03/20/2026
difference between elite and average
🎤 ⚡️ Nikita Kucherov says that constantly watching shift-by-shift clips played a major role in developing one of the greatest hockey IQs the game has ever seen:
"I don't have the speed, right? I don't have a crazy shot.
I don't have shiftiness like crazy. There's nothing I can be the best in for those abilities. I don't have it naturally.
I can't jump 45 inches. I'm like a 25-inch vertical. I had to use my brain. That guy that's in the gym? I know he's going to fumble the puck. I'm going to go after him and he's going to give me the puck. I know every D-man, his best ability and where he's not comfortable. I can put the puck in a place where he's weak and attack that space, attack his weak spot. For me, I had to learn, I had to watch the clips. Some guys go out drinking. I just want to watch shifts... When you study, you have a bigger library."