Coach’s Corner: Youth hockey players should use small pucks

Don Cherry and Ron MacLean discuss Shea Weber’s slapshot, Andreas Athanasiou and why Jeff Carter will help the Los Angeles Kings make the playoffs.

“I’ve been wanting to do this a long time,” said Don Cherry on Coach’s Corner Saturday night.

Cherry explained that he’d recently received an email from a hockey parent who brought up the topic of using smaller pucks in minor hockey. The father said that his child was just four years old and had trouble lugging the NHL’s regulation-sized pucks up and down the ice.

“Wouldn’t it be better to have a small puck [for kids]?” asked Grapes. “Walter Gretzky was one of the guys [who advocated for them]. The kids should have a smaller puck so that they can stickhandle and shoot the puck [easier].”

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The NHL’s pucks are one inch high, three inches in diameter, and roughly six ounces (170g).

Seems like a simple enough solution for young players to develop and exercise their wrists and arms while encouraging skilled play.

“It’s brilliant,” said Ron MacLean.

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