Visualization.
That’s a big word in sports these days.
The best athletes in the world use it. They “see” the play before it happens. I’m no scientist, but they say the brain can’t tell the difference between imagining and actually doing it.
I once saw a video of the Blue Angels flight team sitting around a conference table — no planes, no helmets, no jets — just closing their eyes and running through every detail of their death-defying sequence in perfect sync. It gave me chills.
Hockey players can enter that same state before games.
I used to picture myself out there as a hunter — a relentless beast on the forecheck, tracking prey, and smashing opponents through the glass.
Maybe I should’ve visualized more goals or pretty plays… but that vision shaped me. And by the time I made it to the NHL, I’d carved out a role as exactly that: a relentless forechecker, savage bodychecker, and (let’s be honest) a decent knuckle-chucker.
But long before that — before I knew anything about “visualization” or sports psychology — I was a 10-year-old kid in northern Wisconsin, ripping shots in the driveway on rollerblades, picturing my Game 7 overtime goal.
It was pure.
It was joy.
It was glory.
No system. No science. Just a kid with a big dream, tricking his brain into believing it was possible.
Fast forward to now, and the tools kids have at their disposal blow my mind.
I stuffed chopped-up tennis balls into wiffle balls to make them heavy enough to feel like a puck. Today’s kids? They can grab a Puckaround— a puck that looks, feels, and handles just like the real thing — and go straight from driveway to ice without missing a beat.
And then there’s NHL Hockey Sense Arena — a next-level VR training tool that helps players develop hockey sense. Not just hands or speed — but the awareness, anticipation, and instincts that separate the good from the great.
They’re also a proud sponsor of Our Kids Play Hockey, the podcast hosted by my friend Lee Elias, the founder of Wraparound. That tells you something about their heart for the game — investing in players, parents, and coaches who want to keep pushing hockey forward.
Add in Wraparound’s tools, like the blade protector that lets you shoot anywhere… combine that with visualization and the drive to keep believing in your big dream… and that’s when things get dangerous.
See it. Believe it. Become it.
—Bobby Robins
Savage Motivator. Driveway Warrior.
P.S.
If you want to take visualization to the next level, don’t just picture it — train it.
That’s exactly what NHL Hockey Sense Arena does. It’s a VR tool built for hockey players who want to sharpen their hockey IQ — that split-second awareness that separates the good from the great.
And the best part? You don’t need ice time, or even a rink. You can train your hockey sense right from your living room.
I wish I had this back in the day — I had to learn it the hard way. But you don’t.
👉 Click here to check out NHL Hockey Sense Arena and start building your instincts today.
Because when you combine visualization, training, and the right tools?
That’s when you become unstoppable.
P.S.S.
Puckaround isn’t just off-ice training — it’s visualization you can feel.
The weight, the glide, the release — it’s so close to a real puck that your driveway becomes your arena. Every dangle, every shot, every rep wires your brain for the ice.
Because when your hands are sharp and your mind can already see the play, your hockey sense grows.
The Puckaround makes the vision real.