The best players don’t just play the game — they play in the future.

In this Hockey IQ breakdown, Greg Revak of the Hockey IQ Newsletter explores one of the most under-taught offensive concepts: working up — a pre-puck-touch movement that transforms slow, static shifts into dynamic downhill attacks.

The biggest predictor of success is preparation. In hockey, that means what you do before you ever touch the puck. “Working up” is one way to set the conditions for better puck touches and smarter decisions.

Picture a forward in the offensive zone who moves the puck up to the point. Instead of standing still or drifting low, they skate up high with pace, then as the puck cycles back, they’re already turning downhill toward the net.

That route — give it high, get it back downhill — allows them to attack with speed, the whole ice in front of them, and defenders forced to pivot and react.

Done properly, working up makes players dangerous the instant the puck hits their stick.

As discussed on the Hockey IQ Podcast with Martin St. Louis (Apple or Spotify), the key to elite play is learning to “play in the future.”

That means preparing for your next puck touch — scanning, reading, and deciding what to do before it arrives.

If you wait until the puck hits your stick to think, you’re already a step behind.

The best players are proactive, not reactive. They create time and space by anticipating how the play will unfold.

See how Greg Revak teaches “working up” with real-game example demonstrated by Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes.

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