next 10-15 games without injuries, he should be a lot better and everyone will be on the Booth bandwagon again.

[Ugli Fruit]

booth is utterly useless.... sick of hearing about him, sick of seeing him fail on the ice

cant wait till he's off my team.

is there anything positive about booth to get excited about?? get him out of here

And you're a badass gangster that no one will mess with because you posted some harsh words about a man? Booth is and will always be better off than you, and more talented than you at hockey, and it's all ok, because we all know you want to hate on someone else now that Raymond's gone so you turn to the easiest scapegoat.

Damn twats seriously lack THIS much of a life?

[hudson bay rules]

I'm sure the team has identified them and worked with him already, this is just Booth getting extra outside help to try and get back to where he was.

If one really cares about his career, team and teammates he would've done this long ago. His career is only so long and he can go hunting etc long after anyone ever remembers this slacker.

[DownUndaCanuck]

I think his skating is fine - he needs a shooting coach, or just really needs to work on his shot. In the year he scored 30 goals he had a deadly wrist shot off the rush, but now it's gone and all his shots are getting absorbed by goalies. He desperately needs to work on his shooting. He looks fast enough and at times miles faster than everyone else, but that lack of finish is due to his weak shot.

[DollarAndADream]

Booth needs to work on his shot and his skating. His stride doesn't seem to be where it used to be, and I'm glad he knows that.

I think his shot needs work too though. I'm sick of seeing him shoot at the goalie's crest.

[Baggins]

1. He bow hunts versus using a rifle.
   
   
   
2. He doesn't hunt only for sport as far as I know and also uses the meat.
   
   
   
3. Just because cows, pigs and chickens aren't 'magnificent' should we be more ok with consuming them despite some of the deplorable conditions they are farmed in?
   

Leave the talk to Booth about his hockey, you won't get any love from anyone here for trying to turn it into a discussion about religion or hunting.

Bravo! Couldn't have said it better.

[DarthNinja]

The good news is we get another Booth thread...

If Booth had a goal for every Booth thread...

[Baggins]

I think if he plays the next 10-15 games without injuries, he should be a lot better and everyone will be on the Booth bandwagon again.

Don't count on it. The toughest doghouse for a player to ever get out of is the cdc doghouse. Once they turn on a player all they watch for are the mistakes.

[DarthNinja]

I don't think it's as much about his skating for me. Having the extra step could help him generate more chances, but I think he has to find a way to convert on the chances he does get if he hopes to be successful again. Perhaps feeling better about his skating is what his confidence needs to start converting, but I'd think it's more than that.

The thing is that if he's lost a step or a half step, he will feel it and know it and especially when having that extra step and explosiveness is the foundation of his success. If he has lost confidence in the foundation of his game then it is ultimately going to creep into all facets of his game. This will then become magnified as his success decrease further. Also, generating more chances will naturally lead to more goals, both from a confidence perspective and also from a numbers point of view.

Though I thought he was fighting the puck early on and was having trouble picking up loose pucks, Booth's play on Monday night was leaps and bounds better than what we've been accustomed to seeing. He even had a couple of dangerous flashes and a couple of flashes of the Booth of old. It is precisely games like Monday night that could be the catalyst for Booth to start getting some of his mojo back if he can string together a run of consistent performances.

We all know that he has no trade value and occupies a top6 cap hit but It really makes no sense to not at least pull for Booth to turn it around because of how it could help the team.

[DollarAndADream]

booth is utterly useless.... sick of hearing about him, sick of seeing him fail on the ice

cant wait till he's off my team.

is there anything positive about booth to get excited about?? get him out of here

That's what hunting is though. You sit at a safe distance.....

Do you want David to run up to the animal and take it out with his bare hands?

That's how animals in the wild do it too. Lions and whatnot, they all sit at a safe distance and stalk their prey. They pounce on their prey at the right time killing it immediately.

Booth uses a bow and arrow I believe. Humans invented these weapons. It's not cheap in any way when we kill them with these weapons.

I'm not pro-hunting or anything like that. I don't really care about it. Your argument is pretty stupid though.

The point is though, these hunting and religion hating on Booth are irrelevant. It's his hockey play we should be worrying about.

I'm sure there are players all around the NHL that do things in their own time which people can argue about, even our beloved Canucks.

[Wonder__Bread]

What a lot of people don't understand is that when you loose a step in something as simple as your skating, your whole game is affected. Especially when speed is one of your standout traits like it is for Booth. That extra step/explosiveness may not be much, I'm talking a matter of milliseconds, but those milliseconds are vital when you're on the ice. It gives you time to look up, assess the situation and react accordingly. When you loose that extra step, although it's just milliseconds, it affects your timing in everything you do. Booth has been playing hockey his whole life so he's used to playing at a certain speed and his reactions are all programmed at that speed. It's becomes second nature. When that speed changes, no matter how small of a change, it affects your timing and makes you look sluggish and in turn makes you more prone to mistakes cause you're not use to the change of speed.

Think about the odd man rush Booth was on against LA. it was basically a 2 on 1, Booth had someone back checking him if I remember correctly. He tried a move to the backhand and missed. Great play on his part, but the defender defending the 2 on 1 closed him down and forced the shot a little earlier than anticipated by Booth. Give Booth those extra milliseconds, and he's given time to maybe get a better shot off with the backhand and he probably scores. Or maybe he spots an opening somewhere else. Good news about Booth is that he still goes to the dirty areas and has good ideas with the puck, just needs to regain his timing.

The importance of timing should not be overlooked and if you've played sports you should know that timing is everything. You know when you do something incredible and you don't even know how you did it, it was just kind of an instinct? That's your timing and skill in prefect balance. You can have tons of skill but if your timing is off, you won't be able to do much cause there isn't a natural flow to your game. Right now Booth isn't in sync (bye bye bye ) and his flow is off. He's off balance right now cause his skating is not what it normally is so his reactions are in turn trying to adjust to this new lack of speed.

You can say he needs shooting practice, but I highly disagree. I think skating is exactly what he needs to work on, not only to regain his explosiveness, but also so that he can regain his timing. IMO if he can get his timing back and stay healthy, he'll be on fire for us.

[CanuckRow]

The guys hands are gone. Been that way since after his knee injury, and showed a bit prior even with some success. No where near the player he use to be and management should have seen that a while ago. Simple as that.

[menace]

High level sports is about muscle memory and acting without thinking.Clearly Booth's injuries are on his

mind and he is thinking instead of reacting. Working on his natural motions will free his mind and return his muscle memory. Good move in my opinion and probably the right time to address this.

[Raoul Duke]

Wow, so now it's come to this with Booth. He needs effing skating lessons???

[InTheCrease]

It's only a matter of time before he gets it back. Look at (last year?) before the knee on knee, he was playing some of his best hockey, driving to the net and all that because he was not only confident, but his skating was up to par. Good on him for trying to correct it, he has had a sting of bad luck and the fans/media have gone to town on him. I am sure he is just as if not more frustrated than the fans, and when you add the team not being able to score, it adds more attention to Booth instead of everyone else.