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This week’s tip:
Handling the puck
(with a bonus toe drag tip)
Player: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Bryan Lerg
Remember Bryan Lerg’s overtime game-winning goal against Hershey on March 27? The one where he made a beautiful toe-drag move around Hershey’s Keith Aucoin and roofed the puck into the net? It was the type of goal that will be replayed on Penguins highlight reels for seasons to come, and it also entrenched Lerg as one of the team’s most talented stickhandlers. Aside from skating, stickhandling is the most important skill in hockey. Lerg does it extremely well. Read on to learn his secrets and how you can make a wicked toe-drag move of your own.
Hands and body: “When you have the puck, you’re carrying it ahead of you most of the time. A lot of it has to do with the stick position of your opponent. If his stick is out, sometimes you have to hold the puck out to the side.
One of the most important things is you have to use your body. Whether you’re Keven Veilleux’s size or a guy who is my size, you have to put yourself in the best position to check the puck. Being a smaller guy I sometimes have to put the puck more in my feet, use my butt and legs and sneak around. Somebody like Kev can use his reach.
Don’t look down: “Once that hitting comes for young kids, if you’re looking down at your stick all game you’re going to get drilled. You learn quick. I remember at hockey schools we’d wear these little blinders and we wouldn’t be able to look at the puck. That’s how you develop a feel for it. Just keep your head up and feel for the puck. I’m always working on it”
Neutral zone: “My preference is to stickhandle through the neutral zone. Move it around a bit because you never know if you’ll have to chip it or make a move. I keep stickhandling coming through the neutral zone to be ready for the D to make a move on me. Your options are open and you’re not just pushing the puck up.”
The right stick: “The general rule is when you’re on your skates your stick should go up to your chin. I play with a longer stick, it goes up to my nose. Whatever you’re comfortable with. The shorter your stick, it’s easier to handle the puck. But if you can play with a longer stick and still handle the puck, go for it. It can make your shot harder.”
Practice: “I work on it every day before and after practice. Go between pucks and cones, tight turns, put it in my feet, kicking it out to myself. Stuff like that. Even try little moves that you may not try in a game, try them in practice because that makes your hand-eye and your feel for the puck better.”
And the toe-drag move: “It’s not something you just happen to do. You have to work at it. I extend my reach out to the left, when you see the defenseman or goalie coming toward you and you think you might have him, I lift the heel of my blade off the ice and pull the toe back in toward my body and bring the puck with me. Hopefully they bite on it and you get around them. It’s not always the best play, but it looks good when you do it. You have to do it at the right times.”