Diary of a Season 2011-12
A couple of days ago I agreed to coach a U18 female AAA team in the Alberta midget league. The teams are spread across the Province and the winner plays for the National Championship. The league executive called me from Calgary when I was doing a hockey camp in Jasper. It is the highest level for high school aged girls and most of them want to get scholarships at the college level and play in the CIS, NCAA or ACAC.
After coming back from Europe I coached in the WWHL for two seasons. It is called a professional women's league and the players come from the college ranks but it is hard to attract players when they don't get paid. So many of the top players just play rec hockey and the ones that do play aren't very committed to practices or even games. The league folded and now there will be one team that will play in the CWHL vs the 3 teams in the Toronto area and the team in Boston and Montreal. I was surprised the Minnesota team isn't part of the league as they were very good and had many USA players. The league is trying to get sponsorship from the NHL like the women's pro basketball league did with the NBA.
Planning for the Season:
I haven't met with the executive yet by this is the info I have so far from our phone calls.
1. There is a general tryout of all the girl's in the age group.
2. There is a draft and you can protect a certain number of players who played for the team last year.
3. You keep 15 skaters and 2 goalies and have affiliates.
4. Travel is by chartered bus and the trips are from 1 to about 9 hours. You only make a few long ones.
Staff:
I select my own staff which is very important to me because an assistant with an agenda is poison for the team. I also need someone who understands and believes my coaching philosophy. I have contacted one girl who played goal for me in 2 championship seasons. She is considering it. I asked a friend who played pro for 10 years in Europe is going to coach his sons team.
Practices and Games:
Practices are Tuesday and Thursday before dinner and they have 2 games a week. I am not sure of the game days.
With 2 practices we will work on Offense Roles. Day 1 - individual offensive skills and team offensive skills. On Day 2 we will focus on Defensive Roles 3-4, checking the puck carrier and covering away from the puck.
I want to have dryland and classroom sessions once a week. Hopefull on the same day.
I will use the drills and games that I have posted in the files section for the on ice activity.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/filemgmt/index.php
A-skating and puckhandling.
B-individual skils such as puck handling, shooting, passing.
C-team play situations such as 2-1 or breakouts.
D-games and SAG for skill and game understanding.
DT-transition games to practice game situations such as a 2-1 using on puck and completing the play.
E-shootouts and contests.
T-coach directed training for team play.
I can't attach word documents here but if you go to the site below there are live links to the A-B-C-D-TD-T- E drills and games. Click on the doc file at the bottom of the posting.
http://hockeycoach.com/group/hockeydrills/forum/topics/diary-of-a-season-2011-12
Tom good to hear you have the opportunity to coach a team. The players will be lucky to get you!
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I got an official update about what happens in August and will have my first face to face meeting with the other coaches and the administrators next week.
The most effective goalie I had at the college women's level, i.e. the one who played best in big games, has agreed to work with my goalies.
I am also talking with a player I coached last year, who is on the National Team, about being an assistant coach. Her schedule is really tight. It would be great for the girl's to have a model to look up to who has been a NCAA All American and played in the World Championships.
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Agenda for next weeks coach meeting sent to me.
A couple of important dates upcoming:
1) sometime in the next week or so, I need to meet with you and the other coaches to finalize the draft procedures for the upcoming tryouts. I have attached a preliminary doc that we are currently working on. Please review and let me know what questions and suggestions you have. Please note, this is a work in progress so some points may yet be revised.
2) Aug 15-19: GHC s hosting its first ever AAA midget prep camp. We have 2 groups of 22 skates and 4ish goalies that you and the other 2 midget AAA head coaches will be working with on the ice in a conditioning camp format. I have asked all 3 coaches to work together and run the camp. The camp is 1.25 hours long. The idea is to run the girls through drills for the first 50mins and then let them play pond hockey for the remaining time.
3) Aug 22-28: Midget AAA Tryout camp: This will be where you get to sit and watch the girls play to determine who you want to try and draft to be on your team.
4) Aug 29: Midget AAA Draft
5) Aug 30th: First team practice
6) Sept 11: Roster cut day
7) Sept 16: League play begins.
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I still have to call the coach from last years team and ask who he would protect before the draft and get info on the league and how he approached it. Considering he had the top Calgary team and is a former NHL player I am sure he has many worthwhile insights.
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A note concerning Women's Hockey.
Mrs. Snider has donalted 2 million to help develop female hockey. They just oppened a 4 plex that has 3 practice rinks and a 3000 seat arena and female hockey will get priority booking and it will be the home rink of Team Alberta, which replaces the 4 team league I coached in the last two seasons. They will have a permanent dressing room and play 3 game home and home series with the 5 teams in the east. 3 in the Toronto area, 1 in Montreal and 1 in Boston.
The league is trying to work out a deal with the NHL similar to the one the Women's BBall association did with the NBA to help it become viable.
I think this is a calgary goalie you might be looking at this year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA7AiRJ-8Cw
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Conditioning camp next week and tryouts the week after followed by a very complicated draft.
I want a goalie who stops pucks that should be stopped so the team knows how to play the rush. If she shows she can do that and is available I will choose her.
We had our coaches meeting tonight and found out about the ice times for the conditioning camp that starts next week as well as how many players we can protect and how the draft will run. It seems to be very well thought out. 2 practices a week for 3 weeks and 3 practices one week per month plus one dryland session.
Games start in the middle of Sept. and are on the weekend. We travel by charter bus.
I was asked to run the two practices on Monday night. There will be two groups of 22 skaters and 2 goalies and they have a 75 min. session. So starting Monday things will get busy for the next 6 or 7 months.
All of the players trying out for the AAA midget league have a week of conditioning before next weeks tryouts. I am running the first pactice and have attached a pdf of the practice plan.
Hi all,
I've been quite busy with hockey and playing father to my 3 years old daughter. But I'll try to be more active in the future.
So it's the start of the fourth week on-ice practicing. First two weeks was skills focused and now last and this week we'll work more on the defensive skills and individual tactics and some team tactics too. attachment includes our todays practice. Team is U15 team.
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Looks like a good practice plan Kai. How did it go?
Tom
Hi Kai,
Yeah it's lots of work being a dad! My son is almost 3.5 years old and my daughter turned 1 in June.
I hope to head over to the rink to watch some of Tom's practices tonight.
We are on holidays from Aug 20-Sept 1, then I start with the teaching when I get back, so will post more then.
Dean
Watched part of Tom's conditioning camp practice last night and then we discussed the drills / games he used. About 21 skaters and 2 goalies. Tom has some good ideas about how to increase the number of weekly practices available to these midget AAA girls by working together with the other 2 Calgary based teams / coaches - I hope it works. Regardless, Tom will help improve the level of understanding of his players - those girls whom he chooses in the draft will be fortunate to have such an experienced coach...!
Tonights practice is the 4th day in a row on the ice. We will do skills for 30 minutes and competition for 45 minutes.
I made a little change and substituted the 3rd perry pearn for a full ice game where they had to pass at least once in each zone. Gr. one played 10-10 and group two played two shifts of 6-6.
Quote by: Kai KHi all,
I've been quite busy with hockey and playing father to my 3 years old daughter. But I'll try to be more active in the future.
So it's the start of the fourth week on-ice practicing. First two weeks was skills focused and now last and this week we'll work more on the defensive skills and individual tactics and some team tactics too. attachment includes our todays practice. Team is U15 team.
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Looks like a good practice plan Kai. How did it go?
Tom
Thanks Tom,
Practice was okay. The challenge with this group is the huge gap between the best player and the weakest player and planing practices that develop both players.
Last two practices we worked more with offensive plays from the DZ.
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Kai the talent gap on youth teams is a pretty common problem. I think you have to always do some skill work at the start of practice to develop a good technical foundation and simply ask the more talented players to challenge themselves to do everything at top speed, while the less talented are developing the fundamentals.
The league had it's conditioning camp and now 75 players have been put onto 6 teams. Two teams on each night. They start with a skills practice tonight and then M-T-Sat have scrimmages - 3 a night. On Friday the goalies have a session with goalie coaches.
The three teams can protect up to 8 players and one goalie from last years roster. The remaining player play a full game on Sunday and then the teams draft until they have 15 skaters and 2 goalies.
Paul Pozzi has planned tonights on ice session which is run by neutral coaches while the coaching staffs watch. There will be 3x75 min. on ice sessions tonight with 2 teams in each. They have different coloured jerseys with numbers.
It seems like a well thought out plan to give a fair evaluation for the players.
Paul planned a good session for evaluation. Lots of competition to identify players.
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As far as a good chance to show the coaches how you play this tryout is about as fair as you can get. Monday they started a tournament. There are about 12 skaters on each team. There are six teams and each played a game of 2x25min. stop time periods. They do this again tonight and Saturday. Friday is a goalie only practice.
I have to submit between 4 and 8 players who were on last years club as protected players today. I only have 6 returning and they all can play at this level so I will protect everyone.
On Sunday all the non protected players have a game followed by a draft of goalies first and then skaters. I can protect one of the 2 returning goalies. There is a 30 min. window after the draft to make trades. It makes the NHL draft seem simple.
The draft has a rotation of 1-2-3, 2-3-1, 3-1-2 so it is probably an advantage to chose second because then you get the 4th overall. A former NHL D is one of the coaches and his daughter, who is the strongest draft eligible D, is in the draft and is automatically his first pick. Draft order is by picking straws. So it will be a challenge to get the kind of players a coach wants.
At first glance it looks like there are enough good players for two strong teams, we have only two U15 teams supplying 3 U18 teams and some of them end up going to sports schools. So it is critical that the last 3 forwards and the last 2 D can skate and compete hard. So that is what we are looking for. We have 4 F and 2 D returning so must pick 5 F and 4 D as the roster limit is 15 skaters and 2 G.
The top Calgary team finished with a 50% w/l record last season, the other two were under.500. So it will be a challenge. If you have a few scorers and the rest buy into the system and compete hard you can do well.
Was a good first tryout last night. This year will be awesome.
This draft process is fun for coaches. You have to figure out what your team needs and predict what the other teams need and the connections they have made etc.
Tonight was the prospects game with 30 non protected skaters and 4 Goalies playing a full game.
The draft followed. I won the lottery and had the choice to draft one, two or three. There are 3 Calgary teams.
We could protect up to 8 skaters and one goalie. I have only 6 skaters returning 4F and 2D and protected all of them plus one of the two goalies.
We had a ranking list of F, D and goalies and our game plan was to draft at least 3 scorers who compete hard and they rest had to compete hard and be able to skate.
Draft order was 1-2-3, 2-3-1, 3-1-2. I chose to draft 2nd. The third pick was automatically one of the other coaches daughters, who is the top D in the draft. So I got the 2nd and 3rd picks and chose 2 scorers. I picked another scorer in the 9th spot and then we took 2 D, A scoring forward, 2 D, a checking forward a D a F a D and 1 more F.
I think that works out to 11 F and 7 D. We have to get down to 15 skaters by sept. 11, so 3 skaters have to be send down.
We again won the lottery making it 3 for 3 for the goalie picks. I traded picks so a girl could stay in the league and another team could draft the two goalies they wanted. I think we ended up with the best goalie in the draft and probably the two best goalies.
So we ended up with an older team with some scoring, a lot of competitors, a top set of D and great goaltending. So it is a good start. I have no idea how good the rest of the league but the top Calgary team ended with a 50% w/L record last year. Lets see what this group can do.
We had a 90 minute practice with one goalie and 16 skaters. 1 D, 1G and 1F are playing in a U19 tournament in Vermont.
The goal was to establish some routines. i.e. skating, puck handling that we will do oftern during the year. I also want to create good habits in puck support and the breakout. We did the Murdoch breakouts routine with one goalie ending with shots from the point. We reviewed the breakout principles with a one net transtion game and then finished with a battling transition game.
