Hockey pic of the day

Slapshot, a photo by zibbelljr on Flickr.

Cool shot from a Canadian Hockey League game -- the dude taking the shot plays for the
Saginaw Spirit. Check out the flex of that stick -- my stick feels like a telephone pole by comparison, although I am assuming there is some user error.

--S.H.

Slapshot time

Like pretty much everyone else I know who plays hockey, I'm kind of obsessed with trying to develop a slapshot that consistently looks like, well...an actual hockey slapshot.

My shot at the moment is a bit of a mess. So I went searching in the great wide open spaces of YouTube and found the above video, which I thought was helpful and helped break down a slapshot into easy-to-digest pieces.

All this said, I often times find myself thinking it's nice to have a slapshot, but of the skills I need during a game, it's not high on the list. I rarely have the time to even line up a shot -- largely because I need to improve my skating, passing and stickhandling skills. And, to be honest, I've taken more backhand shots on goal than I have slapshots.

Still, one of these days, it would be nice to be able to do the real deal...


--S.H.