Like many things in life, effective communication is a key contributor to success. Ice hockey is no different, and I was surprised by how little comes up that might help a newer adult hockey player with a quick Google search.

Is it because most adult players learned effective communication growing up? Is it because most new adult players simply get by well enough without developing this skill?

I’d answer “yes” to both those things, and yet with the laundry-list of things new players already need to focus on, communication is often one of the most neglected skills and is one of the easiest ways to become an immediately better, more valuable, player to your team.

“She talks a lot on the ice. It makes it really easy to play together.”

“That guy is always shouting something. Nobody has any idea what he’s saying.”

These are two extremely common anecdotes you may hear playing a recreational hockey game. They are both reflections of someone’s communication during play. How can you make sure you fall under the former sentiment, not the latter?

Tips for Effective Communication

There are a lot of things that could be said during a hockey game, and you can expand your own verbal toolkit over time. These tips are for the newer player looking to make the greatest, positive and immediate impact:

1. Speak with intent: when using verbal communication, the words you use should, in your mind, have a clearly intended purpose:
   • Informing a teammate you’re open
   • Informing a teammate you’re not open
   • Clarifying a teammate’s situation if they cannot easily see for themselves (ie. from behind or across the ice, the time-urgency of incoming pressure)
   • Suggesting an appropriate course of action that may not be obvious
2. Don’t call for the puck without being reasonably sure of your own surroundings. More on this later.
3. Speak in as simple terms as possible in order to articulate your message while minimizing how much effort your teammate needs to put into interpreting it. If you’re constantly chirping inbetween your more important verbal cues, don’t be surprised if teammates start drowning all of it out.
4. Using your teammate’s name can be an effective way of ensuring you’re heard.

Given the above, which verbal cues should a new player learn first to make the biggest positive impact, and where should it go from there?

The Basics: Learn & practice these, even at shinny

Here are a few of the most basic, and yet extremely important, verbal cues to add to your toolkit in the early days that you should start practicing ASAP:

1. “Time” is letting a teammate know that they have some breathing room (time) to retrieve the puck and take a look around. This can be further emphasized with “Lots of time”.
2. “Man on” is letting a teammate know they’re under pressure and will need to make a quick play or immediately protect the puck. If retrieving the puck from the boards, pressure is often coming from behind, which is why this isn’t always obvious.
   • Note: This is a bit of an outdated term, and yet remains commonly-used, even in women’s hockey. The more up-to-date alternative I’m hearing lately, is “On you”!
3. “Two” or “Three” in the simplest of terms, or “two-on-one” etc. if you prefer. This is informing a teammate with the puck, generally rushing into the offensive zone, that they have help. This isn’t always obvious if they’re being pressured by defence, especially in the case of a trailer (friendly player behind the puck carrier, looking for a drop pass). Speaking of which…
4. If “Two” or “Three” is simply providing contextual awareness for consideration, “Drop” or “With you” is letting your teammate know that a drop pass is the best play they should be making.
   • I include this as one of the important basics because, in adult recreational hockey, many new players often suffer from “tunnel vision” once gaining possession of the puck (too focused looking down the ice to see what’s behind)
5. Finally, “Mine” or “Yours” to signal, when two or more players on the same team appear to be going for an open puck, who would be in the best (least contested) position to gain possession. Lack of communication can lead to both players going for the puck (potentially resulting in a collision or turnover), or neither, both incredibly common in recreational hockey.

Refinement: You’re probably already doing this, but almost definitely need to work on it

Most adult players know to call “yup” (or other variation, like smacking the ice with your stick) when they want the puck. It’s almost human nature, and we see it all the time watching hockey on TV. Unfortunately, there’s one common and frustrating mistake new players are often making.

When your teammate has the puck and is under enough pressure that they cannot gain enough situational awareness to make a good play, they are likely looking for help.

In calling for the puck, you’re indicating to your teammate that you are in a more advantageous position than they currently are, and without verification: you’re implying “give me the puck, I’m open”, not “I think I’m open, but take a look and make sure first before deciding whether I actually am the right play to make”.