We play an exhibition game tonight.
Practice Plan - the pdf has the diagrams and video examples.
A2 Skating Warm-up for Edges and Balance
Description:
A2 Formation - Players start at one end and skate to the other end.
- inside edges - out and in using a snowplow.
- inside edges - sculling one leg at a time on the inside edges.
- outside and inside edges - slalom with the skates together and a good knee bend.
- balance and edges - one length of the ice on each leg.
Repeat the same sequence but skate Backward.
mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20110726073836113
A2 Russian Puck-Handling Warm-up with Shots
From the A2 formation, players skate down the ice in 3 or 4 groups; practice big moves with the puck. One player leave and the next player go when he/she gets past the top of the circle. Finish with a shot from your lane no closer than the hash marks.
. Go one way then the other and do a different skill each time
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?s=20090427151438223
B6 Pass and Replace x 3Key Points:
Pass while skating then turn and face the player who is passing to you. Shoot before the hash marks and follow the shot for a rebound.
Description:
A. 1 pass to 2 and follow the pass and turn and face 5 for a pass.
B. 2 pass to 3 and follow the pass.
C. 3 pass to 4 and follow the pass.
D. 4 skate in and shoot-rebound- go to the corner.
http://hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagall ... 3082013321
B600 Double Cross and Pass
Key Points:
Make hard passes. Players should face the puck.
Description:
A. Player 1 pass to 2 and cross behind.
B. Player 2 pass to player 3 and exchange lanes crossing with player 1.
C. Player 3 pass across ice to player 4.
D. Player 4 pass across ice to player 1.
E. Players 1 and 2 attack 2-0.
F. Player 3 pass to player 4 who repeat the other way 3-4, 4-1, 1-2, 2-3, attack.
http://hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagall ... 3205117104
B5 Full Ice Breakout-One D
Key Points:
Go through the various options of Go, Wheel, Wall, Middle, Counter, Reverse to the Wing.
D always drive skate with the puck between the dots and F's always face the puck and give a target. F on the boards skate facing the puck. Middle F across the ice.
Description:
1. Coach dump the puck into the corner and call the breakout option.
2. D shoulder check and drive skate.
3. Pass to either F.
4. F pass back to the D who passes to the other F.
5. F's attack 2-0 and shoot and rebound.
6. Coach pass to D at the point who skates the puck between the dots and shoot.
7. Forwards screen and tip.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20080720200745971
B5 Breakouts With 2 D
Key Points:
Defense practice D to D passes and communicate with each other.
1. Over - the pass from D1 is made behind the net to D2 on the other side.
2. Reverse - D1 drive skates to the back of the net and bounces it off the boards towards the corner to D2.
Description:
1. Coach shoots the puck in to one side.
2. D1 skates back to forward, shoulder checks and picks up the puck.
3. D2 skates to net front and calls over and moves to the other side for a pass behind.
4. D2 pass to a forwards on the wall or up the middle.
5. F1 pass back to D2 and D2 pass up to F2.
6. F's pass wide and skate to the middle.
7. F's attack 2-0.
8. Coach pass to D2 who followed the attack.
9. D2 shoot while F1 and F2 screen
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20080720200746400
DT 400 Game of Support-Regroup-Attack-Defend-Breakout
Key Points:
This is a one puck transiton game. Regroup with support on the strong side boards and in the middle. If the puck goes across ice flow with the play.
Description:
A. Red 1 or 2 get a pass from the blue 3 or 4.
B. Red 1 and 2 attack 2-2 vs blue 1 and 2.
C. Blue 3 and 4 follow the attack to the top of the circles and give passive support (if the puck is carried higher than they are active)
D. The defending 1 or 2 pass to 3 or 4 on transition or after a goal.
E. Blue 3 and 4 regroup with Red 3 and 4 and turn and attack vs the original offensive players Red 3 and 4.
D. Continue this flow.
Options:
Add another regroup or D to D plays like hinge or switch.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20080720200745971
DT400 Transition Game of Low Battles with Point Support
Key Points:
Great game to practice cycling, going to the net, screening, tipping, point shots, shot pass, one timers on offense. On defense you have the low zone coverage and communication skills. As well as individual techniques like sealing the stick to the outside, tying up sticks, boxing out,
switching, all from the defensive side.
Description:
1. One team is lined up behind each faceoff dot. From one to three players leave at a time.
2. The next player in line plays the joker at the point and must pass or shoot within a second. Defenders do not check the joker as he can�t go in and score.
3. The coach dumps the puck in or shoots on net and the teams race for the puck. Whoever gets the puck can shoot right away.
4. When the defending team gets the puck they must pass to their joker at the point to transition to offense.
5. If the puck is shot out of the zone the coach passes to the non offending joker6. Play 20-30� and on the whistle the players pass to the coach and skate hard out of the zone before the coach shoots a new puck in.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?s=20090726102317243
Played our first ex game last night and tied 3-3. We got 28 pim to their 12 pim. The girls played hard and we really back pressured. By the pims we need to work on good technique. We got 1 even, 1 sh and one pp. They got two evern and one pp. I couldn't have asked for more effort. You can coach technique and team play but if the players don't have a high level of compete then it is almost a waste of time.
I talked with a major junior coach that I used to be an asst. for after he had a sub par season compared to how they usually did. I asked him why he thought they underperformed. He said 'I made the mistake of recruiting Talent over Character.' He chose character the next two years and was again one of the top teams in the WHL and now he is in the NHL.
I still 1 G, 1D and one F playing in a U19 tournament in Vermont and that gives a chance for more ice time for everyone. We still have to declare 3 players as affiliates and they will either be picked up by other teams or go to the A league.
Tonight we have the last ice time before the long weekend. I have asked one of my former WWHL goalies if she will come to give us two tenders. I am waiting to hear back. I am also going to ask one of the parents, who I tried to recruit when I was coaching college men many years ago if he can come on the ice with me. Two of my asst. are working and one is flying back from Finland with Team Canada today. So it will be nice if he can help.
I can plan my practice when I get the answers. Is it a practice with one coach and one goalie, 2 and 1 or 2 and 2. It changes what we can do.
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PS, The former goalie emailed back and said that she would love to come but she is in Holland at the moment and will be there for a year. So one goalie.
Theme of the practice was to improve puck handling technique, man to man coverage, recognition of the situation, D to D hinge, regroup and compete. I made up two new transition games DT400 which is a game in one end with extra players waiting for a pass.One game was to put the regroup and hinge into a game situation and the other was to vary the game play situation between 1-1 to 3-3. The coach told the next group how many would attack 1, 2 or 3 and defenders have to recognize and communicate. I have attached the practice plan as well as a pdf of the hinge practice with video links to Detroit and Swedes practicing the D to D.
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A2 Skating Warm up-Edges and Balance Position With a Puck
A200 Puck Handling with a Shot
T B6 D to D Hinge and Switch
B6 3-0 Weave With 2 D Regroup D Hinge then Pass Middle D Join the Rush and Takes the Shot
DT400 Support-Regroup-Hinge-Attack-Defend
D400 - 3 on 3 Quick Transition Game
DT400 With Varying Situations 1-1 to 3-3
I have been posting some of my practices here but I am sure the coaches that use this site would like to see what coaches from other countries or coaches with different philosophies are doing.
I have my opinion on how practices should be run and the method has worked for me but maybe I am completely wrong and other activities work much better.
Lets share ideas so we can all learn.
Tom - Not quite into the hockey season yet, but here is the plan I wrote for day one of tryouts. I expect the next few days will be similar, just changing the games, with the final day being just a scrimmage. We'll have just over 30 at tryouts and keep 25 - 28, depending on talent range, for two teams when we're all done. We have a short pre-season, and since most of these guys will be around when we're don it's fairly heavy on conditioning.
Anyone is welcome to ask questions or give feedback, and I can put things into diagrams if it's helpful.
Thanks,
Dave
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Dave, thanks for sharing. This league I am coaching in starts so early. First game on the 17th. Kid's can't play the fall school sports anymore because the season is so long. I got the schedule and found out we play every Sunday morning or early afternoon. I will miss my 11:15 Sunday hockey. That doesn't make me happy but I guess in a league with so much travelling you have to play early in the day so the players can get back home. Such is life.
We have to make decisions on the 2 players to put on waivers tonight and then see if we want to pick up someone from one of the other teams. We got the forwards and G we wanted in the draft but are a little thin in the back end right now.
This morning I arranged for off ice sessions every Wed. evening. We will have a 4 week rotation.
Wk 1 - Ball hockey rink for team play, off ice skills and other activities.
Wk 2 - Spin class.
Wk 3 - Plyometrics.
Wk 4 - Spin class.
I also arranged for 2 of my practices this month to be team play scrimmages with the other 2 Calgary teams. We will take turns having 5 min power plays 5-4, 4-3, 5-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-5. I find this a great way to review team play. i.e. we have a 5 min 5 on 4 then the players come to the bench for 3 min. to go over 4 on 5 and they have a 5 min. 5 on 4. So coaching between each situation. I hope they will agree to do this all season.
Tonight we will do skills for about 30 min. and then focus on the individual skill of stick on the ice and stick on the puck. We will play some situations in a flow contest and then we will go over defensive zone coverage and play a transition game to reinforce the d support. A little speed-agility skating and finish with rebound.
I put 3 players on the waiver wire this morning and am not interested in the other teams waived players unless there are some changes. I have to notify these players that they are now affiliate players only.
Today we have a 2.75 hr time slot but it is at 4 pm and too early to arrange an ex game. We will start 30 minutes late to make it easier for the players to get there from school.
We sent in our roster and picked the 15 best skaters and declared 3 D as affiliates. We have to convert 2 F to D and they practiced D on Tuesday.
I will use the long practice to go over the power play and penalty kill.
We will start with the overload power play with a low cycle. When the player attacks the seam between the F and the D and then read the options.
1. Go through and score or pass to the F on the weak side or the middle D coming in back door.
2. If the D pressures then the low player supporting on the goal line is open.
3. If the F pressures then the point is open.
4. I want the weak side D to be active and go back door when the F is walking the seam and go to the mid slot when the puck is passed to the F below the goal line. (also sets up the 1-3-1 later)
This is the starting point for our power play and if I can get all of the players to understand attacking the seam and always moving when they get the puck we have the base for other options.. i.e. rotationg into a 1-3-1 diamond.
Penalty kill. We will pressure all over the ice.
1. Skate in straight lines with shin pads in front of the shot. The line is always from the net out. So out and back and not sideways.
2. Stick on the puck and in passing lanes.
3. Back into support position when the puck is passed away.
4. Closest player pressure while the others rotate in a box vs 2 pointmen and a diamond vs pointman in the mid point.
Killing 2 short we have an inverted triangle vs a pp with 2 pointmen and a regular triangle vs a player at the middle point. We keep it tight and only pressure when the puck is fumbled or loose.
I like to follow the same principle in pk as in even strength with the forecheck and pressure from the inside to the outside in a tandem and back pressure the puck carrier. No swing and switch.
Following practice we will have a parent meeting. I will speak and answer questions the first half hour and then the team manager will take care of the volunteer and financial items.
On Sunday we will have a team picnic. The weather has been in the high 20 C (80's F) this week and is supposed to be nice on the weekend. I want the players to prepare a meal together, clean up and then create a Team Covenant that will be the template for decisions this year. I will meet with a few veterans to show them some examples. (Bob Murdoch gives a great talk in the video section and explains the purpose of the Team Covenant). I wanted to take them to a hostel for an overnight to create the covenant (the last two years I coached college we went to Mosquito Creek Hostel near Lake Louise and the next year to a hostel near the ocean in Vancouver) but there is no time. We play Saturday, practice Sunday and the season starts next weekend.
Yesterday I emailed the players and asked them to send me an email about themselves, their goals for the season, hobbies etc., so I can get to know them better. I got 4 this morning and hope to get the rest in the next few days.
