The last two Hawks games I got to watch, I’ve had the displeasure of seeing two hits I’d rather not ever see in the game. The first was Alex Ovechkin hitting Brian Campbell from behind, the second was former Hawk, James Wisniewski with a head-shot to Brent Seabrook. Both hits unfortunately led to injury. Both plays were examples of hits the NHL (and USA Hockey & Hockey Canada) wants to see out of the game. While many can argue over how many games each player deserves for their actions, I think these scenarios provide a great teaching opportunity for youth players.
Ovechkin on Campbell
In this particular instance, Ovechkin and Campbell were racing to a loose puck near the goal line. Campbell, the first one there, was in front of Ovechkin in a clearly vulnerable position. Campbell was: 1) a dangerous distance from the wall 2) not facing Ovechkin 3) never had a chance to defend himself. Ovechkin proceeded to shove Campbell from behind. As bad as the injury sustained by Campbell was (collar bone and ribs -- I think), it could have been a lot worse. In that split second, it wouldn’t have been impossible for him to have gone into the wall head first. Players need to understand the dangerousness of checking from behind -- this single moment in lapse of judgement could have led to something far worse than it did. If the player isn’t facing you, don’t check or push him/her.
Wisniewski on Seabrook
This hit has a bit more ill-intent behind it than Ovechkin’s did. In this case, the check was clearly a retaliation for a border-line hit to the Duck’s Corey Perry earlier in the shift. Wisniewski’s hit had several different aspects to it:
1) Interference -- Seabrook did not have the puck, nor was he the last one to touch it. The only intent of the check was to retaliate.
2) Charging -- Wisniewski is a defenseman. He came in from the tops of the circles with his only intention to make a hit. When he finally came barreling in, he left his feet.
3) Head Contact -- The hit was high to begin with, then he followed through with his hands to the face of Seabrook (see freeze-frame below) which drove his head into the wall.
All these aspects of the hit make it a dirty one. Coaches must teach players the basics of proper checking technique, but moreover need to emphasize from a young-age that the only reason to check is to separate the player from the puck.
Hopefully players and coaches alike can use these two negative instances and take positive lessons from them.
Hockey can have one of the longest seasons – many going from August through March (or longer). Many players/families jump right into spring hockey the minute the regular season is over. Personally, I don’t believe this is the best choice for most athletes. After a long physically, mentally, and emotionally draining season, even the most die-hard hockey fanatics need to take some time to recharge their batteries – especially in youth hockey! Players need time away from the demands of the sport to allow their body to recover in all three areas.
1) Physical – this one is pretty obvious. As players get older, the game gets more physically demanding. Coaches push players harder in practice, opponents & teammates hit harder, the speed increases, and injury rates increase. Physical ailments that seemed minor, if left untreated, can turn into long-term injuries. Bodies need the opportunity to recover.
2) Mental – teams go through lots of ups and downs throughout the course of a season. These swings provide some of the best life lesson teaching opportunities – but they also can wear players, coaches, and parents down by the end of the year. Give players the opportunity to think about things other than hockey for a while.
3) Emotional – did your team play in a big game this year? Win or lose, I’m sure emotions on both benches were running high. All players need some time away from these emotionally demanding moments. Over-exposure to these scenarios can actually lead to physical ailments. People who are emotionally and mentally drained are more likely to become sick – it boils down to your body only having a certain amount of energy to cope with situations. When you’re low on energy, your immune system becomes vulnerable.
USA Hockey recognizes the number one reason for players dropping out of the sport is because they aren’t having any fun. If hockey becomes a mundane task, it’s no fun. Time off from the rink is healthy – it helps keep the game special. It’s no different than having a sports car in your garage – if you drive it everyday, it just becomes “another car” – but if you save it for your summer weekend cruises, it becomes something special. Let kids be kids – give them time away from the sport, even if it’s just a few weeks. Allow them to play other sports and have unstructured time, they’ll enjoy the game that much more when they come back!
Hopefully I’ve convinced you to take at least a few weeks off after your season wraps up. I want to be very clear on one thing though – I don’t discourage off-season hockey and/or training! In fact, I think (smart) training in the off-season can greatly benefit players. My personal preference for the spring is to provide some sort of non-contact, loosely structure opportunity for players to be on the ice no more than once or twice per week. Like it or not, as coaches, we have to accept the fact that players will probably learn just as much (if not more) from having unstructured ice time and getting to try things on their own in a pressure-free environment.
