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