Knuckle puck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The knuckle puck is a deceptive shooting technique in hockey.
To perform the knuckle puck, the player turns the hockey puck so that it balances on its edge, then does a slapshot. Ideally, the puck is supposed to spin through the air unpredictably so that the goalie will be unable to stop it. The name "knuckle puck" comes by analogy with a knuckleball in baseball.
[edit] Fame from "The Mighty Ducks"
It was made famous by the film D2: The Mighty Ducks, where it was the ace-in-the-hole of streetsmart player Russ Tyler (Kenan Thompson). As Russ, the Los Angeles native, explains, "It's hard to be accurate, but it drives goalies crazy."
In the movie, the knuckle puck somehow sails through the air along a physically impossible sine-curve, causing the opposing team to stare in confusion as the puck whizzes by them and into the net. In reality, hitting the puck from the side as Russ does results in a disappointing shot that bounces chaotically and stops after a few feet.
Children and inexperienced players often attempt this technique, but the shots are slow and inaccurate even for the best of players.
