Unlocking Ice Hockey Performance Through Targeted Perception

Improving ice hockey game performance by guiding eyes and guiding minds

Feb 02, 2025

Before we get going… if you are a USA Hockey Level 4 or 5 coach, come visit Coach Revak in Columbus, Ohio, when the USA Hockey Level 5 Coaching Symposium comes to town August 14-17, 2025. Level 5 is only offered every two years, and Columbus is a great town to host! I’ve talked to a few subscribers and supporters who have signed up, and I am looking forward to spending time with you there. You can learn more and sign up here - https://www.usahockey.com/level5

“It's not what you look at, it's what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau

I’ve talked about scanning and perception a ton and will continue to go down this rabbit hole as it’s a goldmine for improving performance.

Once players see, they can start to perceive and make decisions. The better they do both of those, the better their performance. A common evolution is:

Skating
Skating with the puck
Skating with the puck with your head up
Skating head up with the puck and figure out what I can do ONCE I receive the puck
Skating head up with the up and having an idea of what I will do BEFORE the puck gets to me

The faster we can go through this framework, the faster we can think the game and perform better.

GeoGussr

GeoGuessr is a game where players guess locations from Google Street View imagery. A player is shown an image, and then they must guess where in the world they were dropped. The closer you are, the more you score.

The top players are so good that GeoGussr had to limit the information they showed. Players have developed techniques and mental databases of patterns and information to analyze the images presented to them.

Similarly, a hockey player must look around to gather information. Simply scanning to see isn’t enough… the player must pull specific critical information from the environment to improve their performance.

Analyzing Your Environment

Nuances in the environment give clues. More than a general look, players and coaches need to look for critical information in the environment. Coaches should guide their players' eyes and minds to where and what they should be looking for. The “why” behind this also helps, especially when it comes to the concept of variability.

It’s amazing the level of detail the top players think about. This is similar to what you’d see toward the top of the NHL. For example, Kevin Bieksa mentioned on a broadcast how the spin of a pass would affect a one-time shot.

“A righty passing it to a righty is easier to one-time because the puck is spinning clockwise...
The spin of it, it’s subtle...but it helps out in shooting that puck harder.”

In GeoGuessr, anything can be a clue. Yet the top players can become not just more accurate, but also faster. They know where to look such as sidewalks, road lines, electricity poles, and even native vegetation and soil. Here is a video diving deeper:

Quick Perception/Action Loop

Perception is a key component. Famous GeoGuessr “Rainbolt” became widely known due to an ability to guess well after seeing an image for only 0.1 seconds… truly remarkable.

Given such a short time to look at the image, your brain must quickly look to the areas with the most important information.

Or given a lack of information, use other hints to deduce where you are or what is likely to happen next. Here is an example where Rainbolt is finding a location based on a shadow and time of day.

Ice Hockey Perception

Improving ice hockey performance requires knowing where to look and what to look for. Just swinging your head around to ‘check a box’ is not enough. Players must gather specific information to help them make decisions.

Coaches should direct their players' attention to quality information. Players should consider where to focus their attention and what information they need to gather.

Final coaching note: When creating practice plans, it’s important to create a perception-rich practice where players can enhance their perception and decision-making.

Further Reading