Why lacrosse?

Anyone serious about hockey should play lacrosse, too.


From Gretzky to Tavares, Shanahan to Stamkos, Canadian-born NHL players recommend playing lacrosse in the summer to improve hockey skills.

Hockey and lacrosse are very similar sports.

Hockey players excel in Lacrosse and, in turn, they become markedly better hockey players.

Both hockey and lacrosse are high tempo, physical team sports that have similar elements to the game. Both sports utilize 5 players and a goalie, three periods and strategy of developing odd-man situations to create scoring opportunities.

Comparatively, lacrosse is a much less expensive sport than hockey and uses much of the same protective upper body equipment.

Hockey players benefit from lacrosse by developing:

  • develops stick handling creativity
  • develops creativity in tight areas                                                                             ​
  • reading the play offensively
  • develops strong, dynamic defensive tactics
  • builds up strength and endurance
  • helps prevent sport burn-out by playing a new, fast-paced sport
  • increases hand-eye coordination
  • teaches players to play with their head up and to be more aware of their surroundings
  • reinforces the importance of quickness and agility around the net
  • builds self esteem, respect, integrity and fairness
  • teaches leadership skills
  • learn to play both offensive and defensive positions and make a quick transition from defense to offence and vice versa
  • scoring skills are honed by shooting at smaller targets and picking corners
  • teaches the creativity of fakes, back passes and shots
  • develop the use of both hands
 

Here is a list of NHL hockey players who benefited from playing lacrosse:

Connor McDavid
Brendan Shanahan                                                                          Steven Stamkos
David Bolland                                                                                  Ryan Getzlaf
Brendan Smith                                                                                 Sean Monahan
Reilly Smith                                                                                     Darnell Nurse
Max Domi                                                                                        Ben Eager
Nick Paul                                                                                         Brett Ritchie
Connor Brown                                                                                   Ryan Strome
Wayne Gretzky                                                                                 Nick Ritchie
John Tavares                                                                                    Joe Nieuwendyk
Adam Oates                                                                                     Joe Sakic
Jonathan Toews                                                                                Doug Gilmour     
Matt Moulson                                                                                   Gary Roberts
Jordan Eberle                                                                                   Paul Coffey
Cody Hodgson                                                                                  Paul Kariya
Gordie Howe                                                                                     Rick Dudley
Bobby Orr                                                                                         Darren Pang
Jason York                                                                                       Shawn Simpson
Mark Stone                                                                                       Bob Probert
Cliff Ronning                                                                                     Adrian Aucoin                                         
Jack Bionda                                                                                     Devin Shore
Jason Ward                                                                                      Dustin Brown
Gerry Cheevers                                                                                John Barrett
Doug Favell                                                                                      Marc Savard
Lionel Conacher                                                                                Matt Barnaby
John Ferguson                                                                                  Ron Meighen
Dave Andreychuk                                                                              Seth Griffith
Kyle Quincey                                                                                    Dan Ellis
Kyle Turris                                                                                        Riley Nash
Mike Ridley                                                                                       Codi Ceci
Doug Evans                                                                                      John Maclean
Sam Gagne                                                                                      Brian Bellows

Take their word for it.


"One of the worst things to happen to the game, in my opinion, has been year-round hockey and, in particular, summer hockey. All it does for kids, as far as I can tell, is keep them out of sports they should be doing in the warmer weather. I could hardly wait to get my lacrosse stick out and start throwing the ball against the walls and working on our moves as we played the lacrosse equivalent to road hockey. All the good hockey players seemed to play lacrosse in those days and everyone of them learned something from the game to carry over to the other - things athletes can only learn by mixing up the games they play when they are young." 


– Wayne Gretzky


"There is no question that lacrosse helped me become a better all round athlete but more important to me are the memories. Small town rinks, competing for my community, summer fun at tournaments, teammates and family. These are some of my fondest memories of my Mimico lacrosse days.


– Brendan Shanahan


"It’s lacrosse that helped teach me to spin off checks, take shots and protect the puck under pressure. My stick skills, the way to read the play quickly comes from lacrosse. The hand-eye coordination, is just one of the little things that helps you in hockey."

John Tavares


"Lacrosse was a big thing for us growing up and it’s a sport that really helped me develop as a hockey player.”

Dave Bolland


"Lacrosse is a great game that I enjoyed playing when I was growing up.”

Paul Kariya