So a coach has a lot of things to do at the start of the season.
We don't have enough players like in college or pro to practice at both ends vs opposition and that is why I have arranged specialty team scrimmages with other teams. The core covenant pdf is an example from one of Murdochs teams.
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Very long practice. We started 30 minutes later to make it easier for players to drive there from school but it was still 2.25 hr. We accomplished all but the 2 short pk. Some of the D had a really hard time making themselves pressure instead of standing in front of the net. It is a work in progress and I imaging it will be ugly for awhile.
With rosters less than 20 skaters it is difficult to practice team play. This is a rotation that allows reps with full lines. I have each unit in a different colour. I tell the F's the order they sit out. i.e. lw, rw, c. and the goalies can rotate each time or wait until every line has had a pp and then rotate. If you do full ice with less than 4 units the units are seldom together and there aren't enough players to have 10 at each end like you would in pro or college.
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TD400 Specialty Team Scrimmage
Key Points:
Rotation is Attack-Defend-Rest. Number the players so they know when to not defend. In even numbered situations you can require the defenders to breakout into the neutral zone before passing.
Description:
1. Power play attack vs 2 Fand 2 D.
2. Defenders ice the puck and rest.
3. Group waithing at far blue attack.
4. Original attackers now defend 1 short.
5. Goalies rotate in.
6. Create any situation by changing the number of attackers or defenders.
7. Even strength can also be practiced.
*Option is to have waiting players breakout from behind the goal line and do a pk forecheck.
Last night we had a ex game and the chance to work our aggressive 2-1-2 with a weak side pinch. We created pressure all over the ice and won 4-2 giving up a few breakaways when our converted F's playing D gambled but out goalie stopped two of the three. They scored a really nice goal with a quick low pass, one touch in front and in.
We had them hemmed intheir zone most of the game because of the pressure and could have scored more on all of the loose pucks in their crease.
Another practice today where we will introduce the 2 short pp and pk and walk thru the forecheck. After they will have a picnic and meet to develop a ten point Team Covenant.
We worked on the TSUNAMI 2-1-2 forecheck with a pinch on the wide side. It is very aggressive and the pinching D stays low and joins the cycle while the original #3 covers the weak side point and the other D slide over and fills the point for the pinch original weak side D.
On the 2 short pk we practiced the rotation vs a pp with 2 on the point.
The PDF has the practice with diagrams.
It would be nice to see other coaches pracitice plans or read comments about this practice.
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We start our season this weekend. I just got an email from the father of my captain who is a good puck moving defenseman. She just got her blood test back and she has mono and can't play for an undisclosed amount of time. That gives us 5 D and 9 F.
We started with a 3-2 win and a 3-2 loss. In the second game the ref called a penalty every time someone from either team competed hard for the puck so 50 minutes were specialty teams. It was 0-0 after two. We outshot them 20-7 in the third but they got 3. He called a goalie interference call on us with 2 min. to go and they scored.
Last night we had a specialty team practice with the team we played on Sunday. It was really beneficial for both teams.
Format.
10 min. warm up
12 min. - 4-5
12 min. - 5-4
12 min. - 3-5
12 min. - 5-3
12 min. - 5-5
The clock was reset and started after each segment and we had 3 min. to meet with the team to go over the systems for each situation. The goals were put up on the score clock to add competition. It was our ice time and they will reciprocate. We will do the same thing with the other Calgary team at the end of the month. I am hoping we can do this once a month with each team and it will help with the players understanding and give each team two more practices each month.
If you can find another team to do this with it really helps. I find that the team gets too tired practicing it alone. Especially minor hockey teams who don't have 12 F and 8 D.
On their pp's they use an umbrella that focuses on one timers by the week side high player or else that player comes in back door. We used an overload on the 5-4 and a spread on the 5-3. Both teams produced lots of scoring chances and it ended up 4-4.
Wed. night is our off ice training night and we did spin class. The leader was Elaine a trathalon and ultra marathon athlete who is married to a former NHLer and current asst. coach. She has boy's playing NCAA hockey and one at an NHL training camp and her daughters are also elite athletes. So a real role model for the girl's.
The varied between hills, speed, recovery for 60' and the did 15 ' of core and stretching.
We plan on doing spin twice a month, plyo's once and to use the court once a month for team play and skills.
They gave us more ice yesterday and a lot of it is on Wed. so I will reschedule the dryland for Monday which is open.
I explained to Elaine how the talent pool is a little thin with having 3 AAA teams in Calgary and that we need to play a real up tempo game to be successful because if we just match skill with skill some teams are a lot deeper in talent.
I had to ask two of my better veteran forwards to play D because there just aren't enough defensemen that can play at this level. We are ok at forward and in the net. So it is a project in the back end as one of our top D has mono and two are F's learning the position.
On-ice practice tonight will focus on doing things quickly and everyone taking defensive reps. We need tighter gaps and D side. They have to play tight gaps in practice or they never will in a game.
We have covered almost all of the team play situations except the 6-5,
We usually get two weeks of two practices and two of 3. So we will rotate each through the themmes.
1-individual offensive skills - the first 30 min. of each practice.
2-team offensive skills.
3-individual defensive skills.
4-team defensive skills.
We can have more on ice if the other two coaches agree to sharing ice for team play practice like we did on Monday. I hope they do. there is one other team close to the city that I will also ask.
I guess if they knew everything then they wouldn't need a coach.
On Sat. we play road game vs a team that outshot the team we lost 3-2 to on Sunday 50-20 but lost the game. It will be a real test as last year they were the division champs and have 14 returning players. It will show us where we are.
September 22 Practice
Goals of Practice
Tight gaps on 1-1
Close puck support
Transition from offense to defense
Pick up sticks and box out in the slot
Quickly state to open ice with the puck
Make the easy quick play
Identify coverage
Play the game while skating.
A200
Skating edges warm up with a puck. Forward then backward.
-snowplow
-one foot stroking at a time
-both blades inside edges
-two foot slalom
-one leg only
B6 Shoot from Three Lanes – Sequence One
3 players leave and skate-shoot-rebound-rebound for the next shooter.
Pattern a. around circle b. around near face off dot c. around far dot.
B6- 3 shots-3 pass 3-zig zag 3 lane shots
- Leave about 3” apart so the goalie has time to get set.
- Rebound for the next shooter.
A300 - Quick strides with the puck
Skate around the outside with a puck and on the whistle turn toward the boards and take three quick strides then slow up. Repeat on whistle always turning toward the boards.
“Fast Feet are Happy Feet.”
D4 – Game at each end.
Rule – you can’t pass until you have taken at least 3 strides with the puck.
Divide the team into 4 groups of 4. Defenders must clear the zone and get onside before attacking.
Play 2 games of 6 minutes each.
B500 Skill Circuit
Defense go to one end with defense coach and work on tight gaps.
Forwards in middle working on saucer pass and stickhandling moves and fakes.
Goalies work on rebound control with goalie coach.
D100 Puck Support Game with 2” Rule
4 on 4 full ice with the rule you can ‘only handle the puck for 2”.
Whistle every 60” and pass back to the goalie then change.
DT 100 Backchecking Game of 2-2
Play 2-2 with the defending team getting passive support at the top of the circles.
On a frozen puck, goal or turnover pass to the supporting players who attack the other way.
ORIGINAL ATTACKERS MUST BACKCHECK
Stress attacking quickly while the back checkers must identify who they cover and tie up their sticks-box out-then look for loose pucks.
Defenders team mates follow the play to attack the other way.
Quick game and the players must be alert and hustle.
E1 Shootout with Two Shots
Score 2 and 0 laps.
Score 1 and 1 lap.
Score 0 and 2 laps.
End practice with all the players lying down facing the middle dot sticks out. Finish with a cheer and then everyone pick up 2 or 3 pucks and put them in the puck bag. (no rookie garbage of picking up the pucks)
We split two games on the weekend losing 0-5 to last years top team. Shots were 29-30. They have almost the entire team back and play the game very well with good habits and lots of speed on transition. It is where we are trying to get to. The speed intimidated us the first period and they got 3 and the last two periods were fairly even but they scored one in each and we didn't finish on our chances.
The second game was vs a team with similar skill to us and we won 4-1 and the shots were 41-19. We had a good first, even in the second and we dominated the third.
The weekend showed that we really need to skate to open ice with the puck and move the puck away from pressure. We also need to learn not to panic but learn to manage the puck and eliminate give aways. We backcheck really hard but have to pick up someone when we get back and not all focus on the puck.
Pretty good weekend for this time of year. Our next two weekends we play the top team again.
Sept. 16 Practice
Divide into two groups.
Goals:
Puck Handling - Shooting - Passing
Angling - tight gaps - reading coverage
Goalies rebound control
A200 - Edges warm up with a puck going one way with each exercise.
A200 - One group in one direction and finish with a shot and the other group other way. Change directions. Coach lead moves to practice.
B6 Small Horseshoe 1-0, 2-0, 3-0
D200 Gap control angling game
D200 Angling game
DT200 King's Score Game
DT200 Two Net Transition Outnumber Game
E1 Rebound at one end.
The practice I posted went very well. We had 13 skaters and 2 goalies. Two players were sick, one emailed and the other got to the rink but was too sick to go on the ice.
I added one more timing drill that I will attach here and changed the rules in the games a bit.
Games.
Players were in two groups and 7 and 6.
We played cross ice.
In all of the games I had the team in possession of the puck pass to their teammates who waited at the blue line to come on, instead of starting with a new puck. This is much more realistic and we only had one puck. If they made a bad pass out of the zone they had to got and get it. No short cuts.
We kept score and the team that lost the 4 game tournament had to skate the five circles.
After reading Deans posting on Mike Johnston moving from activity to activity I decided to show all of the drills at once and we simply moved from one to the other. I name them and once the players know them we don't need to go to the board but it is early in the season and most of the things are new. After the warm up skill drills section I brought them in for a drink and showed them all 4 games and they already know the rebound game, so we spent about 3 min. total at the board.
They are getting a lot better at the edges warm up and most can now skate the entire length of the ice on one leg both forward and back. They carried pucks yesterday and that make it a lot more difficult. I want to have them supply ten minutes of music and we can go through the edges and Russian big moves routines to their Rap songs.
Tonight we have invited a different Calgary team in our league to do a team play scrimmge together. I have asked them to wear white. We have a 90 minute ice time.
Format.
10 min. warm up
12 min. Chaos 5-4
12 min. Flyers 5-4
12 min. Chaos 5-3
12 min. Flyers 5-3
12 min 5-5
6 min. Chaos 6-5
6 min. Flyers 6-5
8 min. Penalty Shots as done in a Shoot Out with the goalie on the line and starting on the whistle. (I have had goalies tell me that in a real shoot out they are not used to leaving the goal line and coming out and sometimes they get lost - so practice like it really happens.)
The time keeper resets the clock and starts each segment right away. The first 3 min. are at the bench and 9 min. to do the situation. 2 min. at the bench on 6-5. Keep score on the clock.
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This gives the Chaos an extra practice and we get one when they reciprocate.
In our last scrimmage vs the Bruins we didn't do 6-5 and 5-6. We haven't done 4-4, 4-3, 3-4, 3-3 yet but have had each situation in our games so far this season. So those situations will be on the agenda the next time we scrimmage a team.
One of my players has a brother playing Bantam AAA and they want to do the same kind of scrimmage with us. I think that would be a lot of fun and really challenge the boy's to create good angles and the girl's to have perfect technique.
I have also discussed having a little Perry Pearn tournament with the Bruins coach. We would divide out teams in half and each team wear a different colour. Warm up together and then play 3 games with a ref and a score keeper.
Last night we had a team play scrimmage with another U18 AAA team and it went really well. Their coaches want to do more scrimmages.