As players get older, the number of training options in the off-season increase. Older players can start to get into strength and weight training. This is a great opportunity to improve your overall fitness and strength while still giving your mind & body a break from being on the ice. Is it hard work? Sure – but it’s different work.
Finally, I do encourage players to find camps & clinics throughout the summer to help hone specific areas of your game. Look for camps focusing on areas of weakness. If you want to become a better defenseman, look to find a defenseman camp…if you’re looking to score more goals, look for a shooting or goal scoring camp or clinic. You get the idea. There are hundreds of choices for hockey camps – ask around and find one you think will help, and remember…the most expensive camp isn’t necessarily the best!
If you’re a parent – don’t push your kid to the point where they’re ready to drop out of hockey. If you’re a player – go relax and be a kid for a couple weeks…let your body heal! If you’re a coach – allow players the freedom to hang up the skates for a bit, and don’t pressure them into competing year-round.
Skate hard & keep your head up. See you around the rinks…and Minnesota lakes this summer!
Well, now that the season has come to a close, this is the final posting for my full-season of practice plans. I hope you’ve enjoyed the entries and have found some value in them. If you have questions about any of the practices, don’t hesitate to drop me a line.
It is often said the small things make the biggest difference. Here are five simple things to watch for in practices which will – if repeated throughout the course of a season – will make a huge difference:
1) Drill Start – If the drill starts on the goal line, make sure your players feet are completely behind the goal line. Don’t allow cheating in any of your drills. If a player cheats 5 feet on every drill repetition 20 times during practice, for 50 practices a season, that’s almost a mile of skating the player has cheated his/her way out of! Little stuff adds up.
2) Drill End – Just as starting is important, finishing is just as important (if not more). If the drill finishes at the blue line, make sure your players don’t stop skating until after they have crossed the blue line. This habit reenforces not letting up. Letting up early can lead to sloppy play or even injury. If you’re running a more advanced drill that finishes with a rush to one end, have the players hustle back to the red line on the whistle ending the drill. This will help players naturally get in the habit of hustling back – hopefully for a backcheck during the game.
3) Quick Starts – When beginning a drill, force your players to execute a proper quick start. The degree to which they are able to execute the quick start depends on their age, but it should still be reenforced at all age levels. Making this a habit in practice will help your players transition this into the game.
4) Stop in Front of the Net – Too often, drills are run at a tempo that forces players to “get out of the way” quickly to try and keep as many players moving as possible. While it’s good to have players moving, don’t force your players to abandon a rebound in front of the net. Give them time to stop in front and play their rebounds. As the goaltenders get better, more and more shots need to be scored on rebounds – give your players time to work on this during practice. Try making a simple rule for all your drills – after you shoot, you must stop in front of the net and look for a rebound.
5) Carrying the Puck – If a drill begins with a player carrying the puck, make sure they start with it on their stick instead of pushing it 10 feet in front of them. If you force them to practice their quick starts at the beginning of the drill, and also carry the puck, you’re forcing the player to improve his/her explosive abilities with the puck. Also, if the drill involves a tight-turn around a cone, don’t allow your players to chip the puck to the side of the cone they’re turning and pick it up – force them to carry the puck all the way around the cone.
As I entered the locker room to address my team before a tournament game last weekend, for the second time in as many weeks I was over-powered vocally by a coach from the adjoining locker room screaming and cursing out his team. Both times myself and my team were basically forced to listen to a curse-laden tirade while we were attempting to get ready for our own games. One of them even went so far as to kick the exit door open on his way out. These incidents led me to contemplate a few issues after our own games and evaluate the lessons being taught by these coaches.
1) What lesson is being taught to these kids? One of the only things continually crossing my mind was: “I really wouldn’t want to play his team – if that’s the way he acts and ‘controls’ himself during tense situations, I can only imagine how the children he is coaching will maintain their control.” Kids are like sponges, they pick up on the smallest things leaders they respect do. While I can’t say for certain whether or not the players in those locker rooms respected the coaches, I can almost guarantee they are absorbing poor behavioral habits in times of difficulty/stress. If a coach completely loses his cool when something doesn’t go right, how can he/she expect a player to maintain composure when something happens to them during a game?
