Articles
Composure keys goalie success in playoffs
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 14 March 2013 15:20
By Justin Johnson
USA Hockey’s Minnesota District Associate Goalie Coach-in-Chief
Playoffs are here and with them come a great amount of anticipation, excitement and pressure. Great events, like playoff hockey, always seem to come with emotional swings, momentum shifts and defining moments. For goalies, being prepared and at your best in pressure performances like these – hinges on your ability to manage difficult emotions throughout the game.
To run a short bench or not
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 14 March 2013 14:58
By Teri Balow
Waconia 12U B Hockey
To run a short bench or not?
My answer is 100 percent no. Here is the story.
My husband has been the head coach for the last five years – two years as a 10U B head coach and the last two as the 12U B head coach.
This is the first year that our association has won the chance to go to Regions, with the opportunity to go to State. Our team consisted of 13 girls, five last-year 12U B, one Goalie (first-year 12U B) and seven first-year skaters. One of these skaters just took up skating and hockey this year.
This week's cover: March 6, 2013
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 14 March 2013 16:06
Click the image above for a PDf of this week's edition of Let's Play Hockey.
The Hockey Doc: Intensity of pregame practices
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 14 March 2013 14:48
By Dr. Rob LaPrade
http://drrobertlaprademd.com
Question: What is the suggested type of practice a day before a game? Would it be wise for a coach to do a full skate practice or dryland practice the day before a playoff game?
Answer: This is a very good question. Unfortunately, there is no one correct answer for all age groups due to the different physical requirements, length of games, and amount of contact involved.
Multi-sport players face uphill battle
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- Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 March 2013 19:20
By Tom Lynn
When most hockey people are “on record” about hockey prospects playing other sports, they encourage it. Our factory for Minnesota college players and NHL picks, the Upper Midwest High School Elite League, has an explicit policy protecting the status of its players who also participate in Fall high school sports.
Further, recent scientific research has shown that playing multiple sports decreases injury risk and increases performance levels. Injury risk is reduced because different sports stress the development of different parts of the body, and an athlete’s performance is heightened both by the more balanced musculature and as well as brain development, where exposure to differing perceptual challenges (as opposed to those of just one sport) promotes development of better motor skills, peripheral vision and cognition (what we might call “hockey sense”).
