Hockey Chat:  Can you imagine during a game have a bunch of guys sitting on the bench.  Then a skater comes up from your team ready to line change and every one on the bench just looks at each other.  No one knows who is going to what position.  Who’s up next?  No pre-thought to what happens next, just confusion.  Great teams know ahead of time who is going where and when.  The coach has planned what line to go out next.  He’s placed the players where they will be most effective and with others they will be effective skating with.

Hockey Chat:  Chasing the puck is easy to do but a bad play to make.  Imagine if you had all 5 skaters on your team chasing after the puck and nobody keeping to their positions.  It would be a big mess.  We all want to grab the puck and make the play, but we need to remain controlled and play our position to make the winning play for the team.

Hockey Chat: A goalie’s skill is part physical and part mental.  The better physical shape they are, the better they can make quick moves to cover the net.  But the most important thing to do is to keep focused.  They keep in control and keep their mind clear of all the commotion going on all around them.  If they give into it, they’ll be off their game and out of place.

Hockey Chat:  Have you ever seen a guy who looked like the puck glued was to his stick.  It may have looked like it from his puck handling.  Those guys frustrate every defenseman.  They have such control of the puck that it’s nearly impossible to take away.  A poor puck handler will leave the puck behind every time.