*cross ice tape to tape forehand one T
Backhand sauce.
Cross ice.
Right on the tape.
Forehand one-timer.
Goal.
I was rewatching highlights from Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
You know the game.
Carolina falls behind by four goals, somehow claws their way back, scores four unanswered goals in the third period, and pushes the game all the way into double overtime.
Then they lose on a greasy goal.
A slapshot goes wide.
Hits the end boards.
Bounces off the goalie's skate.
Into the net.
Heartbreaker.
That's hockey.
But the play that stuck with me wasn't the overtime winner.
It was Carolina's second goal.
Sebastian Aho picks up the puck and sends an absolutely perfect backhand saucer pass across the ice.
The puck literally hops once over the defender's stick blade.
Right onto the tape of a streaking Taylor Hall.
Hall catches it clean and hammers a forehand one-timer into the net.
Bang.
Goal.
If you've ever played hockey, you know how ridiculous that play actually is.
A cross-ice backhand sauce pass on the tape.
A moving target.
Traffic.
Pressure.
Then the forehand one-timer finish.
That's not easy.
That's elite.
When I watch plays like that, I don't just see skill.
I see repetition.
I see thousands of hours.
I see years of practice.
I see kids shooting pucks in the driveway.
I see players working on their hands after practice when everyone else has gone home.
I see summers spent improving while their friends are sitting around waiting for next season.
Because that's where that play was really made.
Not in the Stanley Cup Final.
It was made years ago.
In a driveway.
In a garage.
On a shooting pad.
On a pond.
In empty rinks.
The Stanley Cup Final is just where the world got to see it.
That's the lesson for you today.
That play is possible.
That level of precision is possible.
That level of skill is possible.
But it doesn't happen by accident.
It happens because somebody spent years preparing for a moment that may only last one second.
Summer is officially here.
We're already one week in.
So how's your training going?
Have you been getting after it?
Or has the first week slipped away?
Have you been in the gym?
Have you been shooting pucks?
Have you been working on your hands?
Have you been visualizing yourself making that play one day?
Because I guarantee your competition is.
Your teammates are.
The players you're battling for ice time against are.
The players competing for your roster spot are.
The true savages don't wait until August.
The true savages start now.
They understand that championships aren't built during the season.
They're built in June.
So if you've already started, keep going.
And if you've been taking it easy, it's time to ramp it up.
Time to become the hockey player you're capable of becoming.
Time to step into your hockey destiny.
Knuckles up,
Bobby Robins, savage motivator, NHL Alum, writer for Wraparound
P.S. One of the best ways to improve your hands and puck control this summer is simply spending more time with your stick. The Wraparound lets you train off the ice with your actual stick without destroying the blade. More reps. Better hands. More confidence. Get your Wraparound and start putting in the work today.