Tonights practice will focus on D to D hinging after regroups and the D joining the play. Many of the exercises are new so I am leaving a little more time for explanation and expect the players to remember how to do the drill the next time. I will have to have 2 more F's play D so we have 8 for the drills. It is tough to do a lot of flow with only 6 D and 9 F. 12 F and 8 D make everything possible. Many times we just have everyone play all situations in the drills. It helps because with our forecheck the forward ends up being the middle D on many rushes.
We will end with a regulation shoot out. Last year my top goalie struggled in shoot outs at the start of the season and was going out too far and losing the net because we always did shoot outs where the goalie starts at the top of the crease. So to get used to leaving from the goal line we started to do shootouts like they are in a game and started with a whistle. It helped.
It is a 90 min. ice time.
Practice Plan (the pdf with links and diagram is attached.)
A200 Skating Warm up for Edges and Balance WITH A PUCK
B4 Rejo Pass and Replace
B600 Regroup, Hinge, Quick up-Detroit
B600 Regoup, Hinge, Middle D Rush - Detroit
DT100 2 on 2 with Regroup
D100 Two Second Game
E1 Regular Shoot Out
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We took a little longer at the start because the goalie coach needed more time to work on some things with the goalie.
I added the little contest Dean mentioned and had 5 or 6 players around 3 circles. Three had a puck inside the circle and tried to protect their puck and knock other ones out. When a puck was lost then a new player came in.
We passed one puck around the circle with eye contact, then added pass and follow your pass, then did the same thing with 2 pucks. We finished off the skill segment with Puck Dog.
We did the 2 on 2 transition game with the attackers getting support at the blue line but didn't get as far as adding a regroup. I focused on the defending players covering one each and boxing out and picking up sticks when the puck was being shot from the point. Many of the players just follow the puck and don't cover a player, so this was a priority. We didn't get as far as the two second game but did the shootout to end practice.
At the end of each practice now the players lie on their stomach around the circle facing the middle dot and have a cheer led by the captain.
I post these on ice sessions because some coaches like to see examples of using the ABC model.
We have a one hour session and a game vs the top team in our division in two days. (3 of our first 5 league games vs the top team). It is our 4th ice session this week. The focus will be to play games that review what we have worked on. There has been a lot of instruction and I will see if they can put it into action.
We will start every practice with the balance and edges warm up until all the players can go each way forward and backward on one leg. The ice was too wet to use a puck yesterday so today it is with a puck.
-----------------------------
Practice Plan
8'
A200 - Balance and Edges warm up with a puck.
12'
D4 - Two second game at each end. The players must clear the zone and then get onside before they attack. Two 5 minute games.
8'
B6 - 3 shots, 3 zig zags, 3 lane shots.
10'
DT100 - Backchecking game.
12'
DT400 - One zone game 3 on 3 low and pass to the point to go onto offense.
10'
E1 - Gambling shootout with regular shootout rules starting with a whistle.
Quote by: TomM
10'
DT100 - Backchecking game.
Hi Tom,
Which backchecking game did you use?
Thanks
Quote by: rcmatQuote by: TomM
10'
DT100 - Backchecking game.Hi Tom,
Which backchecking game did you use?
Thanks
-------------------------------------------
Sorry I forgot to paste it onto the pdf. I have attacked the pdf.
I just got back from playing hockey and checked my email to find that one of my goalies is sick and won't be at practice so I won't be doing the end to end games and drills and will have to redo about half the practice.
I played hockey at noon and got back home to an email that one of my goalies is sick and won't be there. So now I had to redo my practice plan for a one goalie practice.
1. Skating balance and edges with a puck. Asst. coach warm up the goalie during the backward skating segment.
2. A2 Overspeed with a give and go pass to the next shooters. Whistle every 7". Go hard in the nzone for 7" the first player go in and the second player sping with the puck first. Pass to the player at the goal line who just shot, rebound then give and go with the next shooters. Stress to shoot quickly while skating without 'dusting off the puck first' (recieve pass and shoot without stick handling)
3. Perry Pearn rules for the 4 on 4 DT400 game. Keep score, call offsides. Stress covering one each.
4. Everyone gather in front of the net with a partner. Coaches demonstrate boxing out and sealing the stick to the outside. I took a puck to the blueline and move around while the whole team is in the slot and one is the defender and one attacker in the slot. After about 10" of moving around I shot and they switched roles. Then we moved to a game with the point man as jokers and defenders are responsible to box out and seal sticks and attackers to screen, tip, one time etc.
4. Art Krusel D400 game of 3-3 low battles. Pass to your point man on transition.
5. Gambling shootout. If you guess score go to one side and no goal go to the other side. Skate across and back if wrong. One shot each and officila shootout rules, i.e. leave on the whistle and goalie start from the goal line when the puck is touched by the shooter.
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Yesterday I got to experience how effective the small area games are. A friend got a 75 min. ice time but only 4 skaters and one goalie showed up. We warmed up a bit skating around and passing etc. then we played games in one zone.
First game was 2 on 2 Two Pass where you have to keep the puck in the zone and make at least two passes before you can score. We play games where the first team to score 5 wins. This game took about 20 minutes.
We then played 2 on 2 half ice where you have to take the puck over the blueline to go onto offense and stay onside. We played 2 games to 5 goals with a shootout of 5 shots each between each of the three games. We went to the fresh ice for the last game.
We used 70 of the 75 minutes and one of the guys basically seezed (is that a word) up and went to the bench and stretched.
What a great workout, lots of fun, exercise and touches. Also constant switching between A-offense, B-defense and 1-carrying the puck, 2-getting open, 3-checking the puck carrier, 4-covering away from the puck.
It is good to also play when you are coaching. Things aren't as easy as they seem to be from the bench and you realize that the better players have good habits and make the play right away when it is there.
I have been playing Sunday morning hockey at 11:15 for twenty years at least and the league I am coaching in plays early every Sunday but Oct. 30. Today I will play 30 min. and then shower and leave to coach. Usually I can't even do that. This team is fun to coach because they want to get better, so it is ok. Next year If I still coach this team I will request they play Sat. (we have a lot of Saturdays off) instead of Sunday on the one game weekends, or later Sunday.
We had 4 good practices this week and play the top team again. It is a great test to see if the players improve away from the puck.
----------------------------
Oct. 1, 2010 I started a workout program where I decided to have a workout every day. I got 366 workouts done in 365 days. Two days I was travelling and had to double up and one day I simply forgot and realized it the next day so I doubled up with two. The hockey starts in Oct where I play M-W-F and used to Sunday. So that makes it easier. I do light weights, bike or treadmill on the off hockey days. So now I will try another year of every day.
We have a 90 minute practice tonight. Lately anything copied and pasted only shows up when you log in. The pdf. has the plan with diagrams and links. We will teach angling from inside to outside, cutting the ice in half, approaching at the back shoulder, shoulder to shoulder and stick on the puck. We play 2 anglind games and the rest of the practice is focused on skills under pressure.
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Flyers Practice - Oct. 4
Goals:
-Angling from the side and straight on.
-Role one-individual offensive skills
-Nervous system overload.
-Role Three – individual defensive skills.
-Role 2 and 4 – offensive and defensive Support.
Description:
12’
Captain Lead:
Skating warm up with a puck and finish with a shot. Move on to big moves.
13’
D4 Two Pass at each end.
Play a game of two pass at each end.
Game one – 5 minutes only forehand passes.
Switch teams.
Game two – an escape move must be made before a pass or shot.
20’
B5 Angling Inside to Outsde.Description:
1. Offense group behind the net with pucks.
2. Defenders behind blue line in the middle.
3. Both start on the whistle.
4. Defender force the attacker wide angle and finish.
5. Alternate sides.
6. Players switch lines so they all angle.
7. Move the defenders back to the far blue line as the second step in the skill. http://hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagall ... 3080843840
10’
D200 Angling Game
Pass to team mates on the whistle.
Create good checking angles and cover man to man.
10’
D200 Straight on Angling Game
Pass to teammates on the whistle.
Create good checking angles and cover man to man.
18’ Lots of Variations:
D200 Multiple Puck Games
Key Points:
Wally Kozak ran this game with-Players can only shoot when the goalie is ready.
-No empty net goals.
-Hustle out of the zone on the whistle and play 20-30 seconds only.
-Pass extra pucks to coach on the whistle.
Description:
1. Players line up outside the blue lines.
2. Coach shoots in 3 pucks.
3. Players race for pucks and battle to score and defend.
Game Variations:
a. Shoot in a new puck on a goal.
b. Leave goals in the net and join team mates until only one puck is left.
c. Players can shoot on either net.
d. Send from 1 to 3 players to play. ie. 2 on 3 and coach put 2 pucks into play.
5’
E1 Two Shot Shootout
0 goals 2 laps
1 goal 1 lap
2 goals 0 laps
1’ All pick up pucks and put them in the bag. 2-3 pucks each
1’
Captain gather all the players in the middle lying down facing in.
Quote by: TomM[p
------------------------------------
Yesterday I got to experience how effective the small area games are. A friend got a 75 min. ice time but only 4 skaters and one goalie showed up. We warmed up a bit skating around and passing etc. then we played games in one zone.
First game was 2 on 2 Two Pass where you have to keep the puck in the zone and make at least two passes before you can score. We play games where the first team to score 5 wins. This game took about 20 minutes.
We then played 2 on 2 half ice where you have to take the puck over the blueline to go onto offense and stay onside. We played 2 games to 5 goals with a shootout of 5 shots each between each of the three games. We went to the fresh ice for the last game.
We used 70 of the 75 minutes and one of the guys basically seized (is that a word) up and went to the bench and stretched.
What a great workout, lots of fun, exercise and touches. Also constant switching between A-offense, B-defense and 1-carrying the puck, 2-getting open, 3-checking the puck carrier, 4-covering away from the puck.
It is good to also play when you are coaching. Things aren't as easy as they seem to be from the bench and you realize that the better players have good habits and make the play right away when it is there.
I have been playing Sunday morning hockey at 11:15 for twenty years at least and the league I am coaching in plays early every Sunday but Oct. 30. Today I will play 30 min. and then shower and leave to coach. Usually I can't even do that. This team is fun to coach because they want to get better, so it is ok. Next year If I still coach this team I will request they play Sat. (we have a lot of Saturdays off) instead of Sunday on the one game weekends, or later Sunday.
We had 4 good practices this week and play the top team again. It is a great test to see if the players improve away from the puck.
----------------------------
Oct. 1, 2010 I started a workout program where I decided to have a workout every day. I got 366 workouts done in 365 days. Two days I was travelling and had to double up and one day I simply forgot and realized it the next day so I doubled up with two. The hockey starts in Oct where I play M-W-F and used to Sunday. So that makes it easier. I do light weights, bike or treadmill on the off hockey days. So now I will try another year of every day.[/p]
Tom,
Several years ago, I played Smart Transitional Games with the kids and other instructors when I taught in my skill academy at Springbank High. I hadn't played hockey for years... playing these games was extremely fun (4 nets, full ice, lots of transitions... primarily King's Scoring Game) and it re-kindled my love to play. So I went out with some other guys a couple of times. They played 'traditional' hockey (no refs, honour the offsides)- attack and defend opposite nets / no transition / the game stopped when someone scored... the team scored on took 10+ seconds to dig the puck out, slowly move up the ice to centre to start attacking again... BRUTAL! I tried to get them to change into the King's Scoring Game or at least transition quickly when a goal was scored (the scoring team digs the puck out and attacks the opposite end) but it was too different for them. So I quit again. A few more years went by and I got invited out by a different group. I tried it twice, then retired for good. Same old crap. I find normal hockey boring... I will only play if we can do Smart Transitional Games or King's Scoring. I wish we could create a 3 vs 3 league using these concepts... I would play in a second!
