Why Ice Hockey Players Should Toe Drag More
When to use the toe-drag to gain a competitive advantage
Let’s get the controversial thing out of the way early… players should toe-drag more often.
If you’re a coach or parent around youth hockey, you are probably thinking right now that this coach Revak fellow has lost the plot. Before judging any further, let me explain.
Beating Players 1v1
The toe drag can be beautiful. Most people think about the toe-drag being used to beat a player 1v1. Those players with a particular toe-drag affinity will try the maneuver against any and all players that try to defend them.
This usually isn’t an issue at a lower level when defenders are poor or cannot legally use body checking yet. Those players tend to continue using their toe-drag despite a dwindling success rate. If a player goes to the toe-drag too often, they’ll eventually open themselves up to heavy contact.
Due to all of these reasons, coaches often want to rid a player of their tendency to toe-drag. What really should happen is the toe drag should be repurposed and evolved in its application, instead.
The Toe-Drag Catch… Same Skill, Different Application
As with everything, it’s all about reading the environment and choosing the right moment to use it.
Effective usage of the toe-drag at higher levels of ice hockey is during puck receptions. Players are able to change the angles on the defenders and improve their first touch/movement.
The toe-drag catch is a great way to collect a puck within movement and change an attacking angle on the defense. Players can catch the puck into a useful spot and/or evade pressure.
Situational Usage
Another example is a defenseman receiving the puck via a toe-drag catch where they blend their reception into a turn away from forechecking pressure.
Toe drag reception and shot is a great piece of situational skill underneath the underhandling category. The receiver pulls the puck into a great spot to immediately shoot.
Alex Tuch making this skill look too easy.
This can be done by centers on the breakout to efficiently navigate pressure within movement to exit the zone and go on the attack. Watch Auston Matthew (#34, Blue) pull the puck to his forehand side. He is using the toe drag reception to lead him where he wants to go and in a good spot for the next movement.
Or the toe-drag catch can pull a player away from oppositional pressure.
And lead to a goal.
This is a part of underhandling. Here are a few more situations:
Soft catch shooting to quickly unload a shot before the goalie is ready for a shot.
Winger pulling the puck into a loaded position on the breakout or into a puck protection position.
Players receiving the puck immediately into a turnaway move away from pressure.
Moving around a poke checking defender’s stick.
Defensemen skating into a puck from their defensive partner and walking the blueline.
These are just a few situational uses of when players can effectively toe drag more. What are some further situations that you can come up with?
Further Reading
The saucer pass is lazy… try using these types of passes instead
Quick shooting isn’t simply a 1-timer… use soft catch shooting too!