Everything in the game of hockey revolves around the puck. If the other team has it, you and your teammates are trying to get it back. If your teammate has it, you are looking to get open to get a pass, or anticipating where it might go so you can help out. If you happen to have it, you are in control of the game.

Unfortunately, there is only one puck, and the amount of time that each individual player has it is minimal. Studies done at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City indicated that the top players in the world like Joe Sakic, Jaromir Jagr, Matts Sundin and Mike Modano, only had possession of the puck for a total of approximately one minute in a game. And these are players that are incredibly skilled with the puck. Other players had it on their stick less time than that.

So getting the puck, and more importantly maintaining possession of the puck and making the right play with it, is very important.

"Every player should want the puck, and have the confidence and the skill to be able to make the right play with it when they get it," says SHS instructor Jesse Hubenschmidt, someone who should know, having set the total points record during his collegiate career with the University of Michigan-Dearborn Wolves. "Stickhandling takes plenty of practice," continues Hubenschmidt, "And the confidence feeds off the skill, and the skill feeds off of the confidence. The better you get, the more you are willing to try to do with the puck. The more that you are willing to try with the puck, the more confident that you will be."

The word stickhandling begins with "stick" and so does the skill. "To be a quality carpenter or craftsman, first you need the right tools," says instructor Mike Humitz. "The same holds true in hockey. If a player doesn’t have the proper stick, he or she will have a harder, and slower time developing their stickhandling skills."

Youth players should use youth stick models, which are shorter, lighter, have smaller blades and shafts that are smaller in circumference so that they are more easily handled by smaller players. An adult stick can be cut off to the correct length for a 10 year old but the blade will be too big, the shaft will be too big, and the balance of the stick will be negatively affected. Therefore it is very important to use the right stick for the right size player.

As a rule of thumb, with a player’s skates on, the shaft of the hockey stick should be cut at about mouth height. That can vary for each player with the range being an inch or two below the chin, up to the nose, and it really depends on what is comfortable for that player.

With the proper stick, cut to the right size, the next step it so make sure that the player is holding it properly. The player’s top hand should always be at the top of the shaft of the stick, with no part of the butt end sticking out. The proper grip is with the palm of the hand on the top side of the shaft of the stick, with the fingers and thumbs pointed down, and wrapped under the shaft.

"You see so many players, kids and adults holding this hand improperly," comments Humitz. "Often they have the palm of the hand underneath the shaft and this is a really bad habit that is hard to correct if it is not caught early. We see kids as old as 12 and 13 who are playing A, AA or even AAA hockey who are literally handcuffed by their stick grip and it limits what they can do with the puck as they reach their hands away from their body."

For the most part, the bottom hand should be placed about "the width of the player’s body" down the shaft of the stick, but it needs to be able to slide up and down the shaft as a player reaches away from his or her body and manipulates the puck in closer to the skates.

With proper hand placement, the next step is wrist movement, which is really the essential component of puckhandling.

"Most of the time, the puck should be handled from the middle to the heel of the stick blade," says Hubenschmidt. "The player has better control of the puck here, as moving the wrists causes a cupping action of the stick blade over the puck, which allows for better control and actually keeps the puck on the stick as a player moves forward. Without the wrist movement, the stick blade does not move properly, and the puck will bounce, wobble, or be lost off of the heel of the blade. The majority of passes and shots also originate with the puck at the heel, so it is a great habit to get into early."

Once these small, seemingly simple, but often overlooked basics are in place, a player can concentrate on doing the literally hundreds of things that can be done with the puck, beginning with handling the puck with the head up until that becomes second nature. Then moving forward, then striding faster, then at full speed, using one hand to control the puck without breaking stride, fakes, beating opponents one on one, turning, stopping and starting to both the forehand and backhand sides, crossing over and accelerating, skating backward, pivoting, then all again under pressure and in different situations. All of the things that you do to keep possession of the puck in a game. Once you get it.