Igor Korolev

Igor Korolev and KHL Lokomotiv Team Tragedy

Usually we do a more up-beat and information based blog, but this one is a more somber note with regards to theYak-42 jet that crashed into the Volga river 240 kms Northeast of Moscow Wednesday. As most people following the tragic story know, 43 members of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team died as a result of what some have speculated to be pilot error. A lot of news teams have covered the story from the angle of unsafe planes, but I can only wonder about the credentials of the pilots. I remember on vacation meeting a doctor who worked doing physicals on pilots for insurance companys. He told me that part of his job was to ride a few times a year in the cockpit to keep up to date with pilot training and flying techniques. What stuck with me the most from his story was when he spoke of the difference between a civilian trained pilot and those that were in the cockpit with ex-military credentials. According to his observations, ex-military types lived on the edge, neglecting gauges and acting on instinct and adrenaline. Could this have been a situation where the pilot neglected his panel of gauges at the runway's "Abort Line" thinking he could literally "Wing It" like the ol' Military Days? The ensuing investigation may never publicly release such details but interesing to think about nonetheless.

I wanted to take this moment to speak about Igor Korolev, who died in the crash a day after his 41st birthday. He was a great husband, loving father of 2 beautiful daughters and a great friend and coach. We spent a great deal of time together in the last 7 years during the summer as he attended our skills camps as both an instructor and a student! He spent a lot of time teaching the kids an had a magnetic enthusiasm for the game. He jumped in on the drills and did the full blast, showing kids it didn't matter who else was on the ice with you, when it's your turn to go... GO HARD! He was always eager to sign an autograph and his positive outlook was contagious. He was also always willing to open up to reporters and show his personal side in an interview http://www.kingsentinel.com/news/2008-08-13/sports/020.html

As I type this I not only mourn the loss of a friend, but am also saddend by the thought that so many young players will not be able to learn from him in the future as we all did during his time on the ice with us at Vital Hockey Skills. I saw him last in the beginning of August and he told me that he was going to complete his last year as a coach in the KHL and was looking forward to coming back to Toronto to spend more time with his family! My thoughts go out to his wife and daughters who are on a plane right now headed for Moscow to be at the side of their late husband/father.

I hope we all can keep the families of these players in our hearts and never forget how fortunate we are to not only PLAY the greatest game in the world, but also to get the chance to watch our kids grow and develop playing it as well. In an instant it can all be taken away from us, so we should enjoy the ride and not sweat the small stuff!!!

RIP Good Friend, You will be Sadly Missed

Igor Korolev

September 6, 1970 - September 7, 2011

Top 10 Body Contact Myths

Here we go folks, the doctor is in the house with part 1 of a 2 parter on Body Contact.

TOP 10 MYTHS ABOUT BODY CONTACT

10) Every hit should be highlight reel worthy

Don Cherry sure made a lot of money on the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em series of films, pumping up Old Time Hockey and all the bone crushing hits of the 80's and 90's. Funny enough, these are the same hits we see ending careers and causing serious injuries out there. Any coincidence that the players in today's game laying some of these brutal hits where that the opponents don't see coming grew up in the hay day of catching a guy in "The Trolly Tracks"? Anyways body contact is for one purpose and one purpose only... TO SEPARATE THE MAN FROM THE PUCK IN ORDER TO REGAIN POSSESSION. Any other glorification of on ice contact does the game a big disservice. Don't get me wrong, one guy hitting another guy who sees him coming is great to watch, when both guys are up to the challenge, but no one should be getting seriously injured out there!

9) It's all about speed

Actually no, no it's not at all. If you want to collide with the guy and let the hockey god's decide on your fate, then sure reve up theengine and get at it, but proper body contact is all about the planned explosion just before impact. There doesn't have to be speed at all, the player making the contact just has to BE LOW ENOUGH READY TO EXPLODE WITH THE LEGS, literally "popping" the player with his shoulder. This works so wel when being hit! Staying low and delivering a last minute "pop" when a guy thinks he is about to cream you is always a special moment that let's him know how much you care!

8) It doesn't matter which shoulder you use

Another misunderstood principle of body contact. When you make contact with a player you always want to lock the hit with the same shoulder he is leading with! Right on right or left on left. If a player is leading with his left and you go in with your right, most of the time the contact will rotate you inward and you will end up on your face. Some of the best hitters are players that can REACT QUICKLY AND SWITCH TO THE APPROPRIATE SHOULDER in any given instant!

