RECEIVING PASSES:
IS "CUSHIONING/CUPPING" THE PASS - THE BEST WAY TO RECEIVE A PASS??

 

This article is focused on the Basic Beginners skill of receiving a pass, yet it is a very important skill to understand, practice and master so that the player's Maximum goal scoring potential is realized. For years in hockey schools and on hockey rinks coaches have been coachingthat when you receive the pass that the player should "cushion and cup the pass". For example, if a player is receiving a pass with his forehand, that the player is to move his stick blade back and downward as the puck approaches so that there is some "give" in receiving the pass, thus a "cushioning" and "cupping" effect. Players are also coached that there should be no "noise" made when the puck hits the blade. For years I coached the same "cushioning the pass" philosophy in my own hockey schools. In 1986 I was playing my 10 th year of professional hockey with the Los Angeles Kings. At one of our morning practices, my eyes were opened to a new possibility of "how to receive a pass" when a somewhat cocky rookie by the name of Luc Robitaille demonstrated to me that perhaps there was a more effective way of receiving a pass. (NOTE: Robitaille holds the NHL record for goals by a left wing (653), and most points in one season at left wing (125) demonstrated to me that perhaps there was a more effective way of receiving a pass.) The night before, we had lost a close game to the Calgary Flames. In the third period, I had a glorious opportunity to go in on a breakaway and score to give us the lead. I am a left handed shot and Jimmy Carson gave me a pass from my right side. All I had to do was "catch" the pass, go in all alone and bury it for a goal. These were all great plans except for the fact that when I went to "cushion" the pass, the puck flipped over my stick, got a few feet away from me and the opening disappeared as I fumbled with the puck. It was the next day that Luc Robitaille showed me a different way to do it and I believe a better way of receiving a pass while playing hockey. He showed me that the following: Keep the blade perpendicular to the ice, not with the receiving face of the blade cupped downward. Simply be firm with you grip and avoid moving the blade as the puck approaches. Quite amazingly the puck hits the blade and stays there. The puck and the blade make a noise when this happens, but who cares -it works! As we practiced both ways of receiving the pass I started to notice how the puck will spin away or flip over my stick as I "cushioned/cupped" the pass and how the puck stopped and stayed on my stick when I was firm with grip and did not move my blade. As we went into the discussion further, I could see how "cushioning" the pass would sometimes take the puck out of the shooting or passing area. When I stopped the puck firmly, the puck was in a good position to either pass it or shoot it immediately. Also, another observation that proves this is in the NHL you will see a player receive a hard pass, and the player has to reach for it with only one hand on his stick. Most of the time the puck hits the stick and stops right there. Did the player "cushion" the puck when he is using only one hand? No way! Really, the only time a player needs to "cushion" the puck is when a DMan is receiving the pass and a forward is right on him. He may choose to "cushion" the pass in order to create some gap/space between the puck and the fore checking player. I can still remember that morning practice with Luc Robitaille, that I was learning something from a rookie, yet it sure made "practical sense" when we were finished working on it. Since that day, when I coach passing and receiving a pass, I coach players to receive the puck with a firm grip, blade perpendicular to the ice and no "cushioning/cupping" of the puck. And, I love to hear the puck hitting the blade and stopping right there.