I’m hoping my hockey friends noticed the “THE” in my title, because I truly meant to type it that way. Yes, I feel that in the overall picture of being a hockey coach or hockey dad — or even if I was an adult rec player, the coming days, weeks and months are as important as any in the entire year! In a way, what we do over that span is going to determine how we (or our player/s) will perform next fall.Oh, by the way… It’s very possible that I’ll leave this particular article available to the general public. …
Members will gradually get to know my long time Russian friend, Elena Segal, who has inspired a number of my articles. We can also thank Elena for the current Russian hockey reflections, though. She’s super-proud of her work in the use of ballet with other athletes, and she suggests to me that ballet was an important part of the great Anatoli Tarasov’s teaching plan. For sure the above video should be helpful to everyone in the game. Personally, it gives me a chance to relive my long ago studies in Moscow. Perhaps parts of it will also help younger…
Okay, I have to start with a huge smile here, because I’ve just finished browsing through some old notes reflecting back on what I’d call — for the lack of a better name — a “tryout” I ran a few years back for a new 5- and 6-year old team coming from my winter Learn-to-skate/Learn-to-play program. Ya, they were an adorable lot, with a 4-year old even being one of our better little guys. Anyway, for the sake of those who might be involved with a similar kind of team or clinic right now, I thought I’d share some of…
Number one, just because this piece centers around young hockey players doesn’t mean those dealing with older players aren’t going to gain from it. With that, I recently received a great question via social media. And, since it seemed something worthy of most parents and coaches of very young kids, I asked the writer if he minded me sharing it with my faithful site members. (Of course he didn’t mind!) Maybe not so surprisingly, you’ll find me thinking out loud here at times. Let me begin, though, by showing what I received from the above noted questioner… “My oldest…
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We’ve all been stung by some awful hockey advice during our years in the game, and more often than not it came from someone who swore up and down he (or she) knew exactly what was wrong and exactly what to do. Am I striking a chord with anyone? I mean, whether in your capacity as a new coach, a hockey parent or as a new adult rec player, I’m sure you recall someone steering you in a very wrong direction. Is there a method to my madness here? Ya, I think so. For, if others newer to the game…
While I studied long ago in the old USSR, I found it interesting that their coaches used a lot of activities for training that we’d have defined as schoolyard or playground games her in the states. Perhaps what I found most interesting was the fact that we North Americans had abandoned many of those physical challenges as rather old fashion, while the Soviets ran with them with great results. One such activity, for sure, was that of rope skipping. By the time I returned from Moscow, I was obviously looking everywhere for new ideas, or activities that might challenge my…
I’m not sure where to begin with this one, but maybe it’s best to first explain what set me on fire… You see, I like to follow goings on in various hockey and other sport forums. And it was one such group having mainly to do with skate sharpening and pro shop operations that recently got me flying at my keyboard. Discussions there are usually kept at a fairly high level, but some odd posts do seem to slip through the cracks. What I’m talking about is a post that had absolutely nothing to do with skate sharpening, or much…
I say it often enough, that I love my work in hockey, especially because of the great people it allows me to meet. Then, since the day I set foot (or fingers) onto Twitter, I’ve said pretty much the same thing: that I’ve met some remarkable people through social media. Carole Lockwood Taylor, of Tyler, Texas, is such a find for me, a really nice lady I happened to meet through Facebook. More interesting, though, is the way Carole and I really got to know one another. More fascinating still, is her connection with our game, ice hockey… Over a…
I remember years ago there being a trick question some Smart Alecs would spring on any unsuspecting hockey fan who believed he (or she) knew a lot about the game. What they’d do is pose something close to the above title, as in “Is forechecking a defensive or offensive part of hockey, or a team or individual ploy?” With that, let’s have some fun with the following poll. Then, once we’ve received enough responses, I’ll share something to help all hockey newbies easily classify most common terms. DON’T FORGET THAT WE MUST VOTE BEFORE WE’RE ABLE TO SEE THE POLL’S…