7) If you see the numbers on the back you can't hit him

This is definitely something to be aware of but not something a bodychecker should live by because even hitting when you see the numbers on the sleeve can lead to a hit from behind and serious injury! My advice to players, MAKE BODY CONTACT WHEN YOU ARE ABLE TO MAKE EYE CONTACT. At least give a guy a split second to know you are coming in order to prepare. If this type of ethics was commonplace, a lot of NHL concussions would never have happened!

6) There's no such thing as an efficient body check

If you believe this than I have some great swamp land in Florida for you to buy. Anybody that knows anything about skills knows that you have to go from the biggest muscles to the smallest when executed. This requires timing and surprise... EFFICIENCY of movement. So, a hit isn't so much a collision between towo bodies as it is a coordinated sequence of muscle activation from quadriceps, to glutes, to abs/obliques and ending with the traps and shoulder (not the arms unless you want to go in the box for two minutes and feel shame!)

5) Checking is 100% brute strength

Ever been that guy who goes for the huge decapitating hit in the corner only to bounce off the guy, fall down and watch helplessly as he wraps the puck around and goes cheddar? Ya h, we all have, still convinced about the brute strength thing?Belive it or not the most important thing about separating the man from the puck (notice I didn't say hitting) is balance! Yup, KEEP THAT CENTER OF GRAVITY IN THAT BALANCE OF SUPPORT and you'll be able to immobilize even the biggest giants.

4) Take his number down and get him later

This is one of the dumbest pieces of advice a coach can give a player! I agree, never put your team at risk by immediately retaliating to a dirty hit, but is suggesting to rip a guys head off when the time is right actually justifiable? At the end of the day revenge is sweet on a cold plate, but even sweeter when it's past the goal line... JUST PUT THE PUCK IN THE NET!

3) The hit is over once contact is made

This is one of the most misunderstood points about body contact. The contact is just the start, it's not over until you get back into the play! The truth is most players who think thier sole responsibility is to make contact end up taking themselves out of the play! Either hit and pin or bump and go, either way he's your responsibility and YOU GOTTA STAY BETWEEN HIM AND THE PUCK.

2) You always gotta know where potential hitters are

This isn't totally false, but usually being paranoid about the proximity of other players leads to "hearing footsteps" and injuries. Focusing instead on where you are relative to the play, will mean that you can handle anything that comes your way. Bottom line... STAY LOW AND KEEP YOUR BUTT TO THE BOARDS and you'll never be surprised.

1) A dead on hit is always the best

EEE EEE (Buzzer sound) Wrong again! Dead on contact is low percentage easy to side step, or headfake. THE BEST CONTACT IS ALWAYS THE RESULT OF PROPER ANGLING. A great coach at Benchwarmia U once taught me never confront unless you contain a guy first. In other words angle a guy, take away his ice then hit and pin... no injuries, no embarassing deked out of my pants moments... just straight neutralizing the opponent.

There you have it,

Tune in next time for Part 2 of 2: The Body Contact Checklist

Driving the Net

Doctor's Diagnosis:

Get to the slot = Earn a shot!

I've been thinking a lot lately about all the wonderful online skills that exist, wonderful flips, drags, spins and fakes, and realized one thing... Driving the Net is a Lost Art!

I remember being a child playing hockey for a coach who was a huge Bobby Orr fan and wondering at what point we were going to learn anything other than crossing over hard into the slot with one hand on the stick and the and the other sticking out to protect the puck. It wasn't until my playing days at Benchwarmia University that I realized the value o

f busting through the slot like a bat out of hell to avoid being angled into the corners. So, I've decided to dig up this lost art and investigate when do you drive the net, and what turns an ordinary approach at the net into an absolute path of destruction that ends up in a G-note!

1) To drive or not to drive?

First off, a forward crossing the blueline on the attack is

a mere spectator unless he is actively gauging the distance between the D-M

an's toe caps and the blueline... a.k.a. the Gap (insert big echoing voice here). A tight gap means you have no choice but to bust wide and be prepared to engage in an epic battle for the space behind the D. You can bet your bottom dollar (Think Little Orphan Annie has that copyrighted?) that the D is going to pivot out to get you and isn't going to be in that great of a mood!

