Any tips for skating on ice for hockey?

New to ice hockey from dek hockey, need some drills/workouts/practice tips?

• I've played dek hockey (no skates, played on a hard surface with a ball instead of a puck, no checking/hitting, no pads) for a little over a year and a half, and am looking to move into ice hockey with a group of friends by May (about 7 months). I'm a smaller guy, about 5'7" (same size as Brian Gionta), but pretty skinny at 120lbs, and I'd like to put on some weight/muscle. Anyway, can anyone give me some good workout tips to get into hockey shape? Also, any ways/drills I can practice by myself? I'm able to get ice time / sticktime and theres usually no one there, but I'm not sure what to practice besides just skating around and shooting (not to great at skating and it reflects on shooting too when you cant skate haha :P ). Thanks for the help!

• Answer:

  The thing to do first is to learn to skate, because that's what hockey is almost about. If you can afford it, take skating lessons (for hockey preferably), it will help. Or you can look for the nearest rink to you ( http://www.rinktime.com ) then contact them for info about the free skating sessions hours. During winter go to outdoor rinks to practise. Some of the techniques you'll need to know are skating forward, skating backward (not that necessarily but I would be a great asset), crossovers (facultative), stopping, etc. What position are you going for exactly? Because the techniques are slightly different if you're a goalie (ex: t-push). For the shooting, you could get a plastic/plexiglas or synthetic ice plate to puck-handle on. To gain weight, the thing you want is to gain muscles, not fat. So have your food based on protein (ex: meat) and/or take protein supplements/shake. Also, do a lot of muscle and weight training. Exercises like sits ups (with or without a medicine ball), bench press, working with weights, puck-handling with weight wrist, skating with a speed harness, squats, burpees, push-ups, ankle weight, training apparels will be useful. Work on your cadio too. With a cycle exerciser, jogging, etc.