Golden Rules for Goalies

My Golden Rules for defensemen and for forwards began many years ago, although each gets some fine tuning occasionally. It didn’t take long to figure out that it was appropriate to have Golden Rules for goaltenders, too. It is interesting to note that several of the rules are the same or similar to those for defensemen and forwards. These are items that coaches should be using to teach goalies and to monitor their progress. They are things that players should strive to master as they progress up through the youth ranks and on to high school, juniors or college.

- Stay alert at all times, no matter where the puck is on the ice. Of course, that does not mean you have to be in a crouch at all times, but it does mean that the eyes and the mind have to always follow play.

- Learn the basic moves and techniques as soon as possible and work to excel at them. The basic moves and techniques are skate saves, pad stack, V drops, stick or pad saves with puck control,

Golden Rules for Forwards:

These Golden rules are the key items players should be striving to master as they progress up through the ranks to high school and college. The best players at the highest levels of hockey follow the Golden Rules most often. A player of average skills and speed will do very well if these rules are mastered. While the rules are basic and seem obvious, it may take many years of concentrated effort for most players to automatically perform them properly. This automatic reaction is what coaches should be teaching and players working towards.

1. Know what your job is — in all three zones — and do it each time. Don’t try to do a teammate’s job or you will fail at your own. Ask questions in practice if you are unsure about any situations during play of face-offs. Intelligent hockey is what wins games.

2. Backcheck at full speed until you have someone covered when coming back to your zone. Backchecking at full speed is simply the complement of attacking at full

Golden Rules for Defensman:

These Golden rules are the key items players should be striving to master as they progress up through the ranks to high school and college. The best players at the highest levels of hockey follow the Golden Rules most often. A player of average skills and speed will do very well if these rules are mastered. While the rules are basic and seem obvious, it may take many years of concentrated effort for most players to automatically perform them properly. This automatic reaction is what coaches should be teaching and players working towards.
1. Always back your partner — on the offensive blue line, in the neutral zone and especially in the defensive zone.

2. Always one defenseman in front of the net when the opposition has the puck in your zone or there is danger that they may gain possession. For young defenseman, (mites through early PeeWees) the rule should always be one defenseman in front of the net when the puck is in your zone.

3. Do not leave the

And this is one of the reasons why we practice the Inside Mohawk technique. Defenseman will also use this when picking up the puck and transitioning to open up the ice and look for a pass; forwards will use this down low in the offensive zone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsAiPzVm7tc