As a hockey coach, I’ve always been fascinated by the small details that shape the bigger picture on the ice. Hockey isn’t just about goals or assists; it’s a game of tendencies, patterns, and relationships. That’s why I’ve embarked on a project I call “Puck Touches”—a detailed look at how players interact with the puck to uncover tendencies that can help coaches make better decisions and allow players to elevate their game.

What is a Puck Touch?

I see a puck touch as a situation where a player can control the outcome of the puck. The player has the opportunity to improve the state of the puck and make a decision. A puck that hits a player on the shoulder is not a puck touch. The same goes for a defenseman playing in a 1-on-1 situation who pokes the puck away. He touches the puck, yes, but I do not count that as a puck touch.

A Tool for Discovery

At its core, Puck Touches is about understanding the game at a deeper level. After every game, I track each player’s puck interactions, marking them as either “won” or “lost” based on their outcomes. I also map out where these interactions happen on the ice, focusing on what I call hot zones—areas where players are most involved and frequently touch the puck.

But this isn’t just about tracking stats for the sake of numbers. The goal is to use this information as a tool for discovery. What tendencies are emerging? Are there strengths or areas of potential improvement we hadn’t noticed before? Could this data confirm a coach’s instinct about a player’s role or highlight qualities we may have overlooked?

How I Track Puck Touches

The Puck Touches analysis is limited to even-strength situations. While the same approach could be applied to special teams, players interact with the puck differently during power plays (PP) or penalty killing (PK), and in distinct areas of the ice. My interest lies in evaluating what each player contributes in 5-on-5 situations. 

Each time a player interacts with the puck, I track three key elements:

1. The state of the puck before the touch:
• T: Turnover
• P: Pass
• D: Dumped puck
• C: Chip
• M: Move (when the player skates with the puck)
• Re: Rebound
• R: Rim
• F: Flip
• Fo: Face-off
• B: Blocked shot
2. The result of the touch:
• W: A positive outcome for the team
• L: A negative outcome for the team
3. The action after the touch:

Similar to the states before, with the addition of:

• S: Shot
• G: Goal
• A: Assist

Each puck touch is unique, with varying options, so I analyze the context of the play to determine whether the outcome was positive or negative.

For example:

• A chip out of the defensive zone that leads to icing might be a W if the player was under heavy pressure with no support and made the safest decision to relieve pressure at the end of an exhausting shift. This action gave the team a chance to regroup, recompose, and set up a planned face-off exit.
• The same action would be an L if the player had time, support, and better options but still chose to chip it out.

To evaluate outcomes, I try to put myself in the player’s position, considering their options, pressure, and the game context.

As of now my puck touches look like this:

An opponent dumps the puck in the corner of our zone, our defenseman gets to the puck first and skates behind our net, he cuts the net and gets between the circles, looks up ice and passes it to our winger on the board close to the blue for the quick zone exit. 

I would count 4 puck touches for that player: 

DWM (dump - win - moving with puck) for taking the decision to retrieve the puck and skate with it 

MWM (moving with puck - win - moving with puck) for skating from the corner to behind the net

MWM (moving with puck - win - moving with puck) for skating from behind the net to in front of it

MWP (moving with puck - win - pass) for making the pass to his teammate.

Possession vs. Attack

Most puck touches in a game involve possession pucks—pucks where the team is either trying to gain space (e.g., chipping out of the defensive zone or dumping pucks in) or keep possession (e.g., passing to a teammate or skating with the puck).

However, some pucks are different: attack pucks. These involve either a pass for a scoring chance or the scoring chance itself. In these situations, the team is no longer focused on gaining territory or creating a numerical advantage—they are already in attack mode.

On my diagrams, I differentiate possession pucks and attack pucks, circling the latter for clarity.

For instance:

• A shot being blocked might, albeit rarely, count as a circled W if no other options were available in that situation.
• On the other hand, a defenseman’s shot from the blue line being blocked by the first opponent in the lane will always count as a circled L. If there’s no shooting lane from that distance, the play should remain a possession puck, not an attack puck.

From my data, I already started seeing tendencies with possession pucks and attack pucks, one being that offensively gifted players tend to have a bigger ratio of possession to attack (5 possession for 1 attack) pucks in the offense, while role players, tend to have a smaller one (1 for 1). Perhaps this is specific to my team this year, though there are a few exceptions.

