Rangers summer shooting clinic: Stepan, Boyle, prospects

[Beacon]

A couple of years ago Boyle took skating lessons from Barbara Underhill, making him a much better player. He went from a borderline NHLer to a borderline third liner. But after the season with the hot streak, it was clear that he will never be able to keep it up because he can't shoot, he just shoves the puck towards the net and sometimes gets lucky.

Last year Stepan was on pace for over 30 goals over 82 games, but it was clear that he didn't have the shot to be a 30 goal scorer (doesn't matter that he scored today).

Other guys like MDZ (accuracy), Boyle (power), Stepan & Pouliot (both), as well as prospects like Yogan, Fast and Lindberg could really improve their careers.

With an improved shot, Boyle would go from a borderline third liner to a borderline top-6, Stepan would become a first liner, MDZ would be a legitimate offensive defenseman, Yogan might turn into an NHLer, and Fast and Lindberg would become blue chippers.

Granted not everyone will benefit in a significant way from a shooting clinic for a few weeks in July. Someone like Boyle might be too old for that. But I think some players can definitely show a big improvement.

Imagine McDonagh with a big-time slap shot. Imagine Lindberg isn't just a nice defensive center who is good on faceoffs, but rather a 20 goal scorer who plays superior defense.

The cost to the owner of this voluntary clinic would be minimal, but the benefit to the team of even one player adding a new dimension would be huge.

I see no reason not to try this experiment.

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[The Gloaming]

That all sounds great.

But Boyle would NEVER EVER be a top 6 forward.

 

[Pistachio]

I remember Zucc also practicing with Underhill. He did gain a significant boost in his agility along the boards that season.

 

[Beacon]

That all sounds great.

But Boyle would NEVER EVER be a top 6 forward.

With a significantly improved shot, he could've been a 15-20 goal scorer, making him borderline top-6. Not saying he is capable of that, and most players will not show huge improvement, but having one or two guys add this dimension would be huge.

Even with him improving his shot just a little, he'd establish himself as a legitimate third liner.

 

[The Gloaming]

Boyle has the offensive IQ if an iPod.

But I really don't want to turn this into another Boyle thread.

 

[TheRightWay]

This isn't like NHL14 where you can just slap on a +5 shooting boost, you know. Do you seriously think these guys don't work their ***** off working on every part of their game, shot included? Brian Boyle could spend 5 hours a day doing shooting drills the entire summer. There's only so much that can be improved. Either you have it, or you don't.

 

[Paulie Walnutz]

Let's ask Jagr when he retires in a few months

 

[Beacon]

This isn't like NHL14 where you can just slap on a +5 shooting boost, you know. Do you seriously think these guys don't work their ***** off working on every part of their game, shot included? Brian Boyle could spend 5 hours a day doing shooting drills the entire summer. There's only so much that can be improved. Either you have it, or you don't.

That's what people say about skating too, but clearly taking those lessons made enough of a difference that he no longer has to be afraid to get sent down to the minors. Did he begin to skate like Pavel Bure? Of course not. And no matter how much we train players, they won't start shooting like Al MacInnis.

But there's no reason Boyle can't learn to shoot the puck instead of just shoving it in the direction of the net.

 

[Konamic Ice Hockey]

This isn't like NHL14 where you can just slap on a +5 shooting boost, you know. Do you seriously think these guys don't work their ***** off working on every part of their game, shot included? Brian Boyle could spend 5 hours a day doing shooting drills the entire summer. There's only so much that can be improved. Either you have it, or you don't.

No its not but I have seen first hand what a specialized clinic can do. When these are done it is more analyzing what the player is doing wrong and correcting it and not: "here shoot 400 pucks today" or "skate till you pass out".
Boyle's skating got so much better when he had Barb analyze and correct his skating. Off the top of my head I can't think of a skater at his size better than him except Chara. He could have been on the ice all day every day and not seen any improvement because he was not skating correctly.
Same with his shot, he could be doing so many things wrong that only video analysis by a shooting coach will see and then know what the solution is.
Why do teams not have fundamental coaches on staff to work with the players before the season?Invite player A to come out some time in the summer for a fews days to a week, then work with them and give them a binder on what they need to work on. I would not do it during season you can screw with a players head. You also usually get worse when you start doing things a new way. Every player no matter how good/bad they are at some skill can always improve. 99 said he made it a goal to fall down at every practice. That sounds funny but he would push himself to do things he could not do everytime he practiced. Not all players have that mentality so they will need a coach to make sure they are pushing themselves in a correct way in order to compete at a higher level.
Its done with goalies...

 

[Fanned On It]

No its not but I have seen first hand what a specialized clinic can do. When these are done it is more analyzing what the player is doing wrong and correcting it and not: "here shoot 400 pucks today" or "skate till you pass out".
Boyle's skating got so much better when he had Barb analyze and correct his skating. Off the top of my head I can't think of a skater at his size better than him except Chara. He could have been on the ice all day every day and not seen any improvement because he was not skating correctly.
Same with his shot, he could be doing so many things wrong that only video analysis by a shooting coach will see and then know what the solution is.
Why do teams not have fundamental coaches on staff to work with the players before the season?Invite player A to come out some time in the summer for a fews days to a week, then work with them and give them a binder on what they need to work on. I would not do it during season you can screw with a players head. You also usually get worse when you start doing things a new way. Every player no matter how good/bad they are at some skill can always improve. 99 said he made it a goal to fall down at every practice. That sounds funny but he would push himself to do things he could not do everytime he practiced. Not all players have that mentality so they will need a coach to make sure they are pushing themselves in a correct way in order to compete at a higher level.
Its done with goalies...

