Differentiating Between a Bad, Average, and Good Hockey Player
How to tell what type of player you are, and how to become a better player
At every level of hockey, there are essentially three levels of players:
Bad
Average
Good
Bad
Bad players get the puck and throw it away to make it their teammate’s problem. Bad players regularly punt the puck to their opponents. Bad players worsen the condition of the puck.
Average
Average players get the puck and try to make a play. Average players start to play hockey once they receive the puck.
Good
Good players scan, read the best play, prepare for the next play before the puck arrives, and then immediately execute as the puck arrives. Good players are playing hockey away from the puck and preparing for their puck touches in advance. Good players play in the future.
Bad to Average to Good
A shift in mentality, not necessarily in outright skill, is required to go from bad to average and then from average to good. A deeper understanding is that your job is to help improve the conditions of the puck rather than score a goal on every touch.
Sometimes it’s as simple as understanding if the puck you are about to receive is an attack puck or a possession puck. Or, alternatively, it could be about proactively finding speed differentials and exploiting the opposition. Those are just two quick examples. Below are many more.
Further Reading