2) Where do we go now? (Bet you can't help hearing Axle Rose's voice in your head while you read that)

At this point your North/South journey quickly changes to East/West and a few unavoidable forces of nature take control. The first is a defenceman's best friend, a scientific principal known as "Inertia" and the second is centrifical force, which is on your side if you can figure out how to harness and control it! Remember when you were a kid driving in the back seat of a car and the driver thought it was hilarious to quickly change direction and send you slamming into the far door of the car, or better yet little brother or sister? Unbeknownst to you, you weren't changing direction as you flew accross the seat, the car was changing around you: your body was actually remaining along the original path that the car was travelling. Inertia then, is any the rseitance of any mass to a change in direction, or desire to remain along the original path. When you accelerate hard down the boards, you've set your momentum along a linear path directly into the corner! The defenceman loves you for this because it takes a lot of skill to overcome this linear momentum when you decide to start crossing over on a curved path into the slot! It takes an aggressive commitment to changing your momentum in order to minimize the natural pull to the outside... you better be willing to lean!

3) Use the force!

Any moving body has 2 components to and force that acts on it: One Vertical and One Horizontal. Basically put, the stiffer you stand, the more the vertical force acts on you (Gravity). Likewise, the more you lean, the more the horizontal force comes into play. Everyone knows, Newton's third law that every force has an equal and opposite force (Do they really?), so it's obvious that in a net-driving situation, we want the force we are pumping out with our legs to result in a force coming back from the ice with a huge horizontal component! Well you gotta be willing to lean like a mofo in order to allow this to happen. Now let's face it's not possible to lean as much as a speed skater within the realms of ice hockey, but you get the idea...

"The more you lean, the more of the force produced by your massive tree trunk sized quads gets transferred into making move toward the center of the curved path you are on Likewise, the straighter you tand, the more gravity works to keep you stapled to the ice along a linear path!"

The moral of the story... don't be shy to experiment with leaning in practice and push your limitations... don't be afraid to fall!

Teach me how to Toey

Eeinie Meenie Mienie Mo....
Catch a puck by the toe....
Fake the shot, don't let it go...
What just happened, the D will never know!

I know that's not how the song goes, but thats how this blog is going to go because it's loaded up and ready to go!

The essence of a toe drag is very complex. Most used to think that the move was a mythical creature that was seldom seen and only came out once in a millennium during a rare penalty shot occurrence, but (note to self) this is far from the truth... Backhand Toeys are in and definitely here to stay(not to mention they are just down right dirty)!

Don't believe me? Just ask Kris Versteeg!

Or maybe pavel Datsyuk

Toe drags can be traced back to the medieval times, when knights used to drag their opponents by their toes after a glorious victory in the jousting arena. The winning knight would display charisma and poise as he would wave to the on looking crowd while dragging and publicly humiliating his opponent after his tournament victory. You didn't believe all that Balderdash did you? Well who invented it then? The early pioneers of danglin’ of course. No, no, not Gordon Bombay, the Minnesota Miracle man who came up with the “Triple Deke”, but the legends of the National Hockey League who changed fast stick handling into danglin’ as we know it. Please applaud the Chicago Blackhawks of the 1960’s, specifically two hockey icons, Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull. The story goes that one of them, (I could not determine who. If anyone has their numbers, please call them and ask) got their stick jammed in the door and the blade bent but did not break. This made a curve on the stick and after some test fires; the inventor determined that the puck can be better controlled with a curve in the stick (no joke, true story).

Stickhandling became more controlled and efficient. Pucks were now able to grab onto the blade, shots became faster and more accurate and of course, the toey was born.
The exact date of the first toey cannot be determined, but the first time that player decided to skip the old how she goin’ through the legs of a d-man, and pull the puck backwards into the “unreachable” area, the most deadliest move of hockey took form. And it has evolved ever since.

It comes in two major forms, forehand and backhand toey, and with some practice can be easily executed. Practicing toeys can be as easy as getting a tennis ball or puck and just repeating the drag over and over again. The sweethands product from Hockeyshot.ca is a wicked product to help practice this in so many ways. Give the picture a click and check it out, definitely a basement or garage must have!

The video from youtube we just posted will definitely help as well.
If you can't backhand tory after watching this... I'm not sure if there is any hope!!!

Hope this sheds some light into a realm thats almost impossible to imagine pulling off in a gam, let alone a practice!

