The PDA Newsletter | Stick Details
The Quiet Skills That Build Trust and Win Possession
Could you earn your next shift without touching the puck?
Watch Mark Stone for five minutes and you’ll notice something strange…
He isn’t the fastest skater.
He doesn’t have the best shot.
Yet shift after shift, he tilts the game in his team’s favour.
How?
Not by blazing past defenders with all-world speed.
But by dictating the game with his stick.
Stone has been called “the best stick in hockey.” Coaches, analysts, and teammates repeat the phrase so often that it’s become part of his identity.
But behind that label is a truth most players never fully grasp: your stick can dictate the game before you even touch the puck.
Stick Work as Hockey IQ
Stone doesn’t just handle the puck well; he shapes the ice around it.
His stick arrives before his feet. His blade angles steer attackers into dead ends. His quiet lifts recover possession without drawing penalties.
As one AHL coach explained:
“Your feet get you there. Your stick decides what happens when you arrive.”
This is why Stone’s shifts look so controlled. He’s not reacting, he’s orchestrating. Opponents think they have options. He silently removes them.
Development coaches put it simply: “Idle sticks don’t win trust.”
Every small stick action, closing a lane, steering a pass, lifting at the right moment, is what coaches call a one-percenter.
One detail might only change a single possession. Stack them across a game, and they decide outcomes. Over time, those habits add up to the one thing every player wants most: trust in their game.
The Habits That Separate Him
1. Proactive Positioning: Stick First, Feet Second
Most players close gaps with their skates, then react with a desperate poke. Elite players flip the sequence: their stick arrives first. With a flat, closed blade, they shrink lanes, force premature decisions, and cut off options before contact even occurs.
2. Blade Angles That Guide, Not Just Block
Good defenders intercept. Elite defenders steer. By angling the blade like a steering wheel, they funnel attackers into low-value ice, bait pucks into pre-set traps, and eliminate passing lanes without sacrificing posture.
3. Intelligent Recovery and Retrieval
Possession isn’t won by aimlessly hacking or jabbing. It’s regained with precision. Elite players use subtle backhand lifts and controlled separation to recover pucks without penalties or wasted motion. A single clean lift can turn a defensive battle into an offensive possession in seconds.
It’s why Flyers President Paul Holmgren once noted bluntly: “Specifically, it’s about positioning. Stick positioning and body positioning… little things.” At the pro level, those little things decide who plays and who sits.
What the Data Shows
It isn’t just an opinion.
A 2021 study in the International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport found that controlled stick lifts and recovery techniques directly correlated with higher puck-possession regain rates, particularly in tight defensive areas where space and time are limited.
In other words, the players who mastered the smallest stick details were the ones most likely to win back pucks.
Mark Stone isn’t just a standout; he’s an elite player. He’s consistently been among the NHL’s leaders in takeaway rate, including leading the league in takeaways during the 2018-19 season, and multiple seasons finishing near the top in that category.
Across his 13-year career, Stone has received Selke votes in 9 seasons, proof that his stick habits don’t just influence games, they shape his reputation as one of hockey’s most trusted defensive forwards.
Stone proves it with his game. Science backs it up. Stick detail isn’t just a “good habit”, it’s a measurable driver of puck possession, coach trust, and winning hockey.
Why Coaches Trust Him
Consider a single penalty kill.
Stone’s stick cuts off the middle of the ice before the puck even moves.
He mirrors the carrier’s stick, not their skates.
One wrong angle opens a seam. The right one kills the play.
To a coach, this is gold. “Even in social moments, elite players separate themselves with the small things,” said former NHLer Eric Tangradi during the playoffs. “Tracking, stick detail, wall plays, puck placement — they’re all on display at the highest level.”
These are the reasons Stone plays in every critical situation.
Training the Invisible
Most players spend hours on their hands or their shot. Few spend any time on small, nuanced habits. Stone’s game suggests a different approach:
Run small-area games with stick-specific rules (mirror before contact).
Create 1v1 drills where only stick disruption earns points.
Use video sessions not to highlight outcomes, but to freeze on stick angles.
After every rep, ask: What is my stick doing, and why?
At Cornell University, assistant coach Ben Syer drilled his players relentlessly on “stick detail, gaps, and communication.” One of his former players said those daily reinforcements made his jump to pro hockey smoother, proof that training stick habits at practice translates to more opportunities in games.
The Closing Lesson
Let’s go back to the question: Could you earn your next shift without touching the puck?
Mark Stone can. That’s why his coaches trust him in the final minute of a one-goal game, on the penalty kill against the league’s best, or in overtime when every mistake matters.
His stick is his credibility. Every angle, every lift, every disruption silently answers the coach’s biggest question: Can I trust you right now?
That’s the hidden truth about hockey. Goals and highlights will always draw attention, but it’s the invisible details that build careers.
A single stick habit can change a shift.
Those shifts are enough to change how a coach views you.
And when a coach trusts you, you play more.
More minutes lead to more opportunities. More opportunities lead to more impact on the ice.
Stone’s game proves the formula: trust is earned in the details. And at every level, from U16 to the NHL, ice time follows trust.
Because in hockey, you won’t always have the puck…
But you can always control the game with what your stick does, even without it.
Talon Mills
Up next in the PDA Newsletter
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This week’s Parent Insight Series breaks down why those 30–60 minutes matter more than most realize, what former players remember most about their parents in that moment, and the one sentence that can turn a tense ride into a safe space for growth.
