Page:Hockey, Canada's Royal Winter Game.djvu/75

 puck as well from the right side as from the left, because the chances of scoring in either ways are about equal. As for the left wing, he is called upon so seldom to shoot from the right, that is presuming that he holds his stick correctly, with the blade to his left side, that it is not so important for him.

The most dangerous, successful lift for the goal, is raising the puck about to the level of the knee. This height is too great to allow the goaler's stick to be of any use, and is not high enough to be stopped by his bulky body.

The lift is not obtained by strength, but by knack and a good stick. Of course the more strength there is in the act of lifting the greater will be the velocity of the shot. But strength minus knack is not so successful as knack minus strength.

To lift the puck, the edge of the blade of the hockey stick must touch the puck lower than half its thickness, and the practiced "twist of the wrist" accomplishes the rest. This form of ridding yourself of the rubber is most important, because by a lift the puck travels farther and faster than it would along the ice, which gets cut up soon after the opening of a match, besides, it is much harder for an opponent to stop a lift than an ordinary sliding puck.