Until next time,

Doctor Hockey

Doctor Hockey Presents...

Doctor's Diagnosis:

Stay Sharp Out There!

So you are in line at the hockey section of the local sports store waiting to get your kids skates sharpened and ahead of you is "Super Enthusiastic Hockey Dad Guy", you know the guy with more muscle tone for a gentleman his age, the almost made it but hurt my knee guy who spends his time now running a buisness from him cell phone wearing matching minor hockey jackets with his son? Anyway, you can't help but overhear him talking to the slightly moustached teenager sharpening skates behind the counter. "Yeah, he's got a big game tonight, ice in that barn is cold and hard so we are going to have to go with a 3/8ths and shift the radius back toward the heel a abit.... blah blah blah". Other than than sinking feeling in your stomache that you get when the pro ahead of you is ordering a grande caramal frappa lappa cappa-cino at Starbucks, you can't help but notice that the boy is only 8!!! Nonetheless, when you get up there and Superdad walks away rubbing little Billy's hair, the best thing you can shamefully blurt out is "I like 'em real sharp".

The unfortunate truth about minor hockey: Although people make choosing a new stick a "personal and intimate outing", but many of us are too quick put the fate of our skates in the hands of a complete stranger with a grindstone! Some of us may feel fortunate to find a guy who "does a really good job", but what does "good job" really mean? Can Marv at the community center be doing a better job of making them "real sharp"? What type of questions should we ask about the condition of our skates? What do we look for when theyare handed back to us to assess the job done? What types of sharpening technologies are out there and how do they differ? and What the hec does 3/8 radius mean?

I know I was supposed to do a skill analysis this week, but I was motivated to do this peace on skate sharpening by an experience I had with one of my defencemen on my minor hockey team. All year I have been watching this kid struggle to master skills, or fall down unintentionally, and while I focused on technique and motivation, I truly overlooked his skates.

Asking his dad, he was always claiming to have gotten them sharpened, but judging by the horror that I saw when I finally looked at his skate... too much, and definitely not by qualified people! I was in complete disbelief not only by how much the metal had been ground, but by how the skate had repeatedly been sharpened from tip to tip, leaving a crescent shaped blade!

Let's slow time down for a second, and take a look at what aspects of the skate blade need to be considered before we thank the young gentleman who just sharpened them!

1) Keep on a "Rockering 'em baby"

It takes a skilled skate sharpener to establish a curvature on the blade that is in line with the position, height, weight and body type of a player. The curvature established is measured in feet and referred to as a radius, as if the blade was part of a large circle. The location of the skates radius, is basically, the balance point of the blade and optimally should be located directly under the ball of the players foot. Generally a typical senior hockey skate will have a 9' or 11' radius, whereas a goalie skate will have a 28' radius. Rocker radius is critical to the players balance. If it is shifted to far forward, the blade will give the player a tipping forward feeling. A proper radius will make a player appear to have a natural knee bend in their stride and give them an uncanny ability to be able to accelerate through curves with full crossovers. A simple test to see where the radius is, is to stand the blade up on a flat surface and push down on the skate from the opening, simlating body weight. If you do this right, you should be able to tell whether the boot has a tendency to tip forward, or backward with balanced pressure coming down the leg.

2) "Hollow" out there, we're on the air...!
This is also known as the blade's radius, but it is not the same as the Rocker Radius above. Where the rocker raduis deals with the balance point along the entire length of the blade, a hollow deals with how deep the stone carves into it. The radius that the sharpening stone has been set to determines this prior to making contact with your skate. I should note here that there is no way of telling by eye (unless you have been sharpening for 30 years) what hollow was put on the blade. The skater must come to an understanding of what would be best for them ahead of time. The picture on the right sums it up pretty well! Although the math looks absolutely ridiculous, I'll sum it up in lamens terms! The sharpening wheel is "dressed" (grinded down with a diamond bit) so that the curve of the outer edge will have a certain length from end to end. Remember that the length across a half circle is known as a diameter and half of the diameter is known as the radius. Sooooo, the wider the arch on the outer stone, the longer the diameter/radius. With a bigger radius, there will be less of a hollow placed on the blade as the stone contact the blade accross a wider area. The smaller the radius placed on the sharpening wheel, the deeper the skate blade will be hollowed! I found this chart online and it seems to be a simple way to
see the resulty of different shapening stone settings and their effect on the blade!