But it got me thinking, most coaches tell their players no turnover at the blue lines and when you have a chance to shoot take it. Well, your first liner enters the zone, he tries to beat the defenseman 1-on-1, doesn't see an opening, does a tight turn and opens up to look for a pass, no options, then sends it back down behind the net with a rim for his teammate. That first liner who loves to create and dictate play and who, if ever he made a turnover at the blue line by trying to beat the opponent 1-on-1, you might forgive a little bit more because he brings so much offense, just had about 4-5 puck touches in the span of 3 seconds. Out of those, there were no attack pucks and 4-5 possession pucks.

Now, your fourth liner gets in the zone, same spot on the ice, he knows if he makes a mistake he might not see much ice time after, he doesn't try to beat that defenseman 1 on 1, he shoots it right away. That shot gets blocked by the defenseman and now he is fighting 50/50 for that loose puck. Luckily, he gets it back on the halfwall, and sends it behind the net with a rim for his teammate. Same result as the 1st liner, but instead of 5 possession pucks he got 1 attack puck and 1 possession puck.

Which situation helped out the team the most? I guess that depends on your coaching philosophy and what you demand from your team. Are you a possession puck coach or an attack puck coach? And what do you prefer, your first liner with no shot attempt or your fourth with one? I recently told one of my players he was following the puck too much, he had way too many possession pucks because he wants to do all the work, I guess that could be a good thing, but it turns out he is one, if not, our most gifted forward. I want him receiving passes in the slot and scoring, I want to be circling his puck touches, sometimes you have to learn to let others get the possession pucks so you can get the attack pucks.

Puck touches from two games of a left-handed defenseman playing the left side.

Adapting Data to Practice for Building on Strengths

The insights from Puck Touches extend beyond games into practice. Take for example a classic drill, forward in the corner, passes the puck to the defenseman at the blue line and drives the net, the defenseman shoots for the tip/screen, forward then turns back to his line for a puck and attacks the same defenseman down ice for a 1-on-1. All the coaches know this one, we have all done it at one point or another in our career, and I am not saying it is a bad drill, there are plenty of good habits or behaviors to get out of it. But we do it a certain amount of time from the left corner, and then the same amount of time from the right. But now I get my left-handed defenseman, who has taken 1 shot from the right side in the past 20 games taking 6 shots from that spot on one drill, and on the other side, he’s taken 30 shots from the left in those games and practicing it the same amount as the other side. Imagine now you’ve run 3 or 4 drills that practice like that one, now your player spends half the practice on situations that will almost never occur in a game. 

Maybe drills could be revisited to put the most players in the most real-game scenarios, keeping players on their strong side or in situations they’re most likely to encounter. And this isn’t about abandoning structure but rather adapting it to reflect reality. The same goes for forwards. If analysis shows that our left wingers are always touching pucks on the left side in the neutral zone, should he be taking the same amount of 1-on-1 down ice in the previous drill from both sides? 

By aligning practice drills with game tendencies, players can build confidence in their natural strengths. This doesn’t mean ignoring other areas of the ice but focusing on the high-impact moments that define games. Whether it’s defensive zone puck retrievals or offensive zone attacks, practice should always prepare players for the situations they’ll face most often. As coaches we are looking at maximizing their effectiveness where they already are good, and to the benefit of our team. Every player needs a go-to spot—a part of the ice where they’re confident and impactful. Focusing on these strengths helps make those areas even more dangerous for opponents.

Sharing Insights with Players

I keep my Puck Touches notebook on the corner of my desk in the locker room. Players are welcome to review it, whether they choose to go over it with me or not is up to them. Some look at it every other game while others discuss their touches with me without looking at the notebook.

Recently, I began sharing player cards—summaries of each player’s puck touch data. These include puck touches classified by zone, efficiency ratings, and relevant stats like giveaways, takeaways, and battle performance.

Initially, I ranked each player’s stats within the team. After feedback from the players, I included rankings by position as well. While not every player shows interest, those who do are often the ones most committed to self-improvement.

Player card  of a forward, with rank from forwards, rank from team, and stat line. 

An Evolving Process

The Puck Touches project is a work in progress, and that’s what makes it exciting. Every game adds new layers of understanding.

Looking ahead, I plan to include details like backhand and forehand, or which teammates are involved before and after each interaction.

For example:

• A puck touch might look like 14PBWCF14 (#14 Pass - received on the backhand – win – chip – forehand to #14).

Why does Player A receive chips or rims when paired with Player B but clean passes when paired with Player C? Insights like this could help identify effective line combinations.

Unlocking Potential

Hockey is a game of details, and in those details, we can find the keys to unlocking the full potential of every player and team. My hope is that Puck Touches becomes a way to support and help not only coaches in decision-making but also players in growing their game. Whether it’s uncovering hidden strengths, improving individual skills, or fostering chemistry, the possibilities are endless.