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14U/16U Q&A: How Important is Puck Possession in Hockey Today?

07/09/2014, 9:00pm MDT
By Scott Paluch, ADM Regional Manager

Q: How important is puck possession in hockey today?

A: After USA Hockey’s Select 17 Player Development Camp in Buffalo, N.Y., we discussed what we observed as many of the top performers’ consistent traits. The most obvious of these traits was puck possession. The standout performers had the puck more often.

While that sounds like a fairly obvious observation, it certainly reaffirms the belief that continued practice of puck skills and puck-protection skills should be paramount. These skills need to be a constant emphasis in practice, because they are huge difference-makers in games, both on an individual basis and in terms of team success.

Coaches and players at the 14U and 16U age groups should understand how these skills fit into today’s highest levels of hockey. Puck possession not only means more opportunities to create scoring chances, it also means less opportunities for the opposition. In other words, puck possession helps produce good defensive results by dramatically limiting the opposition’s offensive opportunities.

The Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings are a prime example of the importance of puck possession in today’s NHL. In a March 2014 SportingNews.com article by Sean Gentille, Kings head coach Darryl Sutter said, "You can’t give the puck up. We don’t play in our zone, so there’s not much defending...The game’s changed. They think there’s defending in today’s game. Nah, it’s how much you have the puck.” The article goes on to state boldly, but accurately, “having the puck is the most important part of the game.”

Winning teams generally have the puck more often, and great players do as well. It’s a puck-possession game now. By emphasizing skills that create and maintain puck possession, we create players well suited for today’s game.

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