Hockey stuff, which begs the question...

[springer]

Pet peeve of sorts, am I missing something, or expecting too much...??? 

 

I recall, I think it was Mike Bossy, saying that when he shoots, he's not looking at the goalie, but at the empty space around him. We all know his career turned out.

 

The year Ryan Kesler racked up 40 something goals, he's reported to have said he spent most of the previous summer shooting 100 pucks/day. ( My immediate first thought was, you mean all NHL players don't do this...??? )

 

Show me a prolific goal scorer who doesn't have a wicked wrist shot.

 

What's one thing you can pretty much take to the bank about an NBA player? They practice shooting hoops until hell won't have any more. And how many MLB players get to play, no matter how good they are at fielding, if they can't hit the ball with some degree of proficiency?

 

So why is it that so many NHL players get the puck on their stick in the slot, and it looks like they pretty much don't have the foggiest clue of what to do with it??? And if they do get off a shot, it almost inevitably hits the goalie square on the logo.

 

Which is to say, how is it so many players, who get paid 7 figure annual salaries, somehow aren't expected to develop this skill as a basic part of their job description, you know, "professional hockey player"??? 

 

And it is a "skill", not merely a talent, that requires practice, practice, and more practice.

 

Until it becomes basically a reflex reaction: There's the puck on their stick, they're somewhere in the vicinity of the goal, and they immediately eye an empty space around the goalie and release it. They don't look at the goalie, but past him. And it happens in the blink of an eye.

 

Seems to me, if I'm managing the Canucks, I hire someone like, say, Markus Naslund, to specifically train EVERY player (okay, maybe not Dan or Hank) on the team to execute wrist shots, properly, and reflexively. And then they practice, and then practice some more, as part of the regular drill. (If there was one thing this team was good at this year, it was shots NOT on net!)

 

Imagine a team in which just about every player either excelled, or at least was better than average, with a wrist shot.

 

If for no more reason than because it's a job requirement for the big bucks they're getting paid as professionals.

 

And if, by chance, you happen to be a hockey player, set me straight on this!  :-)

[Salacious Crumb]

[RetroCanuck]

Wow, the lack of replies on this is amazing. Let me ask this... If it was that easy to take a wrist shot and score, don't you think a team would have figured it out by now to train their guys that way? A good quick accurate wrist shot is a skill that not everyone has and can't be taught overnight. Plus there are many other skills suck as skating, puck handling, passing etc that need to be available to a player to make him successful. Some are born with talent and then there are others who aren't. Thats why they are in the NHL and we aren't.

[naslund.is.king]

Just doesn't work that way.

Can't teach somethings

[Rush17]

The best scorers in the game practice their shot.  I could see grinders skipping that process but if u want to be In the nhl you have to keep your sword sharp.

 

It shouldn't be a chore. It should a mastery a way of life.  That's the difference between the elite snipers and the average player.  Grinders often focus on what keep them in the nhl their physical makeup.

[springer]

Did kinda land with a thud, didn't it.

 

I'd bet that those who are good with a wrist shot would beg to differ. Most of them very likely practiced it relentlessly until it became almost natural. And they never stop practicing. Skills are developed, and then maintained, that way. Same applies to archery, marksmanship with a rifle, or just about anything else in life.

 

Do I think coaches would have picked up on this? Not sure it's as simple as that, but perhaps more reflective of the culture of the game. 

 

Why is the game faster than ever before? Because more emphasis has been put on skating skills with junior players over the last couple decades. A friend of mine, a pro-figure skater, spent several summers some years back teaching NHL players the finer points, if not literally how to skate! Something the Europeans picked up on before we did on this side of the pond.

 

 

 

 

[SaintPatrick33]

The game is too fast, and goalies too good. When you look at a lot of shots, they are labelled for top shelf, but goalies nowadays with their positioning make it seem like a weak shot. The elite players have such a quick release, and they know how to look the goalie off, kind of like how Great NFL QB's know how to look off the safeties. This is a true skill, and while some may practice it, you just have to have talent. 

 

If any NHLer was to play in a beer league, they would probably be ripping it shelf quite often. Heck, just look at Dale "Dutch Gretzky" Weise, tore it up in the dutch league but in the NHL is a 3rd liner who would be limited to 10-15 goals per. NHL game is so fast that most players will rush their shots, that is probably why when you see a player show patience with the puck they call it a goal-scorers goal. 

[ItsMillerTime]

Coming from a hockey player I feel like you will get your shot after 3 shots or so. You get use to the puck and stick again. Practise does help but not needed as much once you get a good wrist shot.

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

I think by the time guys get to the NHL, they've put in so many hours that simple repetition (like just shooting 100s of pucks a day) isn't going to have much effect (other than maybe helping them stay in shape). 