Even so these are modern-day NHL'ers we're talking about here. I've watched NHL'ers take wrist-shots/snap-shots in person on the ice with me (Max Pacioretty has an absolute LASER-BEAM) and most of them do have really good shots so it's strange that you don't see it during game situations. I think that's where the problem lies. If you take these dudes and put them in a shooting clinic and test them I'm sure you'd find out that they all have really strong, accurate shots... but getting them off quickly in game situations is where the problem seems to be.

I think this fact is most clearly evidenced by the fact that we've seen Stepan come down on his off-wing on a 2 on 1 and just RIP a snapper over the goalie's shoulder. So he HAS the skill/ability but maybe not the "poise" to do it consistently in game situations. I really don't know if a clinic would help with this.

Also, it's worth mentioning that these guys probably ALREADY work on this exact thing during the off-season. I'm sure they already have dedicated time for working on their shooting mechanics. We're talking about professional hockey players, here.

 

[SlingshotVv]

MDZ's accuracy is probably fine, I mean I've seen him snipe. Watching him play, his problems getting shots on net mostly seem to come from his lack of quick lateral movement, to get the puck and quickly open up a shooting lane. Even when he's streaking down the wing on the rush, as soon as the puck touches his stick in the offensive zone his legs stop moving. That takes away any ability to change the angle last second on defenders or the goalie, so instead of shooting where the goalie probably won't be, he's forced to try and hit a tiny corner because he isn't taking the goalie off his angle.

 

[Konamic Ice Hockey]

Even so these are modern-day NHL'ers we're talking about here. I've watched NHL'ers take wrist-shots/snap-shots in person on the ice with me (Max Pacioretty has an absolute LASER-BEAM) and most of them do have really good shots so it's strange that you don't see it during game situations. I think that's where the problem lies. If you take these dudes and put them in a shooting clinic and test them I'm sure you'd find out that they all have really strong, accurate shots... but getting them off quickly in game situations is where the problem seems to be.

I think this fact is most clearly evidenced by the fact that we've seen Stepan come down on his off-wing on a 2 on 1 and just RIP a snapper over the goalie's shoulder. So he HAS the skill/ability but maybe not the "poise" to do it consistently in game situations. I really don't know if a clinic would help with this.

Also, it's worth mentioning that these guys probably ALREADY work on this exact thing during the off-season. I'm sure they already have dedicated time for working on their shooting mechanics. We're talking about professional hockey players, here.

Not having "Poise" is usually(not always) bad habits that you have that pop up under pressure. You may not even know what you are doing wrong, you may think "I was doing everything right, what happened?". That is not good for player confidence. If you are thinking that, then a coach shows you on video what you did wrong and that it is correctable, man I would think that would make a huge difference. Players could be working on the wrong thing or could be getting bad coaching in the off season. Having a team have specialized coaches that are more scientists of hockey skills then anything, that you know are teaching your players the right technique, I think would be something all teams would want.
I know you don't want to confuse players with a bunch of opinions but I think if you had specialized technique coaches, I don't see why it would not help. Especially if the coaches are the best at what they do like Underhill.
I remember reading a USA hockey article on skating back in the mid 90's on common skating mistakes and at the time after I read the article I noticed NHL players making many of the mistakes written about(It was surprising). I'm sure if I was skating next to those guys, to me they would look super human in how well they skate. Yet they still made pretty big mistakes that when corrected would make them better.
How often does Lundqvist talk about the help he gets from Allaire?

 

[Oak]

If every single Ranger (outside of maybe our tough guys) is not doing specialized summer clinics they should be ashamed. I figured these guys were all putting in work to become better and better.

 

[chosen]

Some people really do think they can make every player near great with the right training.

In the middle of the team playing beautifully, some still are unhappy. Anyone currently unhappy with Stepan or Boyle does not get it.

 

[Thirty One]

If every single Ranger (outside of maybe our tough guys) is not doing specialized summer clinics they should be ashamed. I figured these guys were all putting in work to become better and better.

They are. Last summer Del Zotto learned how to bake.

 

[Konamic Ice Hockey]

Some people really do think they can make every player near great with the right training.

In the middle of the team playing beautifully, some still are unhappy. Anyone currently unhappy with Stepan or Boyle does not get it.

It is not about thinking you can make BB(I'm a very big BB fan) into 99. I think the team should be looking after who the players use for off season training. NYR hirer the best and make them available, don't trust who the players use will be competent. Stepan(also Stepan fan since his draft) gets off season skating lessons back in MN and I have not seen him get much better on his skates. BB did the same thing with Underhill and his skating got much much better. The mechanics of skating is much more difficult for taller people then shorter. So the difference in training must be more than just bit.

It is also not being unhappy with the team. I want to trade less than most but I also would like to see players make improvement so trades are not needed and we keep what seems like a good locker room together.
To me it would be about developing players at any age instead of the quick fix.

 

[Beacon]

It is not about thinking you can make BB(I'm a very big BB fan) into 99. I think the team should be looking after who the players use for off season training. NYR hirer the best and make them available, don't trust who the players use will be competent. Stepan(also Stepan fan since his draft) gets off season skating lessons back in MN and I have not seen him get much better on his skates. BB did the same thing with Underhill and his skating got much much better. The mechanics of skating is much more difficult for taller people then shorter. So the difference in training must be more than just bit.

It is also not being unhappy with the team. I want to trade less than most but I also would like to see players make improvement so trades are not needed and we keep what seems like a good locker room together.
To me it would be about developing players at any age instead of the quick fix.

This... especially the bold part is what I came here to say.