2) Why do parents put up with this? In our area, the cost to play midget hockey is substantial – usually falling in the $2,500 range for non-Tier I (AAA) programs. With that much money on the line, I don’t see how parents could be willing to put up with actions like these and continue to allow their children to be exposed to this sort of behavior coming from an ‘adult.’
3) What are the long-term effects of this learned behavior? It is easy to see the short-term effects coaches who are out of control can have on a team, but the long-term effects are much harder to quantify. Habits, no matter how small, play an enormous role in the long-term development of people. One of the best simple habit examples is the age-old saying: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Imagine the long-term impact and difference between consistently practicing that habit versus: “A candy bar a day keeps the doctor away!”
Now, don’t get me wrong. There is a time and place to raise your voice to make a point, but I don’t think there’s a place in our game to degrade and personally attack youth. I definitely have things I struggle with handling, as I’m sure every coach does. This is OK – nobody is perfect. I’m sure there have been instances where I was out of line with my actions. My simple hope is that you and I, as a coaches, take the time to evaluate our interactions with our teams. Make sure they’re appropriate. The kids are watching you. Coaching is a position of leadership. Let’s make sure we’re leading them in the right directions – not only in hockey….but in life.
Those of us near the Chicago area are lucky to get Eddie Olczyk’s analysis of the Chicago Blackhawks games on a regular basis. In my opinion, he does a great job of breaking the game down and analyzing important plays. Any player (or coach) who watches games he’s announcing can take lots of great tidbits and apply them directly to their own game. In last night’s Olympic matchup between the USA and Canada, Eddie O pointed out the key areas for USA in the last minutes of the game. The areas he mentioned are simple, but important. I thought it was a great opportunity to cover what he said, and expand on it further.
The areas shown above are important not only to hold on to a lead in the last fading minutes of a game, but also when you’re in a tight game. Turn-overs in these areas lead to good scoring opportunities for the opponent and open up holes in your defensive coverage.
The first area in red shows the area from the top of the circle to the blue line in the defensive zone. If a player gets the puck in this zone, the puck MUST get out of the zone. There are usually three options for this: 1) Pass 2) Off the Glass 3) Ice the Puck.
Turn-over threat: Turn-overs in this area often lead to offensive players skating to leave the zone (to attack). With this, they are most times releasing from their defensive zone responsibility. If your center’s defensive responsibility is a man down low, and they’ve left the zone already, a quick shot on net from the opposing defense will lead to an odd-man situation in front of the net.
Benefit to executing: The best-case scenario is you control the puck out of the zone and are able to get the puck in deep or create a scoring opportunity. Worst-case, you’ve bought yourself and teammates a few seconds to regroup and defend the return rush. Since it is highly likely the opposing team will take a few seconds to exit the zone, players should have sufficient time to re-identify their coverage.
The second area in yellow shows the offensive-side of the neutral zone. In this area, players must make sure the puck gets deep. They can either skate the puck in if they have time/space, or they can dump it in.
Turn-over threat: If the puck fails to get deep in this zone, it becomes much more difficult for defensemen to get adequately set for the rush. If the D are following the play up ice, they will have to transition before they can play the rush effectively. If the defensemen were caught deep in the d-zone and are still trying to get out, their gap will be large, which will give the attacking forwards a lot of time and space. If the D are changing lines, they will have to hustle from a side-position to get back to the middle of the ice. None of these situations are ideal – especially when playing with a lead.
Benefit to executing: There are several benefits to getting the puck in deep: 1) Tired lines can change 2) Eats up time on the clock 3) Allows attacking players to set up a proper forecheck 4) Scoring opportunities.
This is NOT to say players shouldn’t ever try to be creative and try new moves or different plays in these areas. These are simply rules to help be effective when playing in a tight game – especially with a lead in the last few minutes. It is in these times where small mistakes and turn-overs are greatly magnified. Remember – don’t get too mad when your players don’t execute properly. The “best of the best” still make mistakes in these areas…in fact, our game would be extremely boring if they didn’t!
Hockey coaches are always looking for ways to improve practices. Here are 5 quick tips to help make practices more effective:
1) Plan Your Practice in Advance – Know what you want to accomplish, write it out (or use a software program like DrillDraw), and distribute the plan to your assistant coaches (and even players if appropriate). Make sure your assistants know the key points you’re trying to teach with each drill.