 

However, if they can identify some area for improvement, either in their mechanics or in their habits/shot selection, then it's certainly going to require a signicicant amount of time and repetition to address the concern and allow any change to really take hold and become "automatic" once they start playing actual games.

 

This is where a summer firing hundreds of pucks a day can help a player.

 

As for the idea that teams and coaches should already know what needs to be done and how to optimize their players' performance. The rise in popularity of private coaches and trainers (like Gary Roberts for performance and Adam Oates for skills), hired by top NHLers, in addition to what their clubs provide, suggests to me that even the very best players in the game recognize that they can get better. And they believe that supplementing team resources can really help them achieve their goals. 

 

So certainly there's benefit to putting in the work every summer (and also throughout the year), above and beyond what the teams provide for their players. 

 

I'm a big believer in teams spending top dollar on facilities, training, coaches, advisors, staff, etc. and providing every resource they can think of to make players perform better and try to give the team an edge. And even when the team is doing everything they can (to help their players improve), I believe the players should only be encouraged to seek outside resources that might supplement what the team already provides.

[Harvey Spector]

What Mike Bossy was shooting at versus what today's player is shooting at:

[IBatch]

6 hours ago, Harvey Spector said:

What Mike Bossy was shooting at versus what today's player is shooting at:

YES!  Time to make nets bigger.  

[Salacious Crumb]

The NHL needs to have one guy that measures goalies and orders the goalies equipment from the manufacturer.

 

It's like being sized for a suit - you're what the tape measure says, not what you decide.

[MJDDawg]

They already have a skills coach.

[Canucklehead73]

I thought Bossy said he just aimed at the net and blasted it... ie not very accurate? maybe he was just being coy

[Chris12345]

Every single NHL player has a top notch shot. There are two main differences between an awesome sniper and a plug.

 

A sniper always knows where to go to create the best angles. This can't be tought. Angles create space. When a player shots the puck at the goalies crest a lot of the time the goalie has taken away the angle.

 

The second difference is the best players can play at very high speeds. What made Bure so good was he could handle the puck at top speed. A better example of a pure sniper is Hull. His release was one of the fastest in the NHL. Because the release was so fast he could take advantage of goalies before they were set. 

 

 

 

[Fred65]

I believe the Canucks employ a "skills" coach ( Glen Carnegie ) to tackle and help players with specific skills so it's already attended to. A couple of years ago I watched a video of a snap shot contraption they were using for Nick Jensen. He didn't know where the puck was coming, indicated by a flashing light and simultaneously he was given the target ie top left, bottom right ...all to improve his speed, reaction and accuracy. So to answer your question Vcr has this aspect of training ticked off. Plus of course under the new CBA they are not permitted to give players a summer training regime.... they can provide the facilities and I believe there's 6 -7  Canuck players currently using those facilities in Rogers. Others head home and employ their own Trainer. As a rule most juniors/NCAA/EU players are shocked by the intensity of training NHL players ( successful ones any way ) put themselves through in the summer months.

[Sean Monahan]

9 hours ago, SaintPatrick33 said:

The game is too fast, and goalies too good. When you look at a lot of shots, they are labelled for top shelf, but goalies nowadays with their positioning make it seem like a weak shot. The elite players have such a quick release, and they know how to look the goalie off, kind of like how Great NFL QB's know how to look off the safeties. This is a true skill, and while some may practice it, you just have to have talent. 

 

If any NHLer was to play in a beer league, they would probably be ripping it shelf quite often. Heck, just look at Dale "Dutch Gretzky" Weise, tore it up in the dutch league but in the NHL is a 3rd liner who would be limited to 10-15 goals per. NHL game is so fast that most players will rush their shots, that is probably why when you see a player show patience with the puck they call it a goal-scorers goal. 

Bingo. Look at your local beer league/ball hockey league and you see Jr B players destroying most of the competition. I'm willing to bet even a guy like Derek Dorsett would make a joke out of your beer league.

[Chris12345]

I've played rec hockey with fringe NHL players. To say they would make a joke of beer league is an understatement.

 

 

[erkayloomeh]

Wayne Gretzky said, "God gave me a special  gift, and I worked hard to develope it."

And its true. You need that talent in the first place.

[Canucks1527]

Yes, practicing a wrist shot often should improve your wrist shot. But in today's nhl, very rarely do you ever get a clean, clear shot at the net. There's constantly guys in the shooting lanes, your skating at top speed, shooting from tight spots etc. professional golfers shoot hundred of golf balls every day, but they still make mis shots, and don't sink every putt. And golfers are standing still. Hockey is a difficult sport, and an accurate shot with a quick release has just as much to do with talent as it does with practice.