Hockey IQ with Andrew "Albe" Alberts: Shoulder Checking

This episode is powered by NHL Sense Arena. Hello, hockey friends and families around the world, and welcome to a special edition of Our Kids Play Hockey. I'm Leah Elias, joined by Mike Benelli. You know, we talk about hockey IQ a lot on this show, all the time, in fact. And specifically, we talk about how it's one of the areas we believe needs more attention in youth hockey. Seeing the ice, reading the play, knowing where to go, making the right decision before the puck even gets to you. We all know what hockey IQ looks like, but do we know how to teach it? Maybe more importantly, how can a young player train it? Those are the questions we want to dig into a lot deeper, which is why we're excited to introduce a brand new monthly micro show powered by our title sponsor, NHL Censorina. And in each episode, we're gonna take one hockey IQ concept, break it down to what players should be seeing and thinking, and give young players a way to put that lesson into practice. This is totally a show you should listen to or watch with your kids. Also, joining us each month to do that is someone who knows a little something about reading the game at the highest level. He's a former NHL defenseman with more than 450 games played, and now he's a member of the NHL Sense Arena team. You know him from the NHL as Andrew Alberts. Around here, we just call him Albi. Albi, great to have you here on the show.

Thanks for having me back. I'm trying to uh I'm trying to figure out when I get that robe for like the fifth or sixth time to wear, you know? The uh yeah at the hand on SNL. Yeah, the five timers club.

Yeah, we send mugs out. We're gonna get you one of these mugs. I think that's a very important thing to have on your desk. Uh, there's been a few reoccurring guests on the show, Albi, but I think you're actually leading the pack on that. So, not quite an NHL record, but you can have it. Excellent.

Okay, excellent. I well, I hope I'm providing the feedback that parents like and and kids can grab some uh some information from to help them out with their game, their development, uh, you know, on and off the ice.

No, you you totally are, brother. And like I said, like that's why we're doing this show. Again, we talk about it a lot, but talk without action is just talk. So we wanted to take action on this show. And um, Albi, look, we're starting the series with something incredibly fundamental, which is shoulder checks. Okay. Even if your kid is under the checking age, you're gonna want to listen to this episode because Alba, you mentioned that when players come back from the summer hockey time period, one of the first things you notice is that their understanding of time and space can slip. Tell us what you're seeing.

So uh great, great way to bring that up. And and and I think we all see it as coaches, right? It's like, and you're always wondering, Mike, when your players come back, what what condition are they gonna be in physically? But mentally is the other aspect of it is is how are they gonna perceive the play going on? How are they gonna relate to their teammates? How they have new teammates is another thing too, but like how are they gonna react being back on the ice, bringing back into the physical confrontation, the physical play, uh, the speed of the play, uh, guys not turning turning off your check and flying by like you do in summer hockey, because it is such a big transition. Nobody wants to get hurt in summer hockey. Oh, we all want to score goals, and so getting back into the habits and the fundamentals, as you mentioned, Lee, is such a big aspect of that game, especially for young kids to teach them the good habits. Um, but one thing I also want to point out is this fundamentals are something NHLers practice throughout the year as well. So it's not just these young kids, but the older kids and those that we assent to be, those NHLers or those PWHLers is what we want to be. They're doing the same thing that these young kids are going to be doing, and I'll put my kids through a practice. So it's the fundamentals are a huge part of the game.

I think it's I think it's funny that when you watch pros train, um, they are actually doing more of the slower, deliberate thinking the game and and fixing little pieces. Like they're not going through, and you know, obviously there's certain times in the summer and in training, they're gonna go at full speed for certain aspects of their game, but they're really breaking down each piece and then and then really deliberately training that piece and getting the positive reps. And we talk about it. I mean, you know, your product is the best at showing this, but like you just get positive reps that are always the same as opposed to just going fast, but really doing it the wrong way. And I think that's sometimes like you know, we we see this, especially like I'm looking at teams now coming into training camp, and you know, I'm not worrying about conditioning and if the kids are in shape. I mean, I I think those days, I don't know. I I I personally think those days are over. I think I think players are always in condition. Like, you don't need two weeks of training camp to get ready to play, but you do need, like you said, the confidence and the understanding and the timing of how the game's played again and protecting yourself, making sure you're putting yourself in a really good place to because to to know that, hey, this is the time of year where guys and girls they want to prove that they can play, they want to get in the lineup, they are gonna play hard, they are gonna they're they're gonna, you know, they're gonna be going at it, and what are you doing uh to up your game in making sure that you know in this episode we're talking about shoulder checking, but you're you're always you're looking and saying, what are you doing to put yourself in a better situation to protect yourself, but to make your game even faster?