3) Slow pass... take it easy....?

Usually you only need to worry about this with actual hand held sharpening. This just refers to slowing down how fast the stone passes along the blade. If this is done properly there will be a shiney, mirror-like appearnce on the the blade. This is important as it provides a frictionless finish for better glide and less restrictive movement! If the blade looks dull, or the markings are inconsitent, then the grinding stone was not dressed properly or your blade may be bent.

These are just a few points, and there are a lot more, but never fear! I won't leave you hanging! I would reccomend all you keeners and skate sharpening enthusiats out there google the work of Kelly Lockwood and Andrew Winchester at Brock University! They are definitely worthy of hockey pHDs!!! Also, for those looking to improve their coaching and playing in the vast number of other areas... be sure to click on the banner below and check out some of the amazing products that they feature!

Until next time....

Doctor Hockey

Play the Body Sutes!!!

I know, I know we can all sit there as armchair coaches and say Ryan Suter should have played the body in stead of the puck... but honestly have you slowed Bollands second goal against the Preds a few Sundays ago down to see how impossible it was to stop?

First off, look how far he stretches the puck when he crosses the blueline. His reach is ridiculous here! If he had not done this, the puck would have been close enough to his body that Suter would have simply had to put on the breaks and go shoulder to chest... but with the stretch, now good ol' Sutes has to start crossing over. Once you have a defenseman playing a loose gap crossing over toward you.... you got 'em! (This stretch is the hardest thig to teach a young player since it involves moving the hands away from the midline of the body, and the natural tendencey of a child from birth is to keep the hands close to this area... I don't know evolutionary thing that has to do with protecting vital organs... go ask your DNA!)

Second, and this is where any chance Suter had went right out the window, was Bollands slight use of the backhand to pull the puck back away.
Instead of pulling straight accross with the middle of his blade which usually results in a diagonal line into the defenders skates, he pulls back with the backhand just enough to make sure suter can't reach with a poke check. Watch the video at full speed and you'll see it happens so fast, it's almost hard to notice he's doing it. Most minor hockey players don't realize the benefit of understanding the entire blade of the stick and it's six parts. The see it as "the blade" and are often limited by how many tools they have in the good old "offensive toolbox" that they bring to work with them everyday.

The third thing about this goal that definitely needs attention is the "Tuck"

AKA "How's she going" on Don Cherry Rock'em Sock'em 3!

From the backhand, the puck is now back on the forehand ready to be tapped past Suter's legs, which are now beyond any recognizeable crossover technique! Notice too the position of Bolland's right shoulder and hip, both are rotated out so that there is no hope in Sute's even taking the body. Be like water young grasshopper!

Finally, and this is the most overlooked part of the success on finishing such a spectacle with a sure goal, is his position in relation to the goalie at the end of the move. Bolland could have ended up smack in the middle of the slot at the end of the move like 90% of the other players that might fluke this off on a D and not score. His proximity would give Suter a chance to counter successfully (once he gets his legs untangled that is!) and help the goalie stay in the middle of the net!

Instead, Bolland taps the puck through the legs hard enough to ensure that he ends up in a full backhand stretch which ensures puck protection. Look back in the last pic above and you'll see Bolland stated the move right where 11 is in this pic. Thats a hell of a lateral movement for one move! This puts himself far enough to the right of the crease that the tender has to move with him. (Gotta love the backcheckers in staring in awe at the puck...Trailer anyone?)

Well, we all know how this story ends...

having gained the advantage on the helpless Defenceman and the goalie, Bolly cuts back in and

tucks her away five hole as the tender frantically tries to buterfly slide accross... Hasek would have stopped this for sure, since there is no five hole lying on your back!

There are huge lessons to be learned for minor hockey players in this goal:

Work on your reach! Not enough players understand how rolling the wrist and getting the top hand of the stick away from the body adds at least another foot and a half to their reach!

Aim to move east to west; executing a move is the easy part, getting away from an angry embarrassed defenceman after is the key!

Get the Goalie to move; Stop goin in right down the middle , pull th goalie to the side so that areas of the net open up for you. Sure, goalies can come accross perfectly cutting down the angles, but not often, especially in minor hockey!

Tune in next week when Doctor Hockey visits with a skill breakdown!