Gallagher: Baseball, ping-pong, juggling help his cause

LAS VEGAS - Remember Brendan Gallagher's goal during Wednesday night's game in Colorado? It certainly isn't the first time the Canadiens' assistant captain has tipped a puck past an opposing netminder.

Gallagher has made a habit of lighting the lamp in that fashion over the course of his career, parking himself in shooting lanes and being extra crafty with his stick blade.
The 26-year-old winger takes tremendous pride in being able to produce offensively using this particular aspect of his skill set.
"It's an area I certainly have to be good at. It's a way to contribute and score goals," said Gallagher, who leads the Canadiens with 15 goals so far this season, one clear of point-leader Max Domi. "I think when you're standing around the net, a lot of times you're not going to be able to get a shot off the way you want to, so just sometimes you can redirect a puck. It's so tough to score in the League today, so if you can tip one in, that's kind of the easiest way to do things."

It's far from easy, though, even if Gallagher makes it look rather routine. He's constantly honing his hand-eye coordination to ensure that he's as sharp as can be when pucks are headed in his direction.
According to the seven-year NHL veteran, taking part in several non-hockey related activities has steadily improved his redirection game.
"I think with the hand-eye, I always say it's because I played other sports. I played baseball, which is hand-eye. I play a lot of ping-pong in the summer. I think that stuff helps a lot, doing little things like that. I juggle sometimes, too. I sit there and do that in the gym, so it's not so much tipping pucks a lot," explained Gallagher, who scored a single-season high 31 goals last year. "Any chance you can get to kind of keep it sharp, it's nice. If you can improve it a little bit, you might get one, two or three goals every year that could help the team win some more games. It might be that little margin or chipping in with that extra goal here and there that could end up making a difference."

You'll often see Gallagher standing in front of the net at practice trying to tip pucks past Carey Price or Antti Niemi when defensemen are working on their point shots or snapshots. Andrew Shaw will be right alongside him, looking to do exactly the same thing.
The pair enjoy refining that aspect of their trade together. It's a natural partnership, so to speak, given that Gallagher and Shaw both spend their fair share of time in close proximity to the blue paint.
"That's an area that's probably at the top of both of our games. I think we're pretty similar in the sense that we kind of play the same role, do the same things on the power play and do the same things on our lines. It's nice to have someone to be able to talk to about that kind of stuff," mentioned Gallagher. "We sit beside each other on the plane, too. If one of us is kind of struggling with something, I think you just bounce ideas off each other."

Shaw talks tipping
Like Gallagher, Shaw has a profound appreciation for the art of scoring redirection goals and the effort that is required to be efficient at it.
He also believes that tipping isn't just about pucks going directly into the back of the net. It's also about generating loose pucks in prime scoring areas and capitalizing on your opportunities.
"When you practice it, you get in a rhythm and you feel when the puck's coming. You know that you can kind of direct the puck where you want it to go," said Shaw. "Then, it's finding rebounds as well. When goalies reach to make saves and you tip it, it's either going to miss the net or it's going to hit him and lay behind him or right out in front for you. It's not even the tip itself, it's turning and finding pucks quickly around the net and getting those ugly goals."

Similar to Gallagher, Shaw credits playing baseball during the offseason and juggling, among other things, for his tipping-related success.
"It's making sure that your eyes are picking up movement," explained Shaw. "Gally and I talk about it. I ask him what he sees on the power play and he asks me. We talk about what the other person should try. We help each other out. It's a nice one-two punch."
Gallagher on juggling
How was Gallagher introduced to juggling, you ask?
"When I was really young, I got sent off with a buddy somewhere in Saskatchewan. I think it was Regina. I was just hanging out at their family farm for a couple of weeks. It was summer and we were just trying to kill time, and one of the things they did was send us to clown school or something for the day," recalled Gallagher. "I learned how to juggle when I was probably about eight or nine years old. Once I learned, I just kept doing it. I used to grab different stuff and do it all the time. You learn to juggle different ways. It's a hand-eye thing. It's something you can do to keep it fresh."