---
Using my exercise physiology training, I created and started a workout program (for endurance cycling) July 25 2011. I bought a few weights, some rubber matting for the basement, a bench and already have a treadmill and wind-trainer for my road bike. I have lost 12 pounds in two months and feel like I have gained a few pounds of muscle - at least I have more definition now. I work out 4-5 times per week; lots of cardio (bike, some treadmill and running... my knees aren't great so biking is preferred), some weights, core, stretching and balance exercises. I had some back issues and chronic knee pain, so I figured losing some weight and adding muscle to the supporting structures around my knees would help. My back pain is gone and my knees feel better now. I also wanted to be in better shape to demo on and off ice and so I could be fit and healthy when I play with my kids. I used to race mountain bikes (Trans-Alps in Europe, 24 hour events) and ride long distances on my road bike (century rides = 160 kms+ in one day, for multiple days) so I want to get back in shape for those.
In 2003, I was told of the Tour Divide Race... it is a self-supported, 2800 mile race. This piqued my interest as I was in great shape and I had done some 3-10 day stage races. I didn't go for it and now that I am married (and have very little time!), I regret not doing it then. The 'old' version started at the Canadian / US border; now the 'new' and longer version departs from Banff AB (late June each year) and finishes in Antelope Wells New Mexico at the Mexican border. 99% is off-road. I want to ride my dual-sport KTM along the route first to scout it out (hopefully next summer) and then might decide to bike it (or portions of it) in 2013. It all depends on my time with a family / work, etc. Time will tell!
http://tourdivide.org/
---------
Dean, I just do things around here. Bike, play hockey, light weight routine. Try to take an hour each day to do something. I have an exercise bike, tread mill, elastic bands, weights, at my house.
We've been really struggling at start of the season. It feels like we've been going backwards from the last season. But the reality seems to be that (as mentioned before we have really small group and really behind with their biological age) others have growed at summer and my kids are still waiting to grow - i hope. So it's the Laws of the physics against us. Well we have some skills issues and our game intelligense needs work.
Anyway here's two practices from this week.
031011 theme: passing and receiving, scoring, face the puck.
1. 1-0 passing drill
* pass and receive from movement
* face the puck
2. 2-0 passing
* hard passes
* face the puck
3. 2-2 transition
* when D defend - attack - forecheck - out
* when F attack - defend - break out - out
4. SAG 2v2 with jokers in dz and oz
* when you gain puck pass to joker, pass to oz joker before scoring
if win puck in oz you need pass only to oz joker
5. SAG 3v3 face the puck game (if time)
* you turn your back to puck, penalty shot to opponent
041011 theme: passing and receiving, roles 1,2. win space, create space
1. 3 player passing drill
* square blade to passer
* pass and receive from movement
2. 4-2 cooperation
* create space, win space
* support
* create areal 2vs1
3. Themed game: OZ,NZ break out 2-2(4-4)/3-3(5-5)
* D plays below blueline, D pair co-op,
* if Fs win puck below redline they must pass to their D
4.themed game: 1-1 to 3-3 / 2-2 to 4-4
* start 1v1, get help by passing
* new player must move before passing again
5.SAG 3-3 scoring (if time)
* shoot to net = 1point, score= 2points, score by one timer or deflection= 3points
---------------
Thanks Kai. It is tough when you are behind the other teams in size or talent from the start. As coaches we can't do much about that. We can only go through the process of teaching good habits, skills and game understanding.
My team is similar as we have 7 returning players; a goalie, 2 D and 4 F. At the end of the draft it was very thin of D so I have had to move 2 of my veteran F's back to D. Most of the new players played A level and not AAA last season, so they have to get used to playing vs better players and doing things at a much quicker pace. We play the top team for the third time in 4 games next Sunday. they finished first last year and have 14 returning players. Last Sunday it was 1-1 after the second then they got two in the third. It is a great measuring stick for us.
Those are good practices. I will use some of your games.
Oct. 5
We had an off ice session and I will post a video of some of the activities. It is on a cement surfaces rink. The cement is slippery enough to be able to handle a puck.
- puck handling technique. I led while the players practiced using their top hand more and doing many moves. I stressed being able to handle the puck around the body on Both Sides.
- passing technique getting the top hand away from the body.
- snap shot
- partner one timer shots
- two groups doing one timer shots rotating between pass-shot-rest
D200 Games using small nets.
- King's Score game of 3-3.
- 3 on 3 regroup with joker below the defensive goal line on transition to offense.
- 3 on 3 with 3 jokers -one behind each net-one in the middle. Each team had a player in goal. (14 total players). Rule you must pass to a joker on offensive transition.
Oct 6 on ice practice -75 min.
- A300 - Puck Handling Skills
- B3 Partner Passing
- DT400 - 3 on 3 Game With Quick Transition
- B6 Three Man Weave Routine
- B500 Overspeed with a Pass and Shot
- D100 Game of 5-5 with Last Defender in Nzone - PP-PK and Typhoon Stretch Pass
- DT100 Continuous 1 on 1
Todays practice was good. Kids were really into it. we didn't do any drills. we did 4 games and one 5-3 to - 5-5 transition game.
1. 4vs4 no return pass
2. 3v3 sag tight marking
3. 4v4/ 2-2 in the oz/dz
4 . 3v3 sag scoring from the reboud gives 3 points.
5 5-3 break out to 5-5
We had a tough draw playing the best team 3 of our first 6 but it is good because the players are not allowed to make any lazy plays or have bad habits. So it makes practice full of purpose and the players pay attention because what they are doing isn't working well.
Game one was 5-0 and the shots were close but they got easy goals on rebounds or 1-1's that the defensive player focused on the puck.
Game two we dominated the first and didn't score, they dominated the second and it was 1-1 and the third was pretty even but their skilled players beat us 1-1 and scored and it was 1-3.
Game three was 0-0 after one. We acored on a breakaway with .4 seconds to go in the second and that put us up 2-1.
The shots were 6-6 in the third, no one scored and we won 2-1. I debated whether to put our top line on the last minute but decided to let the next line go on because they were playing hard and smart and they did a great job and didn't give up a 5-6 chance. Goalie was really solid.
We played with good habits. Not perfect but much better. We had a great practice on Th. with two transition games of 1-1 and then a continuous 1-1 to 2-2. Two players who have really struggled were two of our best players and one of them scored our first goal.
Fun to coach players who want to get better. We have a chance to make some noise when it all counts.
Quote by: TomM.
Fun to coach players who want to get better.
Yes, it is!
John and I have our "Supergroup Project" (1999-2001 / 2001-2004) on Friday mornings before school and they really want to learn. Makes the coaches happy to be there!
The goal of this practice was to play 1-1's on the defensive side and everyone played the first transition game both as a defender and attacker.The continuous 1-1,2-1, 2-2 is a high tempo way to review all of the situations and game playing roles. 1 hour practice.
-------------------------
F and D 3/4 ice while goalies worked at one end.
A200 - Edges with a puck followed by Big Moves and puck control.
B6 - Skate and shoot from 3 lanes.
DT400 - 2/3 ice transition 1-1 game of backcheck, breakout, attack, defend, rest.
DT100 - Continuous 1-1, 2-1, 2-2
E1 - Change on the go shootout.
Plan tonight for a 90 minute practice.
Goalies work at one end with Nat. One at a time.
A200 balance and edges. One way with a puck and one way without.
A2 - Puck Dog
B6 - 3-0 Regroup with D who hinge.
C3 Contest - 3-0, 3-1, 3-2. Last time they scored 7 goals in 10 min. F want to score more and D/G want less goals.
D100 - 2" game of 3-3
D200 - Game with nets back to back and must pass to a joker on transtion.
D200 - Cross ice game with half as jokers. Rule: you must regroup with joker below the defensive goal line before attacking.
E1 - Rebound
last 2' get pucks, gather in the centre circle for a cheer lying on their stomachs.
video of our last game
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/filemgmt/index.php?id=60
Hi Tom,
Playing around with a new software program. Here is last nights practice. Hope it works.
Paulie
-----------------------------------------
Paulie, it looks like a good draw program for hockey.
We have had a good week so far. We played last Sunday vs Red Deer for the third time in our first 6 games and after losing 0-5 and 1-3 we finally beat them 2-1. Yesterday Oct. 15 we played the Bruins who beat us 3-2 in our third game of the season and won 4-1 outshooting them 46-19. The players are getting used to our Tsunami Forecheck but mostly are developing good habits like stick on the puck, identifying coverage, facing the puck. F1 back pressuring the puck like Boston creates turn overs and quick transition and nullifies the really good puck carriers who now have a 1 on 2.
Our D are hinging all of the time which opens up the ice for passes. We have a long way to go but we are now playing with a purpose in every situation. Our pp is averaging a goal a game and we have only given up I think 3 goals in 7 games on the pk.
We play another game in two hours - summary below.
The game went well vs Spruce Grove from the northern division, for us and we led 2-0 after the second and scored two more in the third to win 4-0. We got another pp goal. Our goalie had to make some good saves late to earn her shutout. Shots were 28-19. So that is two games in a row with less than 20 shots against.
We had two on ice and one spin class on the exercise bikes for an hour, practice this week. We had a lot of competitive situations cross ice, one zone and full ice and continue to do skills that require the players to pass and shoot with their feet moving and improve technique. We are not a talent laden team but we can skate and the players all work very hard. Pressure, pressure, pressure, on the opposition both physically and mentally to cause panic and turnovers is our mantra and the players say it in their Team Covenant. It is a hard way to play but the only way we can be successful. Our fitness, systems and effort have to enable us to do play this way and then we can compete with even the most talented teams.
In the second game after dominating the first period and leading 2-0 we started drinking our own bath water and thinking they aren't that good. Our pressure dropped to about 75% and their talented players took over and we spent a lot of time in our end being passive. Our good defensive habits and sold goaltending kept the puck out of our net. I think it showed us that if we give time and space to the opponent we are in trouble.
I have uploaded a video of the first game and it is in the files section. I want to post one game per week for the players to watch and then I delete them and update the game.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/filemgmt/index.php?id=62
I am going to do one week at a time from Mon-Sun because the week is basically designed to prepare for the weekend games. I will just add to the posting.
Monday - plyometrics
Tuesday - 90 min on practice
Wednesday - 75 min. team play scrimmage with the Bruins.
Thursday - 75 min. on ice
Sunday - away game vs undefeated Medicine Hat.
--------------
I think the previous games tell you what your team is good at and what you need to work at. Last weekend we had one forward who is sick so 14 skaters. 5 D and 9 F. I moved one of the F's who has been playing D up to forward and she scored in both games. In our second game I moved a different forward back to D and another who has played D in all our games back to forward. She got two goals in our second game. So maybe the best way to coach forwards is to ave them play D.
This week I am moving a big forward back to D. She played D in the exhibition games but was very nervous. Now she has played 10 games and I want to try her back there again. So I will leave the two who scored this weekend up on the forward lines.
-------------
Things we need to work on this week.
- Always individual skills at a high tempo. Harder passes, eliminate back hand passes and clears as much as possible - 90% end up as giveaways. Everything must be done more quickly and at top speed.
- We need someone going to the net without the puck to create space and get some bang ins.
- One timer shots.
- D slide and shoot missing the first checker.
- D ot D reverse, partner and regroups with hinges.
- F's facing the puck and giving targets.
- Everyone angles and establish the defensive side.
- D passing and joining the rush.
- Low zone coverage.
- High press aggressive pk with the D pressuring the wall and F denying D to D with low rotation and weak side F dropping down.
- 1-1's
- 2-1 and 3-2 the attackers should be making the first pass earlier, near the blue line, so that there is a second play. They slow down and run our of space.
Now I have to plan practices to meet these goals.
Quote by: TomM
--------------
A.
