Challenging Hockey’s Status Quo

I have a new group member to thank for the inspiration here.

Shortly after he joined our group, we connected in a Facebook Chat.  And it was then that he mentioned a want to delve through these pages and “…back up a lot of my thoughts.”  As he continued, “I think coaches just need some guidance and confidences to do what they believe…”

And, ooooooh is he ever so right!  A head coach’s job is a lonely one in some ways.  I mean, the weight of a team falls on each of our shoulders, and there are usually few people ready and able to counsel us when we reach various sticking points.  Ha, want to talk about the many who second-guess us?  Well, I’ll tell you that we head coaches — or at least the good ones — second-guess ourselves even more.

Then, before getting further into this, let me suggest that a parent often feels the same loneliness when his or her youngster meets any sort of crossroad or obstacle.  Oh, the rinks may be filled with opinionated folks.  But, it’s still the parent and his or her youngster who lives or dies with a final decision.

What echoes and echoes from my brief conversation with above mentioned coach is that part about needing the confidence to do what he believes.  Oh, man, have I been there, and felt that.

Of course, back in the dark ages — when I began coaching, there was little in the way of help.  There weren’t even that many hockey textbooks, never mind videos or Internet websites.  Consequently, I  second-guessed nearly everything I was doing, skills to X’s and O’s.

My confidence grew with several events that just plain happened (and  I’ve documented these in more detail elsewhere).  It was at least comforting, though, when one minor league pro player affirmed my beliefs about defending a 2 on 1, and I got all the more psyched when an NHL defenseman suggested I saved his career with a special skating maneuver.  Then, some years later, I felt on Cloud Nine when my MP Drill Format was selected as one of the best drills at the1980 NHL Coaches Symposium.

Those things — however exciting, were only little bumps of adrenaline —  positive jolts, for sure, but not all that lasting.  No, the lasting boosts in confidence came with something you’ve heard me mention a lot lately, and it’s something you’ll hear a lot more about over time.  What I’m getting at are what I’ve come to call “Coach Chic’s Rules for Winners”.

And, hoping long time members haven’t tired of hear this, here’s how that collection came together…

Maybe in my earliest days as a coach, for example, I started seeing something like a turn-over in neutral ice really matter.  In other words, we may have been controlling a game, and  then a neutral-ice cough-up of the puck resulted in an opposition goal.  Of course, something like that happening just once only causes a coach to shake his or her head.  However, when it happens every few games, I tend to think there’s more to it than just a rare mistake.

Explaining the problem only briefly, I’ve come to think that a player just exiting his own zone, or just trying to enter the offensive zone, has his teammates thinking attack.  I mean, most mates — whether they should be or not — are likely leaning forward and they’re not prepared if the puck is suddenly lost.  And off to the races go one or two opponents, walking easily right through our still startled defenders.  Now, I intimated that all our puckcarrier’s teammates shouldn’t be looking to follow the attack.  However, I do believe in human nature, and I do believe it influences even elite players to do the wrong things at the worst of times.  So again, if our puckcarrier isn’t careful near either blue line, there’s a good chance he’s putting his team in trouble.

Okay, so I started seeing something like that happening more often than to believe it’s just a freakish, once in  awhile thing.  And I’m thinking also that it’s a principle I need to hammer into the minds of my skaters.

Problem:  I’m maybe a 20-something coach,  kinda new on the job, and I’m wondering why I haven’t heard any experienced coaches mention this, never mind suggesting a way to deal with it.  Would there be a confidence problem here?  Think again:   20-something, new at coaching, and not hearing far more experienced coaches address it?  ???  Hmmmmmm…

Well, to me, I could only wait so long —  and see that kind of mistake happen so often — before I decided I was right.  Damn the other coaches; maybe they know about this, maybe they don’t.  But, I only needed to see my team get burned so many times  before I felt the need deal with it.

Now,  I think the last time I checked, there were about twenty-one points listed under my “Rules for Winners”.  I don’t think you’d find any of them earth-shattering.  If you’d be surprised at all, it might be that I’ve found these kinds of things to be hugely responsible for a team’s success.  As a matter of fact, if a player wants to play smartly at a high level, he or she would be helped immensely by knowing and doing those things instinctively.

Notice, though, how much I anguished over that earlier point, however.  Ya, that kind of internal wrestling took place often during my earliest years — in coaching, and in parenting a young hockey player.  Like many others here, perhaps, I was constantly asking myself, “Am I right?”  Or,  “Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?”

And that brings me back to what the aforementioned coach and I both believe when it comes to the value of a membership site like this one.

There’s little doubt that beginners will find enough information here to bring them quickly to higher levels of knowledge.  Hey, there will ultimately be hundreds and hundreds of posts here, on everything from tying skates to over-speed  training.

But it’s the advanced player, parent and coach that my old coaching friends reminded me about.  Ya, all of us need someone to talk with when it comes to troubleshooting a problem.  And we all need someone we can bounce our own ideas off.  Frankly, we’ve had a number of spirited — but fun —  philosophical arguments over time here, and I’m dying for even more.  (I learn as much from those as our members do.)

Finally, speaking of learning…  I’ve found through the years that I’ve strengthened my beliefs about a given principle just by having to explain it to someone else.  Think about that, and then shoot me your thoughts — on unique skill applications, tactics or strategies.  I’d be  loving it!

PS:  Oooops!  Any time you’d like to start a new topic, don’t use the Comments area, but instead give that topic a chance to have its own area.  Actually, you can handle it in either of two ways: 1) use the special section linked at the top of our home page — it’s called “Ask The Coach”; or 2) email me (at coachchic@aol.com) and I’ll begin the new topic for you.  We can go back and forth through the Comments area after that.