Hockey Sense

The main point of this blog is to help players understand where to be positionally and what to do in certain circumstances in game action, that should be applied most of the time. This was created so that I (Or anyone else who reads this) can fall back to the basics of my hockey style whenever I forget something/slump. Anyway, these tips are almost "Black and White" rules for my playing style, although they are not followed 100%, there is some deviation based on game conditions. However, equally important to these "Black-and-White" rules is hockey sense, which can't be taught, only developed. So I'm going to summarize what hockey sense is and how it is learned/developed, using the internet as a resource (Since I can't afford to spend $300 on the USA hockey intelligym.)

Understanding the Game

http://www.marbleheadyouthhockey.com/league/download.aspx?FT=1&ULL=7443866&LID=80&FileID=36328&Inline=true&Thumb=false

• Hockey sense is the ability to read the game, understand the game, and react accordingly. Use it while attempting to maintain positioning.
• Puck carrier is the player who is supposed to make play happen. On the attack he brings offensive pressure towards the net by skating the puck or passing it to a teammate. If an opportunity to score comes up, it is his responsibility to take it; this is done by shooting the puck. It can either be a direct shot (A shot with the intention to score) or an indirect shot (A shot with the intention to be deflected/rebounded). It is his responsibility to decide which type of shot to take. A good puck carrier knows how to create time and space to help better opportunities form; this is done by skating (Mainly by increasing and decreasing speed, and changing direction) and by faking (Making an opposing player think you're going to do one thing and do another). The main idea is to work the puck lower into the zone, but if nothing comes out of it, it is best to look behind you or on the other side of the ice for open ice (Usually where you're teammates have more time and space than you). Keep in mind that a pass can be to the open ice if your teammate will get to the puck before anyone else on the other team, this is especially effective when wrapping the puck around the boards, or when making a pass to a player who is not open in a scoring position. It is also important to note screens on the goalie if attempting a shot. 
• Offensive players without the puck provide support and options. They should attempt to get open (No one blocking passing lane) and provide width and depth (i.e. spread out) They are also ready to provide defensive support. They set up screens, find open ice, and react according to the other team (Example given if a defender is in lala land, sneak around them).
• Defensive players defending the puck carrier have three main objectives: stay in the play, pressure the puck carrier, and get the puck. This is done by taking away space using gap control, steering the opposing player with your stick, and being physical. It is also a defenders responsibility, especially a defensemans, to notice what the immediate situation is. If surrounded by three opposing players and you have only one other defender in the immediate area, you switch to 3-on-2 mode and your main objective becomes to keep the puck out of scoring areas by staying in passing lanes and angling. If you notice a 3-on-2 and you're not in it, assuming you're not covering anyone, it is your responsibility to help out. If you are covering a player and they get rid of the puck, it is your responsibility to stay with that player until you are needed elsewhere (On the rush, covering another player, etc)
• Defensive players not defending the puck carrier have the responsibility to be active and move, be ready to support their teammates or fight for a loose puck, and stay with the other players on the other team. The distance from an opposing players depends on how threatening he is to score; in the slot and near the puck, be ready to jump on them in an instant and stop them from receiving a pass, and the further they are from the slot and puck, the further you can be. You want to be in a position where you're anticipating where the puck is going, and be as close as you can to that place while being in position and defending dangerous scorers. It's important to keep your head on a swival, because a player can become a scoring threat in an instant and it's important to be able to defend that player.
• You are on the attack as soon as your team gets the puck.
• The puck is faster than any player.
• On offense you want depth and width.
• You must move from narrow space to broad space, increasing time and space to make the right play.
• Players without the puck must determine where they are needed, whether by finding free ice or by covering scoring threats.
• Goals are scored from the slot.
• Defending starts as soon as the other team gets the puck.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=550636

• Hockey sense is understanding situational play. Understanding where I'm supposed to be as the non-puck carrier, where I'm supposed to be on the forecheck. … It's all situational play.
• Watch certain NHL players, but not just for the highlight-reel plays they make. Instead, watch their favorite players and teams, and keep an eye on the more mundane tasks players do that might help their team win, whether it's backchecking, forechecking or puck support.

Developing Hockey Sense

http://www.evelethyouthhockey.com/page/show/69897-hockey-sense-can-be-taught

• The first step to teaching hockey sense is teaching skills. The skills are skating, puck handling, passing and shooting. For young players through the Bantam levels, considerable attention should be paid to skill development. 
• The game of hockey is a continuous series of “common reoccurring situations.” The more players are exposed to the situations, the better they become at reacting to them. More specifically, 1-on-1, 2-on-1, and 3-on-2 would be considered situations that occur over and over again. With experience and good coaching, players will learn to react instinctively as they are involved with these scenarios. The options available to players in these situations can be taught in practice and then experienced in games. It is essential to demonstrate and teach multiple options to players so they have the ability to react to quickly changing situations. Running these situations from many different spots on the rink surface will help your players learn to adapt to a variety of situations and potential ways to deal with them.

http://exactsports.com/blog/hockey-sense-what-is-it/2010/03/08/

• A skill consists of “the ability to bring about some end result with maximum certainty and a minimum outlay of energy.” Develop Skill First!!!!!!
• TECHNIQUE + PRESSURE = SKILL
• Practicing drills in isolation does not reflect a large number of variables associated with implementing this skill in a constantly changing game situation. Emphasis on technique has generally resulted in the production of skillful players who possess inflexible techniques and poor decision making capacities. Decision-making is the foundation that determines level of success achieved by athletes in any sport — it is the cornerstone of “hockey sense.” While skills are very important to successful performance, it is is the athlete’s conceptual abilities that make the difference.

