Every Hockey Skills Video Is Wrong

I started building websites and shooting coaching video back in 2003, before YouTube even existed. Since then I've watched almost every hockey video that's come out, especially from the big names everyone follows. Thousands of them.

So here's something most of them won't want to hear. Every one of those videos has something wrong in it. Not all of it. There's usually a piece that's correct. But I could sit down with any skills video on the internet and pull out something that's off, something that's going to cost that player later. Honestly, it could be a full-time job.

But that's not even the biggest problem. The biggest problem is what those videos do to how you think about getting better.

We've all been trained to believe the flashy clip is the valuable one, because it's more fun to watch. And I get it. Some of those clips are incredible. Real talent. But here's the truth nobody wants to say out loud. Putting your head down and grinding on the stuff that isn't exciting is how you actually become great. If you want to improve, you have to learn to embrace the boring. The showoff clip entertains you. The boring rep changes you.

Brad Perry coaching players on the ice

I'm not saying this from the outside. I went from starting at 13 to playing pro, basically on my own. My stepdad gave me the ice and the opportunity. The rest I had to figure out. And having access to great coaches and real pros taught me something fast. Just because someone can do a thing doesn't mean they can teach it. Especially once they've forgotten what it felt like to learn it for the first time.

Let me give you one example, so this isn't just talk. Almost every skills coach teaches players to cradle the puck. Catch it, pull it back, cushion it. Why? Because it's always been taught that way.

But think about what cradling actually costs you. It takes incredible timing and patience to do well. Worse, it pulls your eyes down to the puck, because now you're checking to make sure it's still there instead of thinking about where you're going to put it. You're managing the puck instead of playing the game.

Watch an NHL game. You almost never see a player cradle the puck. Drawing your stick back to match the speed of an incoming pass costs time, and at that level, time is everything.

Here's what I teach instead. If the pass is coming to you flat on the ice and clean, not wobbling, you bump it forward with one touch. One tap that matches your speed, in the direction you're already going. That's it. Now your eyes are up and your mind is free. You can run your Plan A, and if that's covered, your Plan B, and if that's covered, your Plan C. You can actually make a decision.

It's almost impossible to know what to do next when your whole focus is whether the puck is still on your stick. That check takes too long. And the game doesn't wait.

That's one skill. I could do this all day.

Now, players tell me all the time, well, my coach says to do it a different way. And you know what I tell them? Your coach is right. A hundred percent. Whatever coach is standing in front of you, do what they ask, and do it better than anyone out there. That coach might be the one who gets you your next opportunity.

Ice isn't a soccer field or a basketball court. Just being out there is valuable, and being coachable is a skill all by itself. Almost every NHL player has had hundreds of coaches telling them conflicting things over the years. They take all of it, they perform it, and they pull out what they need when the game is in front of them. That's what I want for you. Learn everything. Keep what works. Adapt.

It isn't me gatekeeping secrets. The whole point is to teach you how to be there for yourself. To show you how to find your own answers, on the long bus ride home after a bad loss, when you know you have to be better at the next skate. I want to spare you the wasted years I spent hunting for answers from other people. I want you responsible for your own success, because that's the only kind that lasts.

This isn't a quick fix, and I won't pretend it is. This is about retraining how your brain looks for answers.

You want proof? The proof is what happens when you watch what I'm teaching and it just makes sense. Players get better by being around better players, sure. But they also get better the moment their brain sees something it didn't know was possible. When that happens, it gets filed away. It goes into your library. And your brain pulls it back out when the game calls for it.

I've spent my life studying that library. Around 100,000 slow motion clips, every skill in hockey, at almost every level. Aether Hockey exists to add to yours.

People open doors. You're the one who has to step through. My stepdad Jack White said that to me more times than I can count.

So step through this one. Start free at Aether Hockey. I'll show you what I actually see, the mistakes nobody's telling you about, and how to fix them. And if you're ready to go all in, become a Founding Member while it's early. Come embrace the boring with me. That's where great players are made.