Some context out of that is is it's the one word details. It's like what are the details that you're focusing on? And it's way different. We have to understand, parents, understand it's way different different from an NHL player working on details than it is my 10-year-old working on details. That being said, they are still fundamentals that are a huge part of understanding the game, awareness, uh, time and space that go into almost every single play on the ice. There's there's a race for a puck every 4.5 seconds. Think of what goes into that, right? So fundamentals are a huge part of the game.

Yeah, I think a reoccurring thing you're gonna hear on this show is is us saying time and space and ways to create time and space and use time and space. And I think for this show, for this specific episode, let's talk about you know, shoulder checking, or again, at the younger age, is just separating a player from the puck, right? And that is a hockey IQ skill, right? So, Albi, tell me about that. Like when you look for a shoulder check, what should you be looking for? And how does that apply to time and space?

Sure. And Lee, just to begin, this and just so parents understand, too, like like there's shoulder checks in the offensive zone, there's shoulder checks in the neutral zone, there's shoulder checks in the defensive zone. I'll I'll touch on more of my experience, the D zone, just because I'm I would go back and retreat pucks for a living, right? So that's what I what I get into. Um, but when you look at and you break it down on a on a on a small level, a granular level, just for like the the key details for young kids, especially, young kids especially, it's just knowing what is behind you. Because again, in this example that I'm talking to and speaking to, it's going to be retrieving a dump in or retrieving a soft chip behind you. The defenseman needs to turn, right? And so you can see everything in front of you, but if you're not shoulder checking to understand what's behind you, time, space, pressure, direction of pressure, um, and then what are your open lanes? What are your open options? Do we want to move it across ice away from pressure? Do we want to come up the strong side? So all these questions go through the head uh of a player going back to making a play. Do I want to take a different angle at the puck? Do I want to come in a speed? Do I want to slow down? Do I want to provide deception? And I and I don't want to keep going too far down the rabbit hole here, but for young kids, it's just as simple as understanding what is behind you. And so a key detail, a left shoulder check, a right shoulder check, and then look to your partner or look to the other side of the ice, the safe area of ice. Um, so those are kind of like my first three. Uh, I guess uh if I have an agenda going back to the puck, it's right, it's it's shoulder check left, shoulder check right, where's the pressure? And where is my next play? Where's my open space? Where can I move the puck to a safe place?

Yeah, and I think that's all, you know, and because I don't think, and I think in our our world, right, you can't only depend on communication with your teammate and your goalie and other players on the ice. I use the analogy, uh, I just used it the other day with a couple of families. Like you're driving your kids to school now and you're getting there and you're rushing and you're in an intersection. Are you gonna depend on your 10-year-old to tell you the coast is clear to pull out into the intersection? No, you're gonna look. You're gonna say, get your big head out of the way. I gotta look and see. And you're gonna look, you're gonna look, and then you're gonna make a play, right? And I think it's the same thing in hockey. Like, yes, the goalie could be yelling, man on, man on. Another defensive could say, you know, chip it, I'm open, I'm over here. You need to get in the habit of making that decision to look and then read and then make your own decision. Because if you're depending on the communication of everybody else, like I think that's where honestly, you know, at the very least, you lose the puck, but at the worst, you're getting hurt. And I think this is where uh you can so and you can speed your game up so much more when you already have the advantage of knowing which way you're gonna go prior to getting to the puck. And and but that's a uh but Andrew, correct me if I'm wrong, right? That's a learned habit. Like that is not you know shows don't do that. Like you have to learn that and then and then rep it out. Do it, do it, do it, and do it.

I want to dive in there too, Albi, before you answer that question, because again, you gotta look at this from all age groups. I think so often when the puck gets we'll just say dumped in the corner and moved to the corner. I'm not always so sure my D have a plan, other than oh, I've got to get to that puck, right? So when Mike's talking about building the habits, yeah, there's gotta be a starting point. You mentioned like the again from an NHL standpoint, there's like 15 to 20 things that could happen on that play, right? But at the youth age, it's like, hey, there's gotta be a first step, right? And then a second step. Maybe hey, there's three options I want you to look at. Because what I see a lot is kids get in, they just throw it, they throw it, they don't look, they don't take a second with the puck. So again, maybe talk to 10-year-old you, 12-year-old you, 16-year-old you here. What are like the the three quick action items? Okay, kids, this is how you start.