I think the previous games tell you what your team is good at and what you need to work at. Last weekend we had one forward who is sick so 14 skaters. 5 D and 9 F. I moved one of the F's who has been playing D up to forward and she scored in both games. In our second game I moved a different forward back to D and another who has played D in all our games back to forward. She got two goals in our second game. So maybe the best way to coach forwards is to have them play D.
This week I am moving a big forward back to D. She played D in the exhibition games but was very nervous. Now she has played 10 games and I want to try her back there again. So I will leave the two who scored this weekend up on the forward lines.
-------------
B.
Things we need to work on this week.
- Always individual skills at a high tempo. Harder passes, eliminate back hand passes and clears as much as possible - 90% end up as giveaways. Everything must be done more quickly and at top speed.
- We need someone going to the net without the puck to create space and get some bang ins.
- One timer shots.
- D slide and shoot missing the first checker.
- D ot D reverse, partner and regroups with hinges.
- F's facing the puck and giving targets.
- Everyone angles and establish the defensive side.
- D passing and joining the rush.
- Low zone coverage.
- High press aggressive pk with the D pressuring the wall and F denying D to D with low rotation and weak side F dropping down.
- 1-1's
- 2-1 and 3-2 the attackers should be making the first pass earlier, near the blue line, so that there is a second play. They slow down and run out of space.
Hi Tom,
Good to hear your squad is progressing nicely! I will plan to come watch a game soon!
Comments about A & B:
A.
I think we specialize positions too early (including goaltender). By giving kids the chance to play different positions, it allows them to see and experience the game from a different perspective. This will be valuable to their 'big picture' development in the long run. By this, I don't mean for a practice or period or game, but long enough for them to start to wrap their mindset around it. In your case, 10 games (and resultant number of practices) has given them an excellent opportunity to understand their 'new' position, make some mistakes and learn from it. You have positively impacted their knowledge and enhanced their confidence. Now they are feeling more confident, and confidence is a critical component of success (especially with females). If you have someone go down with injury, you will already have a choice of swing-men (women?) who can adapt to either F or D. Well done sir!
B.
My mantra is: "Execute skills... with head up... at full speed... under (game-like) pressure... consistently." When learning a new habit (as all of what you have listed above are skills / habits), things will slow down until the brain coordinates the new requisite movements. Then one can start working on speed after technique. It is important to put these skills into game-like conditions so the girls can cope with the realities and unpredictable nature of the game! Using your games, I know this will happen and is already happening.
The girls are lucky to have you as a coach. I look forward to your updates and to see your squad in action!
----------------------------
Dean they are getting better all of the time. I just got back from a one hour off ice session where they did speed, leg and core work. The instructors always comment on how hard they work and how well they listen. You can't ask for any more than that. If we can keep improving our habits like good angles, stick on stick, stick in the lanes, shoot while moving and follow the shot, pass and follow the pass and all the other details of the game we can become better at the little things and compete with the teams who have more offensive talent than us. We gave up ten goals in our first 3 games and have given up six in our last 5 games and most of that result is because of the habits I just mentioned.
The goals we do get scored on us are by the stars of the other team who win 1-1's or a 1-3's one time and go in and score because it is hard to always play with good habits. The grade 12's are looking for scholarships and my goal is to have schools to want our players because they are complete players and can be relied on in all situations.
One player with a pulled groin and one who may have mono; so we are down to 13 skaters. Small rosters don't give you much wiggle room.
Our Tsunami forecheck is the most effective one I have ever used or seen and I have been around a long time. It is a combination of the 2-2-1 Page used in Austria, and an aggressive 1-3-1 press Wally Kozak showed me. It is Total Hockey and everyone has a HOME position but have the go ahead to be first on the puck anywhere. So all the players must be able to play a defensive 1-1 or 2-1, they all must know how to cycle and forecheck and they all have to be able to count to 5 because whether they are 1-2-3-4-5 in relation to the puck and ours or their net that is their position at that moment. If two players are about the same distance from the puck then the HOME position takes effect. i.e. a wing and centre come back into the end at the same time; then the centre plays the low 3 on 3 with the D. It is a logical and seamless way to play the game but requires recognizing the situation and having the skills to succeed in any situation.
This was a 90 minute session where the D went with my asst. Sean to work on hinging, shots from the point and breakout options. I worked with the F's on puck protection on the boards, cutbacks and the offensive triangle. Later we went over the high press rotation on the penalty kill. We also did games for quick thinking and movement.
A200 Balance and edgeds warm up with a puck and finish with a shot.
B500 D and F technique at each end.
B5 1-1 battles out of the corner.
C2 2 on 2 battles below the goal line.
T4 High press rotation walk thru
D400 3 on 3 quick transition game of low battles.
D100 Full ice game of 3-3 must make at least one pass in each zone.
D1 - 2 shot shootout
This was a high intensity one goalie practice to prepare to play the first place undefeated team on Sat. We only had one goalie because our underage goalie was with Hayley Wickenheiser doing an instructional video.
I invented 2 new transiton games for one goalie and they worked very well.
We had a great game on Sat. leading 3-0 after the first and tied the second and third 1-1 for a 5-2 win. They couldn't handle the Tsunami pressure and we also got 2 pp goals.
I have attached the practice pdf. Off to play hockey now.
---------------------------
I have fixed up the pdf with the proper diagram of our regroup transition game with one goalie.
This week we have M-off, T-on ice, W-spin on bikes, Th-on ice, F-team play scrimmage, Sat.-team pictures morning and game afternoon, Sun.- off and I get to play my Sunday morning hockey for the last time in 2011.
Our goal this week is to continue to improve our habits and learn to play the game at a faster pace. We will do overspeed drills and games (one touch, 2" with the puck, etc.) and review angles, dside, good sticks, playing in the triple threat position.
Looking at the last two games all the lines have scored and we haven't given up a goal on the pk. We got one pp goal last week and 2 this week. Our D jumped up into the play and scored 2 goals in our last game. So the transition games are working well and the specialty team scrimmages really help to get everyone playing with the advantage and short handed.
We only get in trouble when we fail to make good tape to tape passes and try to clear the puck on our back hand. So the first few strides are critical. Jursinov wants his D to beat the first checker before passing. This causes him to move his feet and drive skate which sets up reverses etc. We will do some games where that is the rule. i.e. you can't pass until you have crossed a blue line and only one pass is allowed in the offensive zone.
The team we beat on Sunday was undefeated. We were playing games in early September before we had a lot of time to develop good habits or team play. It is better now. In the first 3 games we were 1 and 2 with 10 goals against. In our last 6 games we are 5-1 with 8 GA and have beaten all the teams we lost to earlier for a 6-3 record so far. Our GA is 18 in 9 games; so 2 against per game. Goalies have been really good and they alternate each game. We play a tough team that scores a lot of goals on Saturday.
Quote by: rcmatQuote by: TomM
10'
DT100 - Backchecking game.Hi Tom,
Which backchecking game did you use?
Thanks
rcmat,
Check this one out too... another of Tom's... a 2 vs 2 with 2 backcheckers.
DT400 Back Pressure Game of 2-2 - it's in Daily Drill section 8. Posted Oct 24 2011.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/forum/getattachment.php?id=866
I just finished my practice plan and we are going to have a tournament day. They will play one zone, full ice and cross ice games and finsih with a shootout. w-2, 5-1, L-0 pts. I will post the points after each game. We will have 4 teams and the losing teams skate across and back for every point behind the winners.
Each game will have skill or concept rules.
I have posted a pdf description. and here is the link to a 10 min. video of the games. I forgot to film the last one where both teams must go around the back of the net to start the play.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20111025195638196
-------------------------------------------
Tournament Practice
We played a series of games: one zone, full ice and cross ice. Each game had technical or tactical skill the players had to do. We kept score in each game and talled the winner after.
5’
B200 Transition skate shooting warm up
5’
B5 Overspeed with a pass and shot
18’ Skating Games of 2 Pass
Keep score in 5 min games with 4 teams.
Game at each end x 3
-snowplow skating only
- flatfooted scootering only
-skating on one foot only
D100 King’s Score Rules with 3 teams
Losing team must change on the go. Scoring team pick up the puck and go the other way.
Keep score
10’ game
D100 King’s Score game with rule-at least one pass in each zone.
10’
Kings Score Game One pass ONLY in each zone
10’
D200 King’s Score Rotation;
Scoring team must go behind the net with
the puck and the new team angle.
10’
D200 Kings Score Rules
Both teams must go behind the net after a
goal. Scoring team get the puck out of the
net and go.
8"
'
Shootout Race
One team on each dot. Keep score.
Calculate Standings
Losing teams skate down and back for every point behind leading team.
Score
Win = 2 pts
Tie =1 pt
Loss = 0 pts.
I see the site passed 4 million hits last night. Pretty good for just over 2 years. I sent out both books and a flash drive earlier in the week to two coaches in the USA. The flash drive is an incredible resource with 8 GB and 1400 hockey files.
Our 5-2 win over the only undefeated team last Sunday earned us a spot in the Notre Dame tournament early December. There are always a lot of college scouts there looking for players. I attended the tournament to recruit when coaching college level and got some good players from it. That and the Mac's after Christmas will give my 94 born players a lot of exposure and put some younger players on the radar. I have a lot of girl's capable of being good college players and a few capable of being outstanding players at that level.
At tonights practice Sean will work with the D for 20 minutes while I take the forwards and do some cycling and battling. We have a specialty team scrimmage with another AAA team tomorrow and that will be good preparation for our Saturday game vs a team we lost 2-3 and defeated 4-1 earlier in the season.
Last night we did bicycle spin class and core work at the NSD training centre. I took a six minute video showing the workout for a few minutes, the facility and a boy's soccer football team doing skill work and then a keepaway game followed by 3-3 with Jokers at each offensive end. I filmed this because it is basically an ABC's practice and football is far ahead of hockey coaching in using game situations.
I gave out the reversible practice jerseys with out logo and numbers. White on one side and green the other. It took a long time to get them. Looks like I am the only one around here using them so they had to be custom made. Just seems logical to me but I am a Physical Eduacation Teacher, who coaches hockey and see things through teachers eyes most of the time.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20111027083519736
------------------------------------
Practice Plan Oct. 27 - 75 minutes
10'
Agility and Balance finishing with a shot.
10'
B6 3 shots-3 passes-3 zig zags 3lanes and a shot.
10'
D and one goalie with Sean F and one goalie with Tom
F-s B6 angling behind the net come back 1-1 and shoot.
10'
D and one goalie with Sean and F with Tom.
Forwards
B5 Forecheck and angle
10'
Nat with one goalie at one end.
B5 Loose Puck Battles-only one way.
All players green vs white.
Keep track of goals.
Battle for the puck take it over the blueline then attack 1-1 and 2-2
10'
One goalie with Nat at one end.
DT400 – 2-2 with Back Pressure.
12'
DT100 Support from Point-Defend-Attack
5’ passive support and 7’ active support.
7'
Rebound at each end.
Finish with 1’ team gather around the middle circle.
We had a specialty team practice with another Calgary U18 AAA team. They were motivated and we were flat and they scored a lot more than we did. It did allow some new lines and new D to work together.
Saturday we played the other Calgary team. They are ahead of us in the standings but have played 3 more games. They were 6-3-3 and us 6-3. We lost to them the second week of the season 2-3 and beat them two weeks ago 4-1. Today we won 2-1. They scored with 30 seconds left to ruin the shut-out. We worked hard and outshot them 32-28. Our goalie was very good as was theirs.
It wasn't either teams best game but we found a way to win. Encouraging that we are 6-1 in our last seven games and have only given up 9 goals in those 7 games. We started the year at 1-2 and gave up 10 goals in our first 3 games.
So the individual defensive skills such as dside, stick on the puck, stick in the lanes, angling have made a huge difference. We taught the technique in drills and then use games and transtion games to put them into realistic situations.
