The Benefits of Great Puckhandling Ability Part III

by Cliff Graziano Jr.
This is the 3rd part of a series of articles that I have written on Stickhandling. Please go back and read the original Part I and Part II before reading this Part III article to get a full understanding of what I’m writing about.

This segment I’m going to explain some more moves a player can use in game situations, how to practice them, and when to use them in certain situations.

The next move is called “The Fake Slap Shot”. It is exactly what it is called. You know you’re not going to shoot it, but the other player doesn’t, freezing him up just like “The Gretzky Move”. Once again, early in the game I’ll try and come down the off-wing, dribbling on the forehand side in my shuffle stride position, turn my body towards the puck and rip a slapper trying to use the D-man as a screen setting him up for later in the game where I’ll use “The Fake Slap Shot Move”. I’ll head down later in the game again in the same position all the time thinking I’m going to turn and take a slap shot. I take my stick up and down just like I’m going to take the slap shot, when I just about reach the puck to take the shot on the downswing I slap it against the ice creating the sound as if I’m hitting the shot, my skates went from being straight up ice toward the goal to now after my full turn, facing the puck. The puck should be just about even with your back foot and you push it towards the middle of the ice creating the same type of gap (time & space) you did with “The Gretzky Move”. From here you have the same options you did when you pulled off “The Gretzky Move”. The key here is to have the puck back in your stance once you’ve turned your body towards the puck, if it’s too far up towards your front foot you’ll either have a hard time pushing it out to the side or you’ll end up pushing it straight up into the D-man’s stick range. You need to properly know how to take a slap shot before you attempt to use it as a fake.

All of these moves require good skating ability and the use of the edges of your skates properly, transferring your body weight, putting yourself in a stable position to either make a pass, get off a shot or stabilized enough that you won’t get knocked off the puck physically.

The last part of puck control I want to talk to you about doesn’t involve using your stick. It involves using your feet. Whether it be a loose puck in the center of your skates or a puck that is passed into your skates. Being able to angle your skate to either “deaden” the speed of the puck or angle it up to your stick to get off a move, a pass or a shot is so important as everything in hockey is not perfect. A couple of good ways to practice using your skates is to skate up and down the ice with the puck in your skates kicking it from foot to foot without using your stick at all. Another way is to bring the puck from your stick to your right foot, kick it back to your stick and bring it back in to your left foot and repeat this over and over.

If you have a buddy to work with you can do this next drill together. You both face each other passing into each others skates then kicking it up to your stick to pass back to your partner and keep repeating it. You then can both turn up ice towards one end and use the angle that way using the outside edge to control the pass in your skates, then turn towards the other end to work the opposite foot.

I believe that the pass receiver is more important than the passer. Sometimes the passer just doesn’t have the perfect passing lane from the puck to your stick, but he sends it your way anyway, whether it be your wide open or he’s pressured and doesn’t want to give up the puck to his opponent. Maybe it’s in your skates or behind you, or even flipped in the air, you must be prepared to gain control of the puck as quickly as possible before a turnover happens. When you become a better pass receiver you’ll find that you and your team will have the puck more often and your opponents won’t. Therefore it becomes like the stat in football of time of possession. Whichever team controls the ball or in hockey, the puck, they have more chances at controlling and ultimately winning the game.

Cliff Graziano Jr. is a Head Instructor of The Turcotte Stickhandling Hockey School for over 10 years. He owns and operates the New Jersey Renegades Travel Hockey Club and played his youth hockey for the NJ Rockets and the Junior Devils. He went on to play his collegiate hockey at Penn State followed by a minor league professional tryout in the Detroit Red Wing organization. Read more great hockey training articles at www.BetterHockey.com.