Okay, you mentioned, yeah, yeah, and I'll break it down because because I want to give our youngest audience the three keys first. Um, but so we talked about the left and right shoulder check, correct? Yes, and then you had mentioned a plan. So that plan has to involve one, what is the angle I'm taking at the puck? Because you know, or you guys understand this as coaches, but as a young player, you might not always understand this. But if you go directly at a puck, you're leaving yourself with no options and you're presenting an easier target for the fore checker to come in, uh, play the body, or take the puck because you don't have options. So you need to take an angle at the puck, which is huge. So we have shoulder check left, right? We take an angle at the puck, and then you have to think all right, do I pick this up on my left, my forehand? Am I a left ear or a righty? Do I pick it up on the backhand? And that's gonna dictate how you can move that puck either to the far side, to the strong side, to the middle, whatever it might be. So three key figures the shoulder check, the angle on the puck, and how I'm gonna pick up the puck off the boards on my 400 backhand. And I think if you can solve those three in your head quickly as you make the turn and you're moving to the puck, because everything happens so fast, we know this. You're one, protect yourself, and two, you're gonna give yourself options. Uh, and three, hopefully your teammates are providing the support for you. So that's kind of how I would look at it from a 10-year-old or a 10 U level. Um, and these drills are easy to do, it's simple as uh a coach jumping a puck in with no four checker, and then you just continue, you know, you build up uh a progressiveness of one four checker forcing them behind the now the four checkers forcing them up the wall. So easy ways to do this, but those three things are kind of what's gonna provide the building blocks for these young players.

So I'm gonna say two things real quick. One is that especially in like in youth hockey, I know there's so much focus on stats, goals, assists. Uh you know, if your coach is worth their salt, like this is something we see as extremely valuable, right? Because you're creating the next play, you're creating the next offensive play. And the kids who just throw it, you know, it becomes a 50-50 situation usually, and we don't know how it's gonna play out. That's real strength defensively. I'm not gonna even say defense, right? Defensively to do that now. You also mentioned practice, right? And and gang, you're gonna know where I'm going here, but there's a reason why we're doing this show, okay? At practice, you might get two or three reps if your coach really knows what they're doing. You can practice, do some progression, but over the course of a season, right? You you gotta fail to learn this, by the way, right? Like, this is one of those things you gotta fail at to learn. So you need the reps to do it. One of the things we love about Albi, and the conversation that we're having right now is exactly the same conversations they have when they're developing drills for Sense Arena, right? And I think that's a connection point we wanted to make with this show. Of they're not just going, hey, throw some colors up there and we'll see what they do. Like there's real thought into these drills. So, Albi, I do want to ask you about the drills that you've created for Sense Arena. You can give us one or more if you want, of of how this gets simulated, how it transfers, which is really the key, and how all of us can get we'll say unlimited reps. I mean, that's not unfair of these skills that we just can't get in a practice situation with a full team.

Yeah, absolutely. Um, and so I first want to say that that again, this skill is used all over the ice. It's not just a defensive zone, it's it's forwards going into a corner to protect a puck, understanding where the D's coming from, understanding what's behind you, right? So, for what we've developed in censoring it is a defensive zone, a neutral zone, and an offensive zone that creates these same scenarios where there is a puck on the boards or a chipped in puck, if you will. And as the user, you need to go to the puck and you have to shoulder check uh to do the drill. And once you shoulder check, we then provide a color in front of you. Now, the idea is for somebody that's a little more seasoned or a 10-year-old, 11-year-old that's done it a few times, is that every time you shoulder check, your job is to understand what is behind you. So you have to remember what is behind you. So, as a progressive drill, we start this as no four checkers. It's very simple. And every player has a colored stick. So when you shoulder check, the idea is to remember where the player is, understand their direction of travel, understand what handed they are, which might be a little heavy for some 10, 11, 12-year-olds. But the idea is you get to see the color of that player and the direction they are headed. When you turn back for the puck, you should have an idea of who's available, who's open. And when you turn back, a color appears. You you know you understand that color, you should understand where the uh the stick of that same color that correlates to is, you turn and make your play. So uh it's it sounds fairly complicated, but it's actually simple once you get into it. Yeah, but it's just about first, it goes through the steps. It's it's shoulder checking to see what's behind you, understand, analyze, look back, understand the color, and then you make your play uh to where it goes. So uh the progression I'll just add really quickly is now we start introducing four checkers. So again, there's a there's a very simplified mode, and then there's a there's a a more leader advanced mode, if you will.

Yeah, I'll say beside real quick, Mike. Having been in Sense Arena, uh you might think, oh well, they won't, you know, they're not gonna sneak up on me or something. I mean, it they can get you. It's it's kind of it's kind of surreal. Like you turn, you're like, oh, okay, they're right on top of me um with some of these drills. But I also love that you bring up like the color scheme because it's not something we can necessarily simulate at a practice, right? Like it's enhancing the ability to learn the habit, and I think that's the key. And it doesn't matter what age you are. Like I the other stuff we don't talk about enough is this actually helps to break bad habits, right? Like, that's one of the things I don't think we talk enough about with Sense Arena, is how we're teaching younger kids to not create the bad habits as well. But Mike, go ahead. I didn't mean to cut you off there.

