Pro Tips: Kristen Campbell’s Puck-Handling Secrets
- Make every practice rep count by taking over passes that coaches or support staff would otherwise make, turning dead time into puck-handling reps.
- Kristen Campbell passes the puck in virtually every drill scenario — cross-ice passes, dump-ins, soft chips, and one-handed passes from her knees — to build game-realistic habits.
- Canadian goaltending coach Brad Kirkwood instills the habit of constant puck involvement, ensuring goalies are engaged and making hard, tape-to-tape passes throughout every session.
- This approach directly echoes Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur's longstanding advice: the single most effective way to improve puck-handling is simply to handle the puck more often.
- Involving both goalies actively in every drill, even when only one is in the net, keeps both players mentally engaged and continuously improving their skills.
If there’s been one constant in all the advice we’ve received from the best goalies in the world when it comes to getting better at handling the puck, it’s that you need to handle it more.
That includes multiple conversations with Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur talking about using downtime in practice and getting teammates to skate patterns so he could hit them with passes. So, it made perfect sense to hear that Team Canada goalie Kirsten Campbell is a great with the puck because, frankly, we’ve never seen anyone live that mantra so purposefully.
Working with Canadian goaltending coach Brad Kirkwood as part of the NET360 Goalie Camp put on by her agency, Alpha Hockey, it was a revelation to see the different ways Campbell incorporated puck-handling skills into various warms up and drills. The premise is simple, ties perfectly into Brodeur’s advice, is easy for to emulate, and comes from Kirkwood.
Whenever possible, Campbell is making passes in practice.
“He always makes us handle the puck,” said Campbell, since drafted 14th overall by Toronto in the PWHL. “I think it’s important that no matter what’s happening on the ice you’re finding a way to keep improving your puck handling. Involving all the goalies in every practice keeps us engaged too and keeps us making hard tape-to-tape passes like we want in a game.”
When her playing partner was in the net for a drill that started with a pass, Campbell was almost always the one making that first pass instead of letting the goalie coach do it.
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