2) Keep Players Moving – Take a good look at your practice plan and ensure you’ve got enough players moving to keep them focused. A good rule-of-thumb is to have at least 3 kids in motion at a time (assuming a regular 15-person team) per drill. The less time you force them to stand around in line, the less likely they are to be messing around and not paying attention.
3) Use Small Area Games – Small Area Games are a great way to simulate game-scenarios in a confined space at a high-tempo. It also forces players to compete. This can do wonders for coaches struggling to get their players more aggressive. Here’s a free e-book from HockeyShare titled 5-High Tempo Small Area Games.
4) Minimize Whiteboard Time – Use a fair number of drills each session the players already know. This prevents precious ice time from being used explaining drills. To keep drills fresh, add small modifications to “regular” drills to focus on areas your team needs work.
5) Move On – If players aren’t getting a drill, or executing it to your liking, stick to your practice plan and move on. Spending extra time on a drill that isn’t working will only lead to frustration and further failure to accomplish the goals you’ve set for practice. If the players aren’t “getting it,” re-evaluate the drill after practice and try it again another time (perhaps a slightly modified version if it was too complex).
USA Hockey offers a lot of good information on their site for coaches to get started. Here are some useful downloads from USA Hockey’s website you may find interesting:
Last week we posted a video on the Pepper Drive drill. Here are some modifications to the original (base) drill. If you have other modifications, please feel free to send them over.
You’ve got your team…you’ve got your schedule…now it’s time to plan your practice. Where do you start? There are so many things to think about and so many drills to choose from – how does a coach know what to do? Practice planning can be one of the single biggest factors in having a successful season. The way a team practices, and the preparation put into each session go a long way to developing the team – good or bad! The age-old saying of “you play like you practice” is (most times) spot-on.
I believe one of the most important things a coach can do is properly plan each practice prior to the session and share the plan with the other coaches/helpers on the ice with him/her. Think of a practice plan as a one-night goal setting map. If you don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish, how will you ever know if you are successful? A good tempo doesn’t necessarily indicate a “good” practice. A good practice is only achieved when players make progress on whatever skills or systems the coach deems it necessary to work on that evening. Think of it this way – when players start a game, they all know what the goal is! Everyone understands they want to put the puck into the opposing team’s net, and whichever team does it the most will be declared the winner. Scoring the goal is the goal. It’s easy to tell at the end of a game whether or not you were successful – we keep track of these goals on the scoreboard! When you run a practice, the target becomes much more subjective, but without a target, you’ll never know if you’re on track.
So how should you approach planning your practices? I believe there are some core concepts one must take into account each time in order to effectively plan practice.
1) Know your practice & game schedule: Before you can plan your practice, you’ve got to know some basic things about your schedule. Did you just get off a 5-game tournament weekend? Do you have a game tomorrow? Is this your first practice of the week after a day off? These are a few of the questions you need to ask yourself before you even think about planning your practice. As coaches, we’ve got to realize what our players are capable of and what their overall energy level should be entering the session. If you just played 5 games over the weekend and you’re practicing on a Monday, you should probably expect your players to be a bit more tired than if they were coming off an off-day.
When my players are tired/banged up, I look to spend more time on full-ice flow and system-related concepts rather than short intense “burst” drills. I also try to keep the drills pretty simple – if you try to get overly complicated with a tired team, their chances of messing the drill up become greater…which can lead to frustration from players and coaches alike. The full-ice flow drills let them make some passes and get the legs moving without being over-exerting.
2) Know what your team needs to improve: Now that you know your schedule and the types of drills you want to run, it’s time to analyze what things need to be corrected. Did your team really struggle on their defensive zone coverage? Was the power play not clicking? Were the breakout passes not tape-to-tape? Take time to think about the areas you need improvement on, and analyze WHY the team struggled with them.
3) Recognize the skills involved (helping find the “WHY”): If you’ve decided your team needs work on a particular systematic scenario, you’ll need to break down the system and figure out what skills are necessary in order to properly execute. For example, if a team is struggling with breaking out, a coach would need to recognize the number of skills involved with this seemingly simple scenario. In order to successfully break out, players need to be proficient at the following: stopping, pivoting, passing (both giving & receiving), accelerating (quick starts), handling the puck, communicating, and reading the ice.