Two games next weekend. One vs the team who schooled us in the specialty team scrimmage and one vs. Medicine Hat who we handed their first loss to last weekend. We will be missing our captain who is a very good D, who is visiting her brother at college.
This week two on ice and one off ice session before the weekend games. The lighter week will be good for the players to get their scholl work done and recover, as we haven't had many days off in the last two weeks and we have an 11 day in a row stretch coming up. I think I will cancel one of the practices in the middle of it.
Quote by: TomM
This week two on ice and one off ice session before the weekend games. The lighter week will be good for the players to get their scholl work done and recover, as we haven't had many days off in the last two weeks and we have an 11 day in a row stretch coming up. I think I will cancel one of the practices in the middle of it.
Tom,
Sounds like the team is coming together very well! Good job coach!
Coaches often overlook the importance of rest and recovery. I like the fact that you will look to cancel an ice time to give some time off. Maybe even two days off through the course of the 11 day period? (Perhaps offer your ice time to another girls hockey team so you can gain one back later when you need it?)
I will check your schedule to see when I can come out to watch. Looking forward to seeing the Tsunami in action!
This week we have 2 on ice and one practice on a hockey court. It seems like we (Flyers) have played less games than almost everyone. http://www.ammfhl-hockey.ca/ is the league website. The Bruins, who we played on Sat. have played 14 games and us 10. Total league games is 32. We played 3 ex games. The tournament at Notre Dame is about 5-6 and the Mac's after Christmas can be the same. Hopefully we have a good playoff run; so we could end up over 50 games.
This week I want to work on 'good habits' and transitioning between playing roles. In the off ice session I want to review some of the team play things and am attempted to introduce the Diamond PP that most NHL teams use but am a little nervous because we are averaging about a goal a game on the pp and 'If it ain't broke don't fix it.'
We have only given up 2 or 3 goals on the pk but a few of the players are a little confused on our rotation. We are really aggressive and everyone has to move as a unit.
So good habits. Creating 2-1's on offense and clarifying the systems is the goal. We have two hard games coming up on the weekend.
-------------------------------------------
Tuesday thoughts.
I don't really like rotating on the pk as we have to when we use a high press rather than a low press. On the high press the D forces the puck up the wall and if they pass low the D in front pressures and the weak side forward comes down to cover the player in front until the D who pressured gets back and covers the front/the forward slides back up and the D's have switched sides.
A low press is similar to the 5-5 coverage where a forward pressures the puck on the boards at the hash and forces the pass low where the strong side D pressures and the weak side D has net front. The 2-1 is at the point so the weak side forward must be in the passing lane to the middle point and be ready to force the point. You can do a high switch with the F's if they go D to D or else have the D rotate out is you don't want switching.
My D always force instead of the forwards so we decided we should teach the D rotation with the F coming down (high press). It works, as does any system if all understand it and jump quickly with good sticks.
Ideally you have zero switching and skate straight lines out from the net with the box rotating to a diamond and the closest player always forcing. Never chase the pass sideways but you have to cover your man if he carries the puck.
We have 80% of the team pressuring right away and 20% still hesitate and want to stand there in a box like they have been shown in the other teams they played for. It is a process but it is coming along.
The team we play Friday has the top scorer in the league who is an underage and toe drags around everyone then shoots hard. They have 3 others in the top 30 league scoring. The other team is in first place and have at least 4 in the top 30 scoring. We have one player who is in about 15th place in the top 30.
So we have to win with 15 people (14 this weekend because my captain who is probably the smartest D in the league is visiting her brother who plays NCAA Div 1 this weekend) playing as a unit with lots of intensity and good habits.
We are trying to create physical and mental pressure on the opponents and not give them time to transition on defense and on offense to give close support and attack quickly.
Our D will be working with Sean to go D to D, hinge, skate to open ice. A problem we have is that we tend to put the puck back into the flow of the game instead of moving it away from pressure. We are working on this all of the time. Most teams in the league use a strong side pinch so it is almost impossible to breakout on the strong side. This forecheck is basically a 2 on 5 ow and 3 high and we should be able to beat 2 players.
We have a 90 minute practice that will focus on individual and team offensive skill. I am introducing at least 4 new games to the players that all require quick decision making and skill.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
November 1 Practice:
Skills: skating, shoot, pass, puck handle Team Skills: close support, D options
Decisions with the puck. Forward cycle and create 2 on 1’s
Entire practice is Greens vs Whites
10’
A200 Edges and Balance Routing ending with a shot.
Russian Big Moves Routine ending with a shot.
12’ Two games of 6’
D4 Baggo at Each End
Rule: two touch or 1” with the puck and all goals must be on one timers.
Keep score
6’
B600 1-0 and 2-0 but with one net at each end.
Greens leave from one side and whites from the other.
20’
Sean work with D on moving the puck away from pressure, D to D, facing the play and gaining the big ice between the dots.
Tom with forwards. Give and go stressed.
Play 1-1, 2-1, 1-2, 2-2 quick transition game.
10’
D100 Backchecking Game
1 on 1 x 1 rep
2 on 2 x 2 reps
3 on 3 x 3 reps
Stress attacking quickly and taking sticks in the slot on the backcheck.
Keep score
10’
DT 100 D Join the Play and F Backcheck
Introduce the game and play 1-1 and 2-2.
Keep score
7'
E1 One timer shot shootout from the B600 formation.
Rule: you must pass once inside the offensive zone and goals must be one timers or one touch shots.
Keep Score.
I think last night was our best practice of the year. Natalie worked with each G for ten minutes and Sean had the D working on facing up ice, moving the puck awy from pressure. I had the F's and we cycled each way and then changed the point of attack by passing behind the net to the other side and then played quick transition 2-2 and then 3-3 from the top of the circles.
I threw a lot at them. We did the balance exercises carrying a puck and finsihing with a shot and now all but two can do the one legged lengths forward and backward. In Sept. hardly anyone could do these.
They did 2 new full ice transiton games and baggo; all which they have never done before and we thruned a timing passing drill into a shootout.
Tonight we are on the sports court which is cement with boards around it. I am alone with no other coaches and intend to review some of our team play; i.e. the Tsunami, pp and pk rotation. Both teams we play this weekend coming up use two on the point in their pp and we will review that pk.
We will also play some ball hockey.
We did this backchecking game of 2 on 2 and I posted the other transiton games with D joining the play and F backchecking in the drills section eight.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20111102073308428
I decided to use the court time to work on our power play. Everyone was there, so it was perfect. I don't like using ice time for a lot of instruction and that is why I got the sport court which is a smaller hockey rink on cement.
We have been using an overload to slot set power play and I added variations. I will attach a pdf.
Option One:
Set up at the hash and attack the seam between the D and F.
-If no one plays you skate thru and shoot or pass back door to the F or the D coming down.
-If the D plays you cycle low and keep going for a give and go and if that isn't there become the low option.
-Original low player attack the seam again.
Option Two:
-If the F plays you pass to the point and the low player moves in front to screen.
-If the point player can get to the middle move into a 1-3-1 Diamond and the weak side D skate down to the middle slot between the hash marks.
-In the Diamond we have 4 triangles for one timers, a middle one timer opition.
-If the puck is loose always outnumber the defenders and start the same sequence.
RULE
When you get the puck either you or the puck moves. No standing still.
If the weak side D comes down to back door the weak side F slide back. Look for defenders staring at the puck and move into the passing seams behind them.
Create 2 on 1's.
Short passes that only beat one defender.
* Progress to a high cycle.
Last practice before our two games on the weekend. Some players arrive a little late as it is at 4 and many get out of school 30 min. earlier. Started with one goalie and 13 skaters and 15 minutes in all 15 skaters and both goalies were there. Focus was on good playing habits like gaining the big ice between the dots, pass and follow the pass and take the ice behind, isolate the widest defender and create 2-1's, back pressure and create defensive 2-1's, box out, seal sticks to the outside, use escape moves to gain time and space.
I will post video of the passing warm up drills.
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November 3 Practice - 75 Minutes
Goals:
Good habits. Escape Moves
Box out, seal sticks to the outside. Play Big Ice Hockey
Back Pressure Isolate wide defender and create 2-1’s
A300 Nervous system Overload
-carry 2 pucks at once.
-Chaos using escape moves in nzone.
Chaos Passing-exchange pucks while skating in nzone. Count how many you make in 60".
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20080722095241992
C1 2-0 Skate Inside and Pass Outside
Skate to the big ice between the dots with the puck and pass to the outside. Pass and follow the pass taking the ice behind.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20111103221221695
C2 Passing 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1
Start with a shot and everyone gets a pass in each zone.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20111103221612750
D4 Two Pass at each end
Rules:
Game one-you must make an escape move before you can pass or shoot.
Game two-Rotate teams. Rule you can only score on Give and Go Plays.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20080723172054482
DT400 2-0 Back Pressue Game-one goal game.
F1 pressures the puck carrier into the defender and creates a defensive 2-1.
Sequence: Support-breakout-turn back-attack-defend.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20111029094402757
DT100 Attackers With Active Support
-2 on 2 with the offense getting support from the blueline.
-Point players are like jokers and can shoot or pass but not go in. must make a play within 2”.-Sequence –Defend-breakout-attack jokers-rest.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20111028075900881
E1 – Gambling Shootout
Bet each shot. Loser skate across and back.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20111004080315971
Saturday was a tough game for us. After winning five straight I think 'we were drinking our own bath water' and looked like we were out of shape and had no systems. We lost loose puck battles all over the ice, didn't fill in for each other on rotations. Our first was ok and we led 1-0, then in the second we stopped competing and gave up 4 breakaways and never made a break out pass. We were down 1-2 after two. In the thrid we were a little better but gave up two more breakaways to the top scorer in the league and she scored on one. Ended up losing 3-1 but our goalie was our best player by far. We gave up the first pp goal in seven games, a short handed goal and an even strength. So we were bad at everything.
It was a time to bring out the Team Covenant and review what the players had promised each other. Out captain was visiting her brother who is playing NCAA and they had their opening game. Our team covenant states Family First; so it was ok with everyone for her to go.
On Sunday we played the top team in the entire league. We played a really solid game and had them hemmed in for long periods at a time. Everyone was ready to play and competed hard. The score ended up 2-2 and we probably deserved the win. We were shorthanded the last 4 minutes, 2 minutes of it was 5 on 3.
Next week we go north and play St. Albert and Edmonton the two top teams in the northern division.
Our week is.
Monday - spin on the exercise bikes.
Tues - practice
Wed. - specialty team scrimmage with another Calgary team
Thurs - practice
Fri. - off
Sat - St Albert
Sun.- Edmonton
Deniz is coming here from Turkey tomorrow and staying with me until Friday. He wants to come to our practices, we will go to the Flames-Wild game after practice Tuesday, hopefully see some NHL practices and other hockey things. I get him right after my noon school skills class. He was captain of the Turkish National Team and is getting into coaching.
I told him that to really experience Canadian hockey he has to play with us on Wed. morning. He needs pants and socks and we will supply them. It is a bunch of retired pro hockey players, teachers, fire men, mounties and farmers who have the mornings off. Everyone played a pretty good level. I am sure he will love it and the guys will have a lot of fun meeting him.
I have to call the Flames to see if he can meet some players or see the dressing room or something. They fired all the coaches I knew so I don't know if I can get him down there.
My wife is away visiting family in Ontario now so I have time to do a lot of hockey stuff with him.
He has a youth program in istambul. Juhani Wahlsten "Juuso", coached them about 10 years ago at the IIHF Worlds.
Looking forward to it.
Deniz Ince, the coach from Turkey came to our combined practice on Wed. It was back to back 60 min ice; so we were on for 30 alone, then they came and warmed up at one end and we did a continuous 3-2 with 1 pts for a goal and one point for stopping the team from entering the zone.The score was on the clock. We won that by tean points. They couldn't break the4 Tsunami. then there was a shootout with one point per goal and they cosed the gap to 5 points. The winning team got milk and cookies. They stayed on for 30 min.
