Comments on: Making Sense of Hockey Sense

By: OrderedChaos

OrderedChaos — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 02:20:33 +0000

For a scientific analysis of hockey sense (and tennis) check out this article about The Great One: http://www.onfrozenblog.com/2007/06/06/wired-into-gretzkys-greatness/

By: b.orr4

b.orr4 — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 01:22:04 +0000

Probably the player with the greatest “hockey sense” was Gretzky. Not suprisingly, he credited his father who always told him, ” Don’t go where the puck is. Go to where it’s goint to be.” Wayne knew it from the time he started playing and his teammates quickly figured it out. Find an open spot and Gretz will get the puck to you. If Backstrom possesses even 1/2 that ability, we Cap fans are in for some enjoyable years.

By: rink raith

rink raith — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 22:51:43 +0000

I think that there are multiple facets of hockey sense: what to do with the puck on offense, what to do without the puck on offense, what to do to defend against the puck carrier on defense and what to do away from the puck on defense. I think that different superstars had various degrees of hockey sense across those facets. All of those facets have to do with anticipating your teammates and opponents actions and selecting the most favorable course of action based on anticipation…. all in a split second.

By: frasnap

frasnap — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 21:57:48 +0000

Great read.
I might surmise that Ovechkin is more comparable to Jordan that Magic or Bird–I believe he similarly dominates because of physical assets and willpower rather than “hockey sense.”

By: usiel

usiel — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:27:37 +0000

Nice entry regarding ‘hockey sense’ and attempting to compare it to other pro sports. Seems to me that it is a chess-like skill where a player is intuiting where a player will be or when a passing lane will open.