wazzup people. i know there are a lot of hockey people on this website. here's my story: as a kid, my parents couldnt afford to let me play hockey. it was just too expensive. well, i'm 25 now and making a decent amount of money. i've bought a variety of things i never had as a child. including full hockey gear. =D
here's my problem...i've been playing for about two months, but i hit a roadblock. i'm not very good, but i'm playing well enough to piss off the local college guys here (uaf nanook's?). i'm trying to get better, but i have no clue what positions do which. for instance, what does a forward do and what's his job? i've been looking around on the internet, but i cant find any real good information source. and i don't know what drills to do, what to practice, and pretty much the whole game of hockey.
the last two months, i've spent trying to get my skating down, skating backward, and trying to handle the puck without falling.
any tips? advice? books? videos?

i've really grown to love playing. i look forward to each mon-wed-fri like a kid looking in at a candy store. the guys i play with (pick-up games at the local rink) are good sports about me being such a noobie, but i could tell that some resent having such a novice on the ice with them. not that i care. nana.gif
but because i'm so competitive, i need to get better. i almost wish that i could hire a coach. lol

anyway, sorry for the long post. any help would be appreciated. =D

 

Hockey is totaly awesome! I'm so pumped that the NHL is Finally back. Now, i never played hockey as a kid either, but I did play a bit on my college's team. So I was able to get a bit of coaching and that helped a lot!
however, the best ways to develop your skills are to learn from the other peeps on your team (by watching them AND asking them questions) and by watching hockey games!
the NHL is back, so watch the games,... closely watch what the offence do, and what the defence do,... Heck, even watch the players on playstation (NHL 2005). as far as websites... keep searching google, I know there is good stuff on there! fing02.gif

 

I did the same thing as you did.. but I decided to go goalie..

Check at your local rink for hockey course for adult. That's what I did. It's fun and you learn the basics.

 

forwards are the skaters. there job is to go up and pressure the other team. defenders will be skating backwards a lot, trying to angle oncoming forwards into the boards.

keep practicing skating. once you have that done the rest will follow.

 

Okay a little in depth but post any questions. This just adds to tibby01's comments.

These are basic things. Let's for arguments sake cut the offensive zones, and defensive zones into 4 parts:

Click for a picture of Ice Hockey Rink

OFFENSIVE ZONE
Top Left - Hash Marks to end boards, no farther than the goal/net
Top Right - Hash Marks to end boards, no farther than the goal/net
Bottom Left - Hash Marks to Blue Line, no farther than centre ice
Bottom Right - Hash Marks to Blue Line, no farther than centre ice

DEFFENSIVE ZONE
Top Left - Hash Marks to Blue Line, no farther than centre ice
Top Right - Hash Marks to Blue Line, no farther than centre ice
Bottom Left - Hash Marks to end boards, no farther than the goal/net
Bottom Right - Hash Marks to end boards, no farther than the goal/net

5 players - Left Wing, Right Wing, Centre, Left Defence, and Right Defence

Left Wing - Stays generally on the left side of the ice. Normally is a left hand shot.
OFFENCE - Stays pretty much in the Top Left Quadrant, sometimes creeps over to the right side to be on off-wing Looks to pass or shoot from that side.
DEFENCE - Stays on the left side still, normally occupies the top left quadrant his main job is to watch the Defenceman on the Right Point (Top Left Quadrant - Defensive Zone) If he moves the player must know about it and act accordingly (ie: Moves in for a pass/shot)
- May or may not be a position during a Short Handed situation depending on location of face-off.

Right-Wing - Stays generally on the right side of the ice. Normally is a right hand shot.
OFFENCE - Stays pretty much in the Top Right Quadrant, sometimes creeps over to the keft side to be on off-wing Looks to pass or shoot from that side.
DEFENCE - Stays on the right side still, but occupies the top right quadrant. His main job is to watch the Defenceman on the Left Point (Top Right Quadrant - Defensive Zone) If he moves the player must know about it and act accordingly (ie: Moves in for a pass/shot)
- May or may not be a position during a Short Handed situation depending on location of face-off.

Centre - He's kinda like the support man. As a centreman in the Offensive Zone, you are responsible to support your wingers. In the Defensive zone he supports the Defenceman. The centreman's territory is the top two quadrants in the Offensive zone, and the bottom two in the Defensive Zone. Strategy varies but generally he follows the puck, or plays a zone, which is normally the slot area

Left Defence - Stays on the Left Point, normally left handed but could be a right handed shot. This helps on One-timers as they are on their Off-Wing
OFFENCE - Stays at The Point to keep the puck inside the blue line. Sometimes creeps in from blueline to accept a pass or open up space for other players. Again strategies vary but this is a good spot to shoot from on a Power Play as there is traffic in front of the net.
DEFENCE - Protects Net, moves players from in front of the net. Challenges puck carrier in Bottom Left Quadrant

Right Defence - Stays on the Right Point, normally right handed but could be a left handed shot. This helps on One-timers as they are on their Off-Wing
OFFENCE - Stays at The Point to keep the puck inside the blue line. Sometimes creeps in from blueline to accept a pass or open up space for other players. Again strategies vary but this is a good spot to shoot from on a Power Play as there is traffic in front of the net.
DEFENCE - Protects Net, moves players from in front of the net. Challenges puck carrier in Bottom Right Quadrant

Terms
Scoring Triangle - This is the RED triangle in the Picture. This is where 95% of the goals scored come from.
Power Play - A team has more players than the other due to a penalty.
Short Handed - A team has less players than the other due to a penalty.
Traffic - players that are in front of the goalie, possibly blocking his view.
One-Timer - A shot that is taken without stopping the puck. Takes some skill as the puck is normally moving fairly fast. Very popular on the powerplay as a goalie has a tough time stopping them.
Off-Wing - Player that is a left handed shot, plays on the right side, or vice versa. Helps on the Power Play for a one-timer shot
Point - a slang term for the blueline in either zone. A good spot for shots to come from on the power play or even-strength as the puck must go through traffic.

 

i was a hockey coach at one time and am still a player. It sounds like your not playing with people that are overally skilled, but as a wing you should be one of the first men in the offensive zone to try to evenually help score goals. They are ususally the last to the Defensive zone and should cover the Devensemen at the point.

 

There ya go. There are some basic hockey principles. You shouldn't need anymore. Anything else you'll just learn as you go along.

 

nice!
thanks man!

yea, i tried to watch a hockey game, but man they're all over the place. its like a controlled chaos. plus the puck is a blur man...

the guys i play with aren't really my team. not to mention, they're not overly friendly. i didnt sign up for adult hockey this year...i'm going to try and get a little better and comfortable on the ice before i join league.

to be honest, when we play, everyone else seems to know their position...i'm constantly out of position. but what can i say? i've only been playing two months. =P

 

just keep watching the hockey game on TV... at least thats how i learned the basics before i actually played on the ice


ummm... go canucks go!!!

 

Well what you should do when you watch a game is concentrate on one player. Find out what position he is in and study what he does.

Using Jay's example of the Vancouver Canucks, watch Todd Bertuzzi. He is arguably the best Power forward/Winger in the game right now. Watch him in the Offensive Zone and Defensive zone he plays a pretty solid game. But is tough to watch in the Defensive Zone as he is normally away from the puck, unless the Defenseman has it.

Another player to watch is Joe Niewendyk (sp??) He is again prolly the best defensive forward playing the game right now. He plays for the Florida Panthers, if you can keep an eye on him he plays a very good defensive game and is a centreman, so he's a little easier to follow cause he's closer to the puck (meaning he's on TV more often)