To Excel At The Game Of Hockey, Just Like In Most Other Sports, Players Need To Learn A Wide Variety Of Abilities.
Skating, Shooting, Passing, And Stickhandling Are The Fundamental Skills That Every Player Should Become Proficient In.
These Are Things That Are Taught To Children At A Very Young Age.
Anyone Who Has Played Hockey Since They Were Young Is Familiar With The Numerous Drills That Their Coaches Put Them Through.
The Goal Was To Improve In Every Facet Of Your Game And To Play To The Very Best Of Your Abilities.
Your Conditioning Cannot Be Considered Complete Without Including Stickhandling.
Stickhandling Is A Skill That Players Learn So That They Can Have A Better Grasp On The Puck While Skating.
Stickhandling Is Another Skill That Is Essential If You Want To Prevent Someone From Stealing The Puck From You.
When You Have Reached The Point Where You Are Proficient At Stickhandling, You Have The Choice Of Moving On To The Domain Of Deking.
In Hockey, What Exactly Is A Deke?
A Deke Is A Fake Or A Feint Action With The Puck, Performed With The Intention Of Getting Around An Opponent. If The Puck Carrier Pulls Off A Successful Deke, They Will Be Able To Shrug Off An Opposition Player Or Cause The Goalie To Lose Position, Resulting In An Open Net For Them To Shoot The Puck Into.
In The National Hockey League, Dekes Are Typically Executed On The Breakaway Or During A Shootout Attempt On The Goaltender.
This Is Due To The Fact That Players Have More Time To Carry Out The Play That They Desire When They Are Only Competing Against The Goalie.
When You Deke An Opponent Who Is Not The Goaltender, The Risk Is Much Higher, And It Could Result In A Turnover.
It Is Regarded As A Play With A Poor Percentage, Particularly When Competing Against More Than One Opponent.
When A Team Gets The Puck And Has The Opportunity To Break Out On The Rush, The Two Best Alternatives Are To Either Pass The Puck Or To Dump It And Chase It.
Let’s Get One Thing Out Of The Way First: Dekes Are Entertaining To Watch.
It Is Impossible To Overstate How Satisfying It Is To Leave An Opponent In Your Dust. It’s The Equivalent Of Spraining Your Ankle When You Play Basketball.
When Playing Against A Skilled Defence Who Is Skating Backwards, It Is Extremely Difficult To Successfully Execute A Deke.
Defensemen Must Not Only Be Able To Maintain Their Balance When Skating Backwards, But They Must Also Be Able To Rotate From Side To Side.
Add To That The Fact That They Often Tower Over The Average Forward, And It Becomes Clear That You Will Need To Be Deft In Order To Make Them Look Like Idiots.
Last But Not Least, They Have Been Taught To Concentrate Their Attention On Your Body Rather Than The Puck.
They Only Need To Detach Your Body From The Puck In Order To Win, Regardless Of How Talented You Are With The Puck In Your Possession.
When An Opponent Is Coming Straight At You, Though, Is When Dekes Are At Their Most Straightforward.
A Change Of Direction In The Opposite Direction From The One You Are Skating Forward With The Puck In Most Cases Helps Shake Off The Opponent.
But Try Not To Get Too Confident. When Your Opponent’s Skill Level Is Far Higher Than Your Own, It Is More Difficult To Successfully Deke Them.
It’s Possible That You’ll Get Away With One Deke, But A Good Two-Way Player Will Find A Way To Catch You.
The Deke’s Greatest Master
When It Comes To Talent In The NHL, There Is A Wide Variety Of Players From Which To Choose.
But If There Was One Player Who Could Pull Off The Most Impressive Sleight Of Hand, It Was None Other Than Pavel Datsyuk.
You Can See How Many Movements He Had In His Repertoire By Watching Highlight After Highlight On Youtube And Counting The Number Of Moves.
While You Stand There In Awe Of His Ability To Handle The Puck, You Could Find Yourself Feeling Tempted To Work On Improving Your Own Talents During Practice.
You Should Consider Watching Pavel Barber, Who Is Another Star On Youtube, Rather Than Continually Playing Datsyuk And Dissecting His Actions.