So please, do yourself a favour and do a quick shoulder-check before calling for the puck.

What should generally be true when calling for the puck

1. You are currently open and ready to take the pass. This means you are providing a target (stick on the ice, or ready for a one-timer) and have enough clearance from the opposing team to make a play.
2. The lane is open. In addition to you being open, is there a clear, relatively safe path for the puck to travel? You can gauge skill levels and make your own determination if saucer, flip and bank passes are feasible in lieu of a fully-open lane.
3. You aren’t under as much pressure as the puck carrier. You may have pressure lurking over your shoulder, especially in the amount of time the puck will take to reach you. Be aware of this.
4. Advanced Tip: You are in motion and positioned to make a play once receiving the puck. Passing to a flat-footed teammate often leads to a turnover. If you’re on the ice, avoid being a spectator, even it means having to circle around, or cut back-and-forth a few times.

By no means am I suggesting you stop calling for the puck. Simply be aware that the onus is on you to confirm the above, not them (they have enough to worry about – which is why you’re trying to help them!)

What to start developing next

Once you get comfortable with the basics mentioned above, you’ll undoubtedly begin developing your own communication style and add more situation-specific tools to your toolkit over time. Here are a few that I find to be particularly important in recreational hockey:

1. “Back” or “Back to D” can be incredibly applicable in low-level adult hockey. Often-times, particularly in the neutral and defensive zones, a new player retrieves the puck and only looks down the ice. Sometimes, the best play to make is backwards – for a regroup, to go behind the net, etc.
2. “Across” is similar to “Back” and intends to inform your teammate their best option is to go across the ice to the other side (again, if the puck carrier is exhibiting a bit of tunnel vision down the ice).
3. “Cover” or “Cover D” is often when a defence is helping rush the puck. In recreational hockey (especially in pickup games where center/winger positions may not even exist), it isn’t always evident who should be dropping back to cover the gap on defence. Letting someone know, often the forward furthest behind in the rush, can be helpful.
4. “Point” is suggesting to the puck carrier that their best play may be to pass it to the defence (in the offensive zone just inside the blue line). If tunnel vision in the defensive and neutral zones are generally down the ice, tunnel vision in the offensive zone is generally to the net.
5. “I’m on puck” is generally in a defensive context, letting your teammates know that you’re going to pressure the opposing puck carrier (implying to your team to cover others).
6. “Wheel” is letting your teammate know that their best course of action is to speed burst and that they are in the best position to continue carrying the puck (but that they need to escape some approaching pressure). This is also the term for a specific breakout plan (for the defense to use the net to buy some time & space and carry the puck up ice) but the general idea around skating hard while carrying the puck is the same.

Conclusion

These are 5 verbal cues you can begin using in your game today with immediate benefit to your game and your team, 1 refinement of something you’re probably already doing, and a few suggestions on where to go next.

I picked the 5 “basics” not only due to their simplicity, but also how successful I’ve found them in a low-level game (whereas “Back to D” in the defensive or neutral zones seems to be one of life’s most elusive concepts).

Importantly, many of these verbal cues can be practiced from the bench. If you’re already feeling overwhelmed with everything you need to think about on the ice, you can develop your initial proficiency at verbal communication when you’re resting, then take it from there.

As you further develop, you’ll likely learn more complex situational cues, like “rim”, “quick up”, “reverse”, “cycle”, and more. Maybe a topic for a future article.

Lastly, avoid being tuned out altogether by your team by limiting how often you non-constructively vent frustrations. In a recreational setting, where everyone has likely paid equally for their share of ice time (and fun), seek permission and offer specific feedback in lieu (on the bench):

“Do you mind if I offer a suggestion that really helped me when I heard it? In the kind of plays where that happened, it can be helpful to…”

is almost definitely going to be more helpful to your team (and therefore your own future success) than “What the **** kind of bull**** play was that? C’mon!”

If you have any additional tips that are surefire ways for a new player to improve their game through verbal communication, have a success story to share, or have questions, send me an e-mail!

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