Spend time on developing the necessary skills. Don Lucia, head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers D1 Men’s Team, had a great quote in one of the videos I posted earlier: “If you can’t do it technically, you can’t do it tactically.” He’s absolutely correct. If a right wing can’t stop with his left foot, he is going to have a hard time being in proper position to catch a breakout pass at the hash marks!
4) Pick the right drills: Figuring out which drills to use can be one of the most challenging portions of planning practices. If you know what you’re trying to focus on, this process is greatly simplified, but will still require some serious thought. Before you can pick any drills (warmups included), a coach needs to be aware of the age & talent level they are working with. Coaches need to have a realistic grasp of what their players are capable of – without it, there will be frustration. While it’s good to use new drills, there is much benefit in running drills your players are familiar with. Repetition is the mother of success – if the players don’t have to think about the pattern of the drill (ie – they’re familiar with it already), they can better focus on the skill at hand.
5) Use high-tempo warmup drills: The first two or three drills you run set the tempo for the entire practice. These should be simple drills your players are familiar with – little to know setup time is ideal. Get their heads into it right away. Last week I wrote a whole topic on the subject: How to approach warmups
6) Communicate the plan with your coaching staff: I can’t stress this one enough. Having the entire coaching staff on the ice knowing the plan will go a long way to ensure everyone is focusing on the same key points. Without this, players may inadvertently receive mixed messages from different coaches. If you can’t get the rest of the coaches an entire practice plan in advance, at least clue them in on the overall concept and key points for the session.
7) Evaluate the practice: What worked? What didn’t? How can you improve? Practice evaluation is arguably the single most important part of a coach’s practice plan. This portion will also help you plan your next practice by knowing whether or not the team successfully accomplished the goals.
It is often said the small things make the biggest difference. Here are five simple things to watch for in practices which will – if repeated throughout the course of a season – will make a huge difference:
As I entered the locker room to address my team before a tournament game last weekend, for the second time in as many weeks I was over-powered vocally by a coach from the adjoining locker room screaming and cursing out his team. Both times myself and my team were basically forced to listen to a curse-laden tirade while we were attempting to get ready for our own games. One of them even went so far as to kick the exit door open on his way out. These incidents led me to contemplate a few issues after our own games and evaluate the lessons being taught by these coaches.
Two Bad Hits – Two Good Learning Opportunities
Tags: hockey coaching, youth hockey coaching
The last two Hawks games I got to watch, I’ve had the displeasure of seeing two hits I’d rather not ever see in the game. The first was Alex Ovechkin hitting Brian Campbell from behind, the second was former Hawk, James Wisniewski with a head-shot to Brent Seabrook. Both hits unfortunately led to injury. Both plays were examples of hits the NHL (and USA Hockey & Hockey Canada) wants to see out of the game. While many can argue over how many games each player deserves for their actions, I think these scenarios provide a great teaching opportunity for youth players.
Ovechkin on Campbell
In this particular instance, Ovechkin and Campbell were racing to a loose puck near the goal line. Campbell, the first one there, was in front of Ovechkin in a clearly vulnerable position. Campbell was: 1) a dangerous distance from the wall 2) not facing Ovechkin 3) never had a chance to defend himself. Ovechkin proceeded to shove Campbell from behind. As bad as the injury sustained by Campbell was (collar bone and ribs -- I think), it could have been a lot worse. In that split second, it wouldn’t have been impossible for him to have gone into the wall head first. Players need to understand the dangerousness of checking from behind -- this single moment in lapse of judgement could have led to something far worse than it did. If the player isn’t facing you, don’t check or push him/her.
Wisniewski on Seabrook
This hit has a bit more ill-intent behind it than Ovechkin’s did. In this case, the check was clearly a retaliation for a border-line hit to the Duck’s Corey Perry earlier in the shift. Wisniewski’s hit had several different aspects to it:
1) Interference -- Seabrook did not have the puck, nor was he the last one to touch it. The only intent of the check was to retaliate.
2) Charging -- Wisniewski is a defenseman. He came in from the tops of the circles with his only intention to make a hit. When he finally came barreling in, he left his feet.
3) Head Contact -- The hit was high to begin with, then he followed through with his hands to the face of Seabrook (see freeze-frame below) which drove his head into the wall.
All these aspects of the hit make it a dirty one. Coaches must teach players the basics of proper checking technique, but moreover need to emphasize from a young-age that the only reason to check is to separate the player from the puck.
Hopefully players and coaches alike can use these two negative instances and take positive lessons from them.