Have you ever been to Calgary, Canada, in the wintertime? If so, you know that the frozen Lake Louise creates an amazing scene, especially if you’re a hockey player.
The temperatures are harsh but don’t get as bad as in other parts of Canada, which means that the ice is generally nice and thick. With the weather being so cold, it’s no wonder that the Calgary Flames are one of the most popular teams in the NHL – they have everything in common with the other teams in the league: snow, cold weather and hard hockey. It should come as no surprise, then, that the team spends a lot of time in the winter training camp practicing their saucer passes.
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What Are Saucer Passes In Hockey?
If you’re not familiar, a saucer pass is a hockey move that sees a player pass the puck to a teammate with such swiftness and precision that it looks like the puck never left the player’s stick. It’s a play that relies on outstanding skating as much as accurate passing, which is why a lot of time is dedicated to training in the Calgary winter. The players feel the cold more acutely in the summer and therefore have to work harder to keep their body temperature up in the hopes of being at their best when the season starts. In the winter, it’s all about being on the ice and using your body to move rapidly around the playing space.
One of the main reasons behind the resurgence of the saucer pass is its adaptability. While there are specific rules for executing the move, there are ways to improve and vary the play with which you can still achieve a perfect pass. This means that if your team tends to have more or less the same plays, you can experiment with other options to find a way to stop them.
The Top 5 Ways to Make a Perfect Saucer Pass
In order to make a perfect saucer pass, you need to focus on three things: the puck, your angle and your speed.
The first thing to consider is the puck. If you follow the puck closely with your eyes, you won’t have to worry about being unable to see the player you’re passing to. This allows you to focus on the angle and the speed, as the puck will be there waiting for you when you connect.
If you’re going to make a saucer pass, the puck should be on or near its side to allow for the maximum amount of speed. This means you need to be either right-handed or left-handed. If you’re right-handed, the puck will come to you naturally, so you don’t have to do anything special to get it there. However, if you’re left-handed, you will need to do a bit more work to get the puck on its side, as your hand will be facing away from you when you throw it. This means you will need to turn your body toward the puck before you throw it, in order to achieve maximum speed.
How To Make A Perfect Left-Handed Saucer Pass?
If you’re left-handed, the best way to make a perfect saucer pass is by throwing the puck between your legs while still in the air. This is a difficult maneuver, but once you get the hang of it, it adds a new element of danger to your game. When you throw the puck between your legs like this, it means the other team will definitely be expecting you to pass the puck to them. This makes it much easier for them to defend against your play and takes the element of surprise out of the equation. This is why throwing the puck between your legs is almost always a good option when you’re in trouble or need an immediate change of pace offense.
5 Different Ways to Make a Perfect Right-Handed Saucer Pass
The other options for making a perfect right-handed saucer pass are:
- throw the puck over your head while spinning in a circular motion
- throw the puck between the legs while in the air
- pass the puck while in a crouch
- pass the puck while kneeling
- throw the puck at a 45 degree angle
- throw the puck directly to the ice, taking out a player if necessary
Each of these options adds a different element of danger and strategy to the saucer pass, so you’re sure to find a way to add some new tricks to your repertoire once you try them out. Keep in mind that the puck needs to be on or near its side in order to achieve maximum speed, so finding the balance between the three things that make up a perfect pass is a challenge that will surely keep you on your toes.
How to Make A Quick Change Of Pace
In some games, you will find yourself facing a change of pace team, so you need to have a way to adapt on the fly. This is where the change of pace can be a valuable addition to your game. A good change of pace player is someone who can take the puck and stickhandle through traffic, making a play while you try to regain possession of the puck. The change of pace player will generally be a smaller, more agile player than you, which means you need to be on your toes to stay in front of him.
What is Body Siding?
You may have heard of body siding, where opposing players on the ice attempt to prevent a goal by getting in the way of the eventual goal scorer. The problem with body siding is that it often leads to dangerous situations where the players get hit by the puck or each other. This can result in serious injuries or even a death. To avoid these situations, you need to adapt and find ways to get around the body siding.
Fortunately, the situation is a little bit different when executing a saucer pass. You’re not trying to score a goal on the other team, so you don’t need to worry about getting hit by the puck. What you need to do is find a way around the bodies that are in your way. This can be a bit tricky, especially if there are two or more players in the way, but with a bit of coordination and a quick change of direction, you can find a way to get the puck to the person you’re passing it to.
Keep The Puck On Its Side
Another important thing to keep in mind when making a perfect saucer pass is that the puck needs to be on or near its side when you connect. If the puck is not, you will not achieve maximum speed and therefore it won’t be easy for you to pass accurately. While it’s not always easy, you can practice keeping the puck on its side by using a couple of methods. One way is to throw the puck hard and make it hit an adjacent surface. You can also lift the puck with your skate as you spin in a circular motion, which will help to keep it on its side. These two methods can help you to achieve a more reliable result when executing a saucer pass.
Practice Makes Perfect
Last but not least, we have practice. As you know, practice makes perfect, and this is especially true when it comes to hockey. The more you practice, the more skill you will develop and the better your game will become. This is one reason why the Calgary Flames make such a good practice team; they put in the effort day in and day out, which allows them to progress quickly through the winter and be at their best come playoff time.
As you get better at making a saucer pass, you will find ways to improve your game and work on new strategies. In order to make it easier, you can practice by using a training partner or an empty ice rink, as these will allow you to focus on the skill and get away from any distractions. In addition, you can use a couple of methods to practice pitching the puck: