Small Habits That Turn Good Hockey Players into Dominant Ones

Hey friends, Let me ask you something… Have you ever watched a player who just seems to “get it”? They’re not necessarily the biggest or the fastest, but everything looks easy for them. They’re always in the right spot, they recover quickly, and they keep getting better season after season. The secret? It’s almost never one big thing. It’s the small habits they do consistently. I’ve been around hockey my whole life, first as a player, now as a coach and I can tell you the players who go the furthest are usually the ones who fall in love with the little things. Think about it. Doing 10 minutes of stickhandling every single day after school might feel like nothing. But after 6 months? That’s over 30 hours of extra skill work. Same with getting to bed before 10pm, drinking water instead of sugary drinks or doing a quick mobility routine in the morning. Here are some of the habits I tell the players I work with:

• Wake up and move a little – even 5 minutes of stretching or jumping rope gets the body awake and the mind sharp.

• Eat one extra healthy thing every day – an apple, some nuts or a smoothie. Small wins add up.

• Visualize for 2 minutes before bed – picture yourself making that perfect pass or winning that battle along the boards.

• Review one thing you did well after every game – this builds confidence like nothing else.
  

The coolest part? These habits don't just make you better at hockey. They make you better at school, at friendships, and at life.

And here's a real example from last season to show you just how powerful this can be.

Every Tuesday with my team, we ended practice the same way: players grabbed a resistance band and pulled each other from the goal line to the far blue line. Two or three reps, breaks included — five minutes maximum.

Those five small minutes, stacked every Tuesday, made a huge difference after a month or two. I could clearly see it in games: when we iced the puck, our players were consistently first on the puck to cancel the icing call and keep the play in the offensive zone.

All of that from one simple extra-work habit.

So here's a challenge for you and your son or daughter: pick just three small habits this week. Write them down. Do them every day. I promise you'll notice a difference.

Want help building habits that actually stick? That's exactly what we work on in private sessions and at my summer camp. Drop me a message — I'd love to help you build a plan that fits your schedule.

Talk soon,

Darick

D Hockey Coach