Our Second Line Conundrum.

[MajorCanuck]

I'd take Gomez over Arnott very easily.

Same. Gomez is still "only" 33, Arnott is on the verge of retirement.

 

[mossey3535]

I never said unique. And Brian Boyle didn't change his stride, he changed his style of skating using a figure skater as a coach for more power.

Hodgson has been knocked for his stride since he was drafted and has done anything to improve upon it and he's turning 23. ****, the Sedins are terrible skaters despite the fact they actively train to better it every off season. They are a rarity because generally you aren't going to cut it as a top 6 with bad skating. You learn fundamentals of high end hockey in bantam and midget hockey, by the time you hit junior most coaches say your stride is developed as completely changing it is like learning to walk again. Hodgson hunches when he skates, doesn't bend his knees and exerts far more energy to pick up a reasonable pace. He has a lot of lower body power but he is not an efficient skater and due to the fact he's not big, it's a knock on him despite having great offensive skillset.

Comprende?

Comprende? Come on. Which coaches are these? All this stuff sounds great in theory but just in my experience that's not how it works in real life.

I've seen tons of guys get MUCH better at skating through power skating, and at all ages. And what exactly is a 'tweak' to a stride by your definition? Skating isn't a natural motion and even just changing your stance is a big change.

Hardly any coaches are going to take you aside and work on your stride in bantam or midget - that's on you to take power skating on your own. Practices are about game simulation and 'fundamentals of high end hockey' almost never includes critique of a guy's stride. There's too much going on to take some kid and work on his bad skating, it's much easier to just let him flounder and fall in the roster. If he scores his bad skating is probably just going to get ignored as long as he keeps doing it. That's how guys get to the next level with sub-par skating.

That's not even considering what kind of major midget program you're in, and where it is. If you aren't on St. Mike's or the Young Nats, you probably don't have a skills coach. If you do have a skills coach, he may or may not be a skating guy. There's an entire cottage industry based around power skating at every level of hockey, so I just wonder where you're getting this from.

 

[thepuckmonster]

Comprende? Come on. Which coaches are these? All this stuff sounds great in theory but just in my experience that's not how it works in real life.

I've seen tons of guys get MUCH better at skating through power skating, and at all ages. And what exactly is a 'tweak' to a stride by your definition? Skating isn't a natural motion and even just changing your stance is a big change.

Hardly any coaches are going to take you aside and work on your stride in bantam or midget - that's on you to take power skating on your own. Practices are about game simulation and 'fundamentals of high end hockey' almost never includes critique of a guy's stride. There's too much going on to take some kid and work on his bad skating, it's much easier to just let him flounder and fall in the roster. If he scores his bad skating is probably just going to get ignored as long as he keeps doing it. That's how guys get to the next level with sub-par skating.

That's not even considering what kind of major midget program you're in, and where it is. If you aren't on St. Mike's or the Young Nats, you probably don't have a skills coach. If you do have a skills coach, he may or may not be a skating guy. There's an entire cottage industry based around power skating at every level of hockey, so I just wonder where you're getting this from.

Any high end rep program has a conditioning coach come in at a major midget level on at least a monthly basis. I can think of 3 programs off the top of my head in the lower island that employ the same conditioning coach as the WHL Royals. In fact the predominant major midget program on the lower island is affiliated with the Royals. Parents pay up to 12000 a season excluding tournament costsfor these programs, they have specialty coaches for goaltending, conditioning, etc.

You can make slight changes to skating. Brian Boyle is better, but he's still not a good skater. You can't just teach a 20 year old how to skate like a Kesler or Raymond through repetition, at that point it's ingrained.

And if you're playing major midget or higher hockey you're motivated enough to improve yourself, your head coach isn't responsible for you to learn how to skate, you'll just get less minutes until you figure it out or give up.

Hypothetically speaking, if you can drastically improve your stride, why hasn't Hodgson attended any coaching for this? Or if he has, why is there no marked improvement? I he being negligent, in which case stating he could improve is pointless if he doesn't think he has to, or he has been and it only can alter slightly. Most analysts laud his skillset but their largest critique is his skating. So, which one is it?

I don't know about Euro minor hockey, so I'm speaking on only a Canadian level. I live with a professional goaltending coach who makes his living off of working with most programs on the lower island, and they pay him to come out even on an atom level to work with then because that's how hockey has developed. Dry land and skills coaching has become waaaay more predominant than it used to be.

 

[Scurr]

I should know better than to even mention Coho... sorry.

Players can absolutely get better technically at skating as they get older. The Sedins have improved tremendously. What you can't change is the physical aspect of it... they aren't fast twitchers. They have better strides, more strength and better balance but they'll never be fast.

Hodgson has a short stride that is really inefficient. He can lengthen his stride but his legs are always going to be short... so he's limited physically. If he can lengthen his stride and play more in a neutral "glide" position, he'll carry more speed and be much more efficient.

No, these guys can't become Raymond or Kesler... because they don't have the athletic ability.

 

[thepuckmonster]

Lock it up kids, Schroeder was great.

 

[vanuck]

Lock it up kids, Schroeder was great.

I would hope that JS wins it. Hopefully he takes the opportunity for the 2nd scrimmage and runs with it.

 

[Freakshow]

Lock it up kids, Schroeder was great.

Hopefully he backs AV into a corner and make the decision for him! Would be nice to see a Mike Gillis draft pick in the lineup.