No, no, I mean I'm just echoing what what you know Andrew's talking about, and I think this is where you know a product like this comes into play where you know you might have you know nine kids that are good at this, but you might have those two or three kids that aren't. And you don't have time as a coach to spend, you know, 20 minutes of your practice working on this with those kids that are deficient in this skill. So sometimes as a parent, they can supplement that opportunity to say, well, I could catch up my kid here because I can do positive reps that teaches me the habits that my coach looks, I mean, the coach just doesn't have time to do this with their players. And and unfortunately, in today's you know, world of hockey, you know, the players that don't progress and can't learn those little skills that are gonna help them get to that puck a little quicker, make a great first pass. I mean, that is the statistic we look for. When you're 16, 17 years old, I want to know what is your success getting to the puck, making a first pass, how far is it, how how quickly is it out of the zone? You've done your job, and I don't think you know enough of us at the youth hockey level have the time or the resources to put the kids through those reps. They sound great, but you could do this now in your living room and in your garage, and your son or daughter could build their deficiencies up, you know, knowing what the coach is asking them to do. And the coach is going to see in real time, well, had that player get so much better in a month, we don't even work on that skill. Right so I think these are the ways that Sense Arena, the real hockey world, kind of kind of work together and mold together in developing a player um, you know, in the in the in the in the long-term aspects of where we're asking them to be. Yeah.

And Lee, Lee, you touched on this earlier, and now Mike, you are too, but I think you look at these young players, and Mike, I know you coach kids that are a little bit older than me, but if they're gonna get to that age level that you 16, you 17, you 18, whatever it might be, and if they can't hold on to a puck or anticipate a player, understand what's available to them before they get to the puck or receive a puck, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news here, but but your your development is not where it should be. Um, and so the beauty of this is that again, one, you can be in a virtual area where players aren't gonna hit you, right? They're getting they're gonna they're gonna provide the visuals of what you need to perceive and to make the right play. Um, but we're providing that those positive reps and good habits where you're not just throwing pucks away, like you said, Lee. Like you have to make a play, and that creates again, how are you gonna make that play? You go back to your fundamentals of shoulder checking, taking the angle of the puck, understanding what's available to you and making the play. Um, so I thank you guys for both pointing that out so we could elaborate on it.

Yeah, well, you know, I was gonna ask you what your big takeaway was from the episode, but I think I think you might have just you might have just nailed it. And look, I'm I'm gonna say this again, gang, listening at home. Like as a coach, Mike, I know you feel this way too. Albi, I know you too do as well. Look, part of part of our job is to educate the kids, it's a big part of the job is to teach. Um, but if we have to spend time unteaching bad habits, it's not a waste of time, don't get me wrong, but it's it's taking away from our ability to teach you something else, right? And I think that uh the reason we love this tool, and I always say that this is a tool, is because it's going to help build those cognitive habits that you just can't get enough time on the ice to teach as a coach. All right. And then I'm also gonna say this too. It's a gamified tool tool. Alb, I always get that. Well, you mean that game? That game, I said it's it's a tool that's gamified. There's a there's a huge difference here. And then the last thing I always say is that you know, from an investment standpoint, like guys, you're you're spending this money somewhere, somewhere else, probably you don't need to. I mean, it's it's worth it. So um, listen, the whole point of this series is these are meant to be brief, quick, one hockey IQ tip for you and your family and your kid to take away, right? Whether you use Sensorina or not, we want to provide you with the knowledge. So uh before I close this out, Albi, any final thoughts from you?

Young kids shoulder check more than you have to. Like just get into the habit. Because when you get into the habit, you will do it and you will, once you understand what's behind you, it makes it a lot easier to make the play in front of you. Simple as that.

Perfect. You know, gang listening at home, again, it'll be in the description here, too. But check out hockey.censoring.com forward slash okay ph just take a look. That's all we're asking you to do. Take a look at what it is. But uh, that's gonna do it for this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey IQ Talk with Albi for Mike Benelli, Andrew Alberts, I'm Leis Gang. We'll see on the next episode. Take care. We hope you enjoyed this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey. Make sure to like and subscribe right now if you found value wherever you're listening, whether it's a podcast network, a social media network, or our website, ourkidsplayhockey.com. Also, make sure to check out our children's book, When Hockey Stops, at When Hockey Stops.com. It's a book that helps children deal with adversity in the game and in life. We're very proud of it. But thanks so much for listening to this edition of Our Kids Play Hockey, and we'll see you on the next episode.