Austin Smith

The modern day version of hockey is far different to sort I played on grass in high school. The introduction of a number of new rules has also made a big impact on how the game is played. One clear example of this is with the self-pass rule, which has affected the way in which we tackle. Clumsy breakdowns of play are no longer useful if the ball doesn’t roll far enough away from the tackle site. Skills, which were once deemed fancy, are now becoming the standard in any top class international players repertoire. Here’s what I consider to be the skills every modern hockey player should possess: