Here are some of the individual skills taught in the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy. Keep in mind that; 1) the program will certainly not be limited to what is outlined below, 2) most players, in the past, will have had the opportunity to practice some, if not all of these skills. The objective of this program is to master these skills at high speed in game-like situations.


Including flip pass, saucer pass, forehand, backhand, not telegraphing when or where the pass is going, quick release of pass, accuracy, speed of pass, leading passes, one touch passes, stretch passes, timing of pass, passing while moving in all directions and on cornering, receiving hard passes, receiving passes in skates and gloves, off the body, off the boards, avoiding suicide passes, taking passes from behind, while in stride, picking passes up around the boards as a winger, open area passing, give and go pass, drop pass, camouflaging the pass, communication between passer and receiver, eye contact on passing, receiver getting in position for pass, creating open ice to receive pass, taking passes at top speed without breaking stride etc.


Stationary, moving, off either foot, shooting while both feet moving when driving the net, forehand, backhand, one timers, snap shot, wrist shot, slap shot, shooting while moving laterally and moving back, tip-ins, redirects, shooting off glass to clear the zone, angles for shooting off boards on dump ins, shooting on the power play, when not to shoot, breakaways, bad angle shots, getting in position to shoot, analysis of goal scoring, in tight under the cross bar, fake shot etc. Scoring strategies would be included here, wrap arounds, scoring under pressure etc.

With a limit of 26 players per group we will be able to, not only videotape the player's shooting but also, use video print technology we use with the professional players in skating analysis to breakdown each player's shooting technique. These video prints along with slow motion video will be reviewed with each player.


Developing soft quick hands, stickhandling narrow, wide, separating puck from body, in front, on the side, diagonal, protecting the puck, split vision, seeing the ice, all skating movements forward, backward, laterally while handling the puck, puck in and out of skates, spin-o-rama, deception with the puck, giving and taking back the puck, dekes. We will also experiment with different lengths of sticks, curves and lies.


Poke check, stick check, stick press, stick lift, sweep check, angling, body contact, body checking, hip check, learning how to receive a check, how to use forearm to fend off opponent's stick as well as their body, and to take checks along the boards, strategies regarding forechecking and backchecking, tracking, checking and screens in front of the net, picks, when not to park in front of the oppositions net, self-defence in contact situations etc. This area would also include strategies when battling for the puck, checking with a purpose so pucks don't get through you, keeping your stick on the puck when making contact.

Body checking dummies are used as a regular part of our body checking program so that players can develop more confidence hitting and a better ability to get lower and drive into a player when there is physical contact.