The Simple Stuff:
(From PlayBetterHockey.com)
- Learn what works - if a particular drill seems to help, do it more!
- Learn from others - teammates and coaches can often be great teachers
- Eat healthy, get good sleep
- Think positive
- Learn from your mistakes
- Practice your drills
- Proper stretching
- Proper pre-game warmup
- Play smart hockey
- Use proper fitting equipment
- Improve your strength
- Improve response time
The Stuff Captains Are Made Of:
(Source: wallaceminorhockey.ca)
1. Be the first one to come on the ice and the last one to come off
2. Lead by example
3. Sometimes the best way to lead, is to give the puck up to someone else
4. Your attitude off the ice is just as important as your attitude on it
5. The best leaders accept all the blame and share all of the credit
6. Leaders don't need to do it better than anyone else, but they need to practice it more than anyone else
7. A kind word to a teammate tends to result in a goal in kind
8. You'll get to places a lot faster if you're pulling your team up than if you're pushing them back
9. Celebrate even the smallest achievement of a teammate, and you'll notice how much more often they strive to achieve
10. Don't let anyone on the team talk or distract when the coach has something to say
The Stuff The Superstars Are Made Of:
(Source: all quotes credited individually)
A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.
Wayne Gretzky
The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.
Wayne Gretzky
I don't like my hockey sticks touching other sticks, and I don't like them crossing one another, and I kind of have them hidden in the corner. I put baby powder on the ends. I think it's essentially a matter of taking care of what takes care of you.
Wayne Gretzky
Forget about style; worry about results.
Bobby Orr
I've been a very lucky guy. I played on championship teams. I played for Canada. I've won some awards and I'm very proud of those accomplishments. But I don't think there's anything greater than to come home and to be recognized at home. This is the pinnacle.
Bobby Orr
Staying out of the penalty box will really help.
Bobby Orr
As a captain, I think it's important that the players really know who you are and what you stand for, what your beliefs are, and to be consistent in those if things are going good or things are going bad.
Mark Messier
I've never really spent a lot of time thinking about my individual accomplishments actually.
Mark Messier
One thing I hate is people screaming at me. If you want me to do something, talk to me. When someone screams at me to hurry up, I slow down.
Mario Lemieux
Nobody's a natural. You work hard to get good and then work to get better. It's hard to stay on top.
Paul Coffey
You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave - win or lose.
Gordie Howe
You've got to love what you're doing. If you love it, you can overcome any handicap or the soreness or all the aches and pains, and continue to play for a long, long time.
Gordie Howe
Red line, back. Blue line, back. Far blue line, back. Far red line, back. And you have 45 seconds to do it. Get used to this drill. You'll be doing it *a lot*. Why? Because the legs feed the wolf, gentlemen. I can't promise you we'll be the best team at Lake Placid next February. But we will be the best conditioned. That I can promise you.
Herb Brooks
When you pull on that jersey, the name on the front is a hell of alot more important than the one on the back.
Herb Brooks
Putting on the same jerseys doesn’t make a team. You’re still just a collection of individuals until you find a common goal.
Harry Sinden on Team Canada (1972) Summit on Ice (17)
"I've been gifted. The world is full of people who not only haven't been gifted, but have had some thing taken away from them. All I have to do is see one of them, some little girl who can't walk, and then I don't think I'm such a hero anymore. I think that compared to them, I'm a very small article."
Bobby Orr
"It's too easy when you're not winning to look for excuses and point at others for reasons. You can say 'Oh well, it's this guys fault or they don't do this well' or you can say 'I've got to play better and contribute more'. You've got to find another gear and come up with big games."
Sean Burke