You have to find the puck, so when someone (or several players) set up right in front of you, you are going to have to work extra hard to find the puck, because screened or not, it still stings when the puck finds its way into the back of the net on your watch.
We spend a lot of time working on your agility, your transition from pads down to skates and back again, but sometimes I forget how much work it is to see around a screen. If you only have to do it for 10 seconds or so, not bad, but have someone parked there for 30, 40 or more and now not only are you hunting hard for that puck, now your legs and lower back are starting to burn.
UNTIL you add this drill to your off-ice training…
I call it the Sean Avery Drill for obvious reasons (you’ll understand when you watch) and there are three different versions for you to try.
Just on the off chance that you cannot see the video above (probably nargles), here is the link
https://youtu.be/e-nG7pBlmCI
Just remember that your training partner is NOT Sean Avery and you asked them to stand in front of you and be a pest, so no getting mad at them. Deal?
Again, work in building your stamina with this one, so plan to go for 45-60 seconds at a time, stay low in your legs and actually visualize where the puck is, fight to get your eyes on it.
Cheers,
M