His Entire Channel Is Devoted To Dissecting The Most Difficult Dekes And Stickhandling Moves That Have Ever Been Performed, Despite The Fact That He Has Never Played In The NHL.
In Point Of Fact, He Is The Creator Of Some Of His Own Strategies And Has Even Coached Alongside Players From The NHL.
Different Kinds Of Dekes Used Against Goalies
There Is No Limit To The Number Of Different Maneuvers That May Be Made On The Goalie Because The Possibilities Are Boundless.
When You Use A Deke, You Are Trying To Trick The Goalie Into Giving Up An Opening Somewhere, Whether It Be On The Side, In The Corner, Or Even Between Their Legs, So That You May Score.
Because There Are So Many Different Movements, They Are Frequently Called After The First Significant Player To Do That Particular Move.
The Forsberg, The Datsyuk, And The Svechnikov (Sometimes Known As The Michigan) Spring To Mind As Some Of The More Notable Ones In This Category.
In The Instance Of The Maneuver Known As “The Svechnikov,” He Was Not The First Person To Perform It. Mike Legg, A Member Of The Michigan Wolverines, Is Credited With Writing The Play In 1996.
The Play Entails Lifting The Puck Off The Surface Of The Ice And Placing It On Your Blade Before Slipping It Into One Of The Open Corners Of The Net.
On This Instance, The Play Is Carried Out Behind The Net, Which Is A Location On A Powerplay When The Players Are Typically Left Alone.
A Player Who Is Positioned Behind The Net Poses A Low Risk, But The Addition Of Svechnikov Changes The Dynamics Of The Situation.
Sidney Crosby, Back When He Was Playing In The Qmjhl, Was The One Who Executed The Play Once More.
At The Level Of The National Hockey League (NHL), Svechnikov Was The First Player To Accomplish This Feat.
Trevor Zegras, A Player For The Anaheim Ducks, Repeated The Feat At A Later Time.
Additional Notable Dekes
Examples Of Dekes That You Might Be Familiar With Are The Triple Deke, Spinorama, Between-The-Legs Shot, And Others Like This.
At One Point Or Another, Each Of These Has Been At The Forefront Of Discussion In The World Of Sports Journalism.
The Triple Deke Was Made Popular In The First Mighty Ducks Movie, Which Is Where It First Appeared.
It Was, In Essence, A Stickhandling Motion Consisting Of A Forehand To Backhand To Forehand Sequence.
Keep In Mind That The Purpose Of This Move Is To Deceive The Goaltender Into Thinking That You Are Going In A Certain Direction In Order To Force Them To Commit To Playing That Side.
When There Is No Chance For Them To Get Back Up, You Should Rush The Side That Is Now Open.
A Few Parting Thoughts
Especially When You’re Younger, It’s A Lot Of Fun To Work On Your Dekes And Use Them In Competition.
Showboating On A More Professional Level Was Considered Improper Back In The Day And Was Therefore Discouraged.
However, Because To The Evolution Of The Game, More NHL Players Are Now Eager To Use Their Skills To Gain An Advantage.
It Is One Thing To Execute A Spectacular Move With The Intention Of Fooling The Goalkeeper, But It Might Be Perilous To Do So To Other Players.
While Exposing A Player’s Weaknesses Can Be Equally Gratifying, I’d Want To Give A Piece Of Advice That I Picked Up When I Was Younger:
The Puck Moves More Quickly Than Any Player Currently Competing On The Ice.
The Idea Here Is That Moving The Puck From One Player To The Next Accelerates Play More Quickly Than Any One Player Can Do On Their Own.
You Have The Ability To Deke One Of The Other Players, But There Are Four Other Skaters Who Can Cut You Off.
If The Opposing Team Believes That You Are More Of An Individual Player Rather Than A Member Of The Team, They Will Congregate Around You And Try To Steal The Puck From You.
If You Want To Effectively Pull Off These Dekes, You Need To Be Just As Dangerous With Your Stickhandling As You Are When You Pass The Puck.
On The Ice, Avoid Becoming A One-Trick Pony, And Your Overall Game Will Improve As A Result.
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