http://www.puckprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1095

• I thought this was interesting, what NHL players are drafted for:
  Team 1: "We consider puck possession ability to be the most important quality for our draftees, as that is how you control the game. Puck skills and hockey sense is what we prioritize, not only because they are key to controlling the game, but because things like skating and a player's body are much easier to develop."
  Team 2: "We draft for possession. Those are the kinds of players we want. Players who can think the game, move the puck, control the puck—that's what we're looking to draft.
  Team 3:"Right now, the NHL isn't a league where you can get more quality chances than the opponent with consistency. It's really just about getting the puck out of our zone and getting it into theirs. That's why we emphasize skating, work ethic, and a player's physical game. We want players who will backcheck hard, help get the puck out of our end, get it in deep the other way, win a battle, and get the puck on net. We want players who will help generate shots."
   
• "Most of Detroit's scouting staff has been in place for more than a decade, and its sense of what constitutes effective possession play is intuitive rather than codified or numerically defined. "You just have a sense," Holland says. "The type of player you want, the type of situation you reference for your next game, you see it."
• So not surprisingly, we are going to have to go on a bit of a limb when we scout for possession, just because there is not a perfect consensus as to what traits make a good possession player. This is not just based on my discussions with those three teams, but a general feeling from the industry. My approach and philosophy, which is reflected in my prospect rankings, is that for forwards puck skills and hockey sense are top priorities to control possession, with skating close behind, while for defensemen, puck-moving skills and hockey sense are at the top, with a defender's physical game being pretty important to his defensive-zone possession game.

http://www.hockeyagility.com/scihock.html

• The game rhythm is rapid transition from offensive to defensive actions with slow, fast or quick temp (speed). The player who can match the game rhythm transitions smoothly without frictions can have greater chance to win. In addition to that, the game rhythm has rapid transitions of directions (trajectories) of players and the puck. To match that obstacle for the player requires to be a solid skater with “Hockey Sense of Mind”.
• In survey of 50 Russian hockey specialists we see that absolute strength (power) is the last of eleven essential characteristics of an ideal hockey player
• Adaptation means shortening the time it takes to adjust to each new game situation during the player’s shift. The player must observe the situation, orient to it, decide what to do and act. The player who can consistently adapt more quickly to the situation will have a significant advantage. Adaptation is the most important skill of hockey tactics. There are two basic ways to adaptation: by anticipation and by improvisation.
• When we have enough situational awareness to understand a situation in advance, we can take preparatory actions. This is anticipation. At other times we have to adapt to situation on the spur of the moment without time for preparation. This is improvisation. To be fully adaptable we must be able to do both.
• Any hockey skills start in the head, where mind acts in a split-second before body. Dynamic intensity of the game at any age and levels of hockey become restraining factor for the mind “think quickly” and for body “react rapidly and adequately”. It is the mind “above the neck” that directs “below the neck” body activity in the game. This is a law of nature and the victory comes to ones, who keep on game thinking, trying, experimenting and looking for options. To find the right solution in a complicated situation is the athletic art, which is needed not only in hockey, but in real life as well

• Brain cells, eye muscles, memory storage, recognition, attention, anticipation, reacting and other cognitive parameters - speed, rhythm, gravity and space control - can be developed and improved in parallel with physical development.

• Skills to improve: Flexability, Balance, Coordination, Strength, Quickness, Endurance, Control, Stick handling, Mind
• "90 percent of hockey is mental, and the other half is physical."

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/45351-creating-the-perfect-hockey-player

• Skating—Quite simply the most important attribute required to play in the NHL and even more important to be a superstar in the league. (i.e. Scott Niedermayer, Paul Coffey)
• Shooting—Second most important attribute to make the bigs. Now for the sake of this exercise, the player that possesses the best overall shooting skills will represent this attribute. ( Slap shot, Wrist shot & Snapshot). (i.e. Ilya Kovalchuk, Brett Hull) 
• Stick-handling/Puck Control—The art of controlling the puck. (i.e. Alexei Kovalev, Denis Savard) 
• "Hands"—The ability to control the puck, receive difficult passes, roof loose pucks, in and around the crease. (i.e. Zach Parise, Steve Yzerman) 
• Passing/Play-making - Perfect timing and precision distributing the puck. (i.e. Brad Richards, Wayne Gretzky) 
• On-Ice Vision—Ability to see the playing surface in a way that allows for plays that other players would otherwise not see. Anticipating the developing play. (i.e. John Tavares, Wayne Gretzky) 
• Hockey Sense—Makes the correct play 9 times out of 10. A step ahead of the play, rarely caught out of position or off guard. Born to play hockey. (i.e. Patrik Elias, Wayne Gretzky) 
• Skill—Skill is defined as that player that makes all aspects of the game look effortless. Makes plays at top speeds, shows creativity with the puck, and has an endless supply of moves. (i.e. Ilya Kovalchuk, Mario Lemieux) 
• Strength—Strength is not to be confused with size. This is the player that wins loose puck battles. Controls the puck with players draped all over him. (i.e. Zach Parise, Peter Forsberg) 
• "Heart"/Leadership—This last attribute is more intangible than the other 9. But we as hockey fans use these two terms often to describe that player that just seems to get the job done out on the ice. This is the type of player loyal to his organization and teammates. Always seems to be the best player on the ice when the game really matters. (i.e. Ryan Callahan, Steve Yzerman)