The Inside Post

The NHL playoffs is a special time of year, with harder hits, amazing passes and players reaching for their last bit of strength and energy to keep their seasons alive. These are also inspiring moments for up-and-coming players and fans. Enjoy the action, but why not shoot some pucks during intermission to visualize yourself being in those games in a few years.

Successful training during the off season is on the minds of many, but truly accomplished by only a few. Why? Because most players start out well intended with plenty of motivation and skills to work on, but as the days and weeks go by they get distracted and the priority to practice falls off. So what can you do to make the most out of your off season training? Here are 5 tips that will help you stick to your plan, accomplish your goals and improve your skills.

Every player on the ice has a role in playing defense, regardless of your position. Knowing where to stand, who to cover, and how best to disrupt and reduce their chances will turn over pucks and create more chances for your team. Our founder and former NHL defenseman, Coach Lance, shares his top-5 defensive tips in this week's article. 

The best athletes in hockey are generally those who can excel at other sports as well.  While hockey-specific skills are definitely important, consider how playing other sports can help refine your hand-eye coordination, footwork, reaction times, balance and other movement to improve your on-ice performance. Coach Lance explores the topic further in this week's article.

Finding the best combination of players at each lines, with the right chemistry and balance, can be a difficult task as a coach. Often times takes months of trial and error until you find the ideal line combinations, and there might be some ugly games along the way. In this week's article, Coach Lance shares some of his philosophies that helped the youth teams he coached find their stride just in time for playoff push. 

Playing defense in hockey may not be as glamorous as their goal-scoring forward teammates, but is a critical position at all levels of play. Those who can master the position provide their team with a significant competitive advantage by shutting down scoring opportunities and controlling field position. In this week's article, our founder Lance Pitlick shares some of his observations from his years as a NHL defenseman, and shares his top-5 tips for how to be successful defenseman. 

While the spotlight usually finds the goal-scorer, the truly great players are also outstanding passers, both to move the puck and to create opportunities for others. Just with other skills development, becoming an effective passer takes both hockey IQ and repetitions on-ice and at home so that you can find your teammates' tape when it matters. Coach Lance takes us through four tips to becoming a dominant passer in this week's article.   

Looking for the perfect hockey gift for the aspiring D1 player in your family? We have a range of products for all ages, and for all budgets. As the 20-year market leader in home hockey training, we pride ourselves on offering products that are durable, provide great training benefits, and are simply fun to use. 

Whether you serve as captain on your team, or are a third line grinder, everyone has the ability to apply leadership skills to positively influence team culture and level of play of those around them in a positive way. In this week's article, we dive deeper into five such leadership characteristics that are common of great hockey leaders.

Hockey is a game of possession. A considerable amount of practice time is dedicated to passing and puck control, which is important to be sure. But nearly as important for many players is knowing the best ways to take the puck away, and the tilt the time of possession back in your team's favor. We review four top techniques to steal the puck in this week's article.

Investing time to learn new skills is an essential part of personal growth. And with the learning of any new technique, such as a stickhandling move, there will undoubtedly make mistakes. This is a good thing. Mistakes are signals that let you know forward progress is taking place. Instead of getting frustrated and abandoning the drill, challenge yourself to think like an elite player and become determined to conquer the issue. Learn from the mistake, make the adjustment, and go again. Soon the mistakes get fewer and fewer, and before long they’ve developed mastery of the new skill.