A Coach’s Notebook

Troubleshooting Hockey Backchecking

By | September 24, 2023
Troubleshooting Hockey Backchecking

A Pee Wee level coach was looking for help in a hockey forum. And, after noticing few others offered him anything that would really work, I decided to step in, troubleshooting the problem his kids seemed to be having with their backchecking…

Coach Chic’s Hockey Podcast 42

By | September 19, 2023
Coach Chic’s Hockey Podcast 42

Make no mistake about it, the best hockey players — at any age — have great mental skills as well as great physical skills.  So, let’s listen to this podcast before I comment further…

Top Tasks for New Hockey Coaches: Teaching Skills and Earning Respect

By | September 13, 2023
Top Tasks for New Hockey Coaches:  Teaching Skills and Earning Respect

The exhilarating moment has arrived. You’ve just been named a youth hockey coach, and now find yourself standing at center ice before your very first practice…

Tips For Keeping Your Cool as a Hockey Parent

By | September 10, 2023
Tips For Keeping Your Cool as a Hockey Parent

I hate to admit it, but I think I could have used this advice when I began as a young hockey parent.  Anyway…

Uniting Teams and Managing Personalities: Keys for New Coaches

By | September 7, 2023
Uniting Teams and Managing Personalities: Keys for New Coaches

A united, cohesive squad will get the most out of practices and games while forming friendships that last beyond the season. With that, here are some tips for youth coaches to promote bonding and inclusion for the benefit of both individual players and the team as a whole…

Addressing the Hockey Skating Posture

By | August 31, 2023
Addressing the Hockey Skating Posture

I want to introduce something I doubt many members have ever seen before.   Yes, it’s a training device that was long ago developed by a Canadian speed skating coach.

Do Today’s Hockey Players Not Shoot Very Well?

By | August 29, 2023
Do Today’s Hockey Players Not Shoot Very Well?

Coach Jim wrote me recently with the title question.  And, he might find it interesting that my staff and I have made much the same general observation over recent years, about kids in our camps and other programs — in that young players today just don’t seem to shoot all that well…

Coach Chic’s Hockey Podcast 41

By | August 26, 2023
Coach Chic’s Hockey Podcast 41

I don’t blame members for not being able to locate all the really in depth articles and videos contained in this site.  Hey, there are over 600 posts here at the moment…

Beware of Some Foolish Training Devices – Part 2: Where I Always Got My Gear

By | August 23, 2023
Beware of Some Foolish Training Devices – Part 2: Where I Always Got My Gear

Every so often I let my members in on the place where I purchased much of my training gear of the years.  I like to limit this kind of post to my “members only”, and for some very good reasons…

Beware of Some Foolish Training Devices

By | August 22, 2023
Beware of Some Foolish Training Devices

Okay, the above title might seem a bit pushy (if that’s the right word), but please hear me out…