Thursday we did individual skills for the first 30 minutes. Deniz and I went on the ice with former NHL scorer Morris Lukowich who has a company called Maximum Goal Scoring. Morris had 3 things he wanted to show Deniz.
1. Taking the pass in the power zone and not dusting the puck.
2. Scoring zones to shoot at with one timers.
3. Puck pull push and shoot move and reading the goalies stick for where to shoot.
I had my players work in pairs across ice doing the skills and added a few moves from Jursinov.
We then did puck handling skills with 3 figure eights on each side with different tasks finishing with a shot.
1. puck only on the forehand.
2. puck only on the backhand.
3. quick hands and feet, no coasting - shoot.
Other way.
4. quick hands and feet again.
5. skating backwards.
7. transition skate facing the far end - shoot.
We played 2 pass with skating rules every 3 minutes.
1. snow plow.
2. flat footed.
3. slalom.
4. one leg.
then we had a break and the goalie pointed out to me that they were leaving everyone open; so I reminded them to play man on man. The greens switched ends and we played some good habit games.
5. Pass only on the forehand.
6. Escape move before you can pass or shoot.
Full ice transition game of 2-2 with offense getting active support from 2 jokers at the blue line. (they can only have the puck 1" and must shoot or pass. The focus was to created 2-1's on offense and box out and seal the sticks to the outside on defense. We did this for about 6 minutes.
We met in the middle and I changed the rotation. The whites sent out 1-2-3 players to support the offense and the greens 3-2-1 players, so the situation was different every time from 1-1, 2-1, 1-2, 3-1, 1-3, 2-3, 3-3.
We finished with a 2 shot shootout and the asst. coaches kept score. It ended 7-5 and the losing team had to do 2 push ups. When the winners heard this they said they should also pick up the pucks, so we added that.
We do north for a 2 game road trip playing St. Albert then Edmonton. they are first and second in the northern division. It will be interesting to see how we match up.
We played the two top teams in the northern division.
First game we played a team with some of the top scorers in the league. We forechecked and had them hemmed in for long periods but couldn't score. It was 1-1 after one, 1-2 after 2 and 1-4 at the end. We pulled our goalie and were all around their net but no one put it in and then one of their player slapped it out blindly from their end and it went right in the middle of our net. Scoring chances were equal. I was really happy with the way we played. Their goals were on individual efforts that we didn't have good defensive technique on. Those can be fixed. Scoring chances were equal.
Sunday we were all over them creating all kinds of scoring chances but either missed the net or passed instead of shoot. We lost 2-3. They scored on a penalty shot and the girl did the Datsuk move with a back toe drag and scored a really nice goal. Again we pulled out goalie and had lots of chances but didn't score.
So we have the 4th best GA out of the 12 teams but the 7th best GF.
Our project is to raise the level of everyone a little bit. We play the top team in our division next week. They have only lost 2 and tied 2 in 16 games. We have beaten them once and tied them once.
I couldn't ask a team to work harder than my players do. It would be nice to see them get rewarded by scoring a little more.
So getting everyone to win their defensive 1-1's and moving the puck quicker, shooting quicker and putting in rebounds is the emphasis of the week. It is a lighter week with Monday off, tues - ice, Wed. - plyo's, Thurs - ice, Friday off and 2 games on the weekend. It is good as my top scorer has the flu really bad. We play everyone in every situation until the last few minutes of games where we are behind. We need everyone to play with good habits and game understanding.
The 2 F that I moved back to D both played well on the weekend and were even or plus players. That has been a major project and they are getting better every week. They are both great skaters and compete hard.
A few of my 94 born players were spoken to by college scouts (Canadian institutions). I have 2 D and 4 F in grade 12 who would be good college or university players. We are going to a tournament Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask. next month and there is a big one here after Christmas. There is always a lot of college scouts at these tournaments. I used to recruit at them when I was the head coach at Mount Royal.
We played the top team who have only lost 2 and tied 2 out of 17. We had beaten them 5-2 away and tied 2-2 in our home rink.
We dominated the first period and it was 1-1. Two linesman were the refs as no ref showed up at another game and the head ref left. We disputed a really poor call on a too many men where our players were in the box and the door closed and this set one of the refs off and she had us 2 short for about 6 minutes. We didn't kill very well and they got 4 goals and then outscored us 2-1 in the third.
Moral of the story is that it is better to put up with bad calls because once you lose a ref you are in trouble.
Their goalie constantly kicks the net off whenever there is pressure. Not in the spirit of the game in my opinion but some goalie coaches teach it.
Sunday we played great the first two periods and were leading 4-1 and outshooting the opponent 33-6. They had scored 3 in the third to tie the game the night before and started the third outshooting us 7-1. They made it 4-2 and then we took a slashing the goalies hand penalty with 2.5 minutes left and they made it 4-3. We got an empty netter for a 5-3 win outshooting them 40-16.
This week we have:
Monday - Spin on the exercise bikes.
Tuesday - 90 minute practice - Gaston is doing skating for 45 minutes.
Wed. - on ice 75 min. - Dean may do some games for half the practice.
Thursday - off
Friday-Saturday-Sunday a game each day.
Goal of the week is to improve fitness, skating technique, angles, clarify pk rotation and work on some individual problem areas.
Today we had a 90 minute practice and had Gaston there to do half of the practice on skating technique. The session was going so well that I asked him to keep going and he did the entire practice.
He worked on the forward and backward stride, turning forward and backward, the chucktow turn and then put it all together with one on one's with no puck and keep good gaps and D side and then they used pucks and tried to score in one on one's. Everyone attacked and defended.
It was a great practice and I think it will really help.
We only had an hour and tomorrow off before a 3 game weekend so I wanted to have a very quick paced practice. We did drills and games the players know with a few added twists so we didn't need to go to the rink board.
- A200 warm up - handle two pucks and then pass two pucks at once.
- A200 - balance and edges sequence with a puck and finish with a shot.
- C2 - everyone gets a pass in each zone. On the 1-0 touch both kees at each blue line. and then everyone gets a pass in each zone. One touch passes and one touch shot. Sequence 1-2-3-4-5 5-4-3-2-1
- B5 - double cross and drop and shot and then add a pass low and back.
- B6 - 3-0 weave and regroup with the other end.
- DT100 - 2-2 backchecking game.
- DT100 - Continuous 1-1, 2-1
- E1 - 2 shot shootout
On Friday we played a team who is just ahead of us in the standings and two weekends ago defeated the top two teams in the league. They have the top scorer in the league. She is a big strong player with a right handed shot. She has a great toe drag but what makes her so effective is that she shoots thru the defender in the middle of her toe drag, so she creates a screen as well as gets the goalie moving sideways and opening up wholes. I coached college 5 years and in a pro women's league the last two and didn't see anyone as effective as her in shooting off the rush.
We had a great first period and they couldn't solve the Tsunami and we got 2 even strength 1 shorthanded and 1 pp goal for a 4-0 lead. They came out hard in the second and we were shorthanded 3-5 a few times for hits to the head. Their top scorer got 2 even strength and one pp goal. We scored late on the pp so we went in after the second leading 5-3.
In the third she got another goal on the rush shooting while moving her feet, toe dragging and letting it go using the D to screen. It was 5-4 and pretty intense. We were getting out competed the first half of the third but came on and won most of the battles in the last ten minutes and scored an empty netter with a minute to go and won the game 6-4.
It was a very hard fought game. The coach of Team Alberta for U15 was there watching our goalie and the player who scored 4. They are both underage and had to be chosen in the top 3 in order to play U18 AAA. I think he was impressed.
We have a Sat. and Sunday game.
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Saturdays game was the shootout at the OK Corral which we ended on top 8-4. We got 4 pp and one SH goal. So our specialty teams were good. 50% on the pp. We gave up one shorthanded.
We were very loosey goosey near the blue lines and that is where the turnovers happened and they got their goal from. We outshot them 41-21. I watched the video late last night and we were really moving the puck around.
Dean and John the Columbian were at the game and I talked with them a bit after the first but they weren't around after the game. I was hoping Dean would buy me that soda he promised.
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Just got back from the game to find my Gazeboo blown down and bent out of shape from a wind storm. A few of the lights in the arena were out and they have closed off access to the city centre where debris is blowing off the top of buildings under construction.
We won 6-0 and got 2 more pp goals and another sh goal. Shots 40-23 for us.
The last two games were vs. teams below us in the standings. The team we beat today defeated the team we played on Friday so we probable have moved in front of them in the standings.
We play the best team I have seen this year next weekend. We are 1 and 2 against them. So we need a good week of preparation starting with boxing on Monday and then 3 days of on ice practice. Dean is invited to come and do some games on Wed. at Erin Woods.
Dean, any comments on the above posting?
Hi Tom,
We had to leave right after the game (John had to coach and I had to get home), but we did stay till the end. You were right - it was indeed a shootout! (Hey I gave you my monthly "friendship payment" after the first... didn't know I was also supposed to buy you a soda after the game!)
I was impressed with some of the girls on both sides. Your #8 and #18 stood out. 8 was strong with the puck; using her speed and skills to take on players and beat them. She funneled into the PSA pretty hard. Her skating ability allows her to do this. 18 was pretty good on the back end. She plays heads up hockey and sees the ice - she passes and shoots well. When retreating backwards, she tends to cross over every third or forth stride... this would be problematic for her against a skilled attacker.
Special teams were definitely working for your team! I was impressed that Okotoks didn't appear to get discouraged because you scored some "morale-sinking" goals on them... instead, they roared right back after each faceoff and either scored a quick one back or created a good scoring chance or two. They seemed to run out of gas in the 3rd period though, due to the short bench. Their goaltending was soft too.
On the Okotoks side, #10 and #12 played well together. 10 is more of a power forward who needs to improve her shooting under pressure (she had several quality chances alone on the goalie but only scored once; I think she had 3 assists); while 12 worked her butt off and her hat trick came as a result of her work ethic. I am told she is a super positive girl, so it was nice to see her get rewarded. #11 on Okotoks is ONLY 13 YO! I felt she was their best D. Gritty and feisty, she really got involved. With good coaching, she has a lot of potential. #4 was their other top D. She plays with good positioning (O and D). When she defends, she is one of the rare individuals who doesn't cross over; she plays her 1 vs 1's like a pro... backward sculling to maintain and match the attackers speed. She doesn't put her feet into a bad situation (cross-overs) and this makes it tough for girls to beat her... they can't take advantage of using deceptive moves to get her crossing her feet. If the attacker drives wide, she open pivots to the opponent and maintains her speed and body position. Highly impressive for either gender!
After talking to Derek (the Okotoks coach), he told me their top 4 players are out with injuries; along with their best goalie. Because the practices and games conflict with the Bantam AAA schedule, it is almost impossible to pull players up ; plus with the 'draw area' so large, girls either can't make practice (or don't want to drive that far on cold, dark roads). He also said 19 players who would have been eligible to play in Okotoks this season (Midget AAA) left for other teams (Edge, Warner, etc.) So that is an entire roster for a team... plus the 4-5 who were out yesterday. In essence, they are fielding a Midget A or AA this year. It looks like a couple of girls are certainly playing over their head and would be better served at a lower level, but what can one do when you need bodies?
I am amazed that so many girls left this program. I have heard there are issues with the MHA and have been for a few years (including coaching in the past). Apparently, there are only a couple of Board members who 'care' about girls hockey; the rest prefer to see resources go to the boys. All in all, a tough situation for Okotoks. I don't know what they can do to rectify it. I remember when Airdrie had a team about 10 years ago... I think they lost all their games that year, then folded. The Airdrie girls now play in Okotoks...
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Crazy wind storm here today... had to further secure our patio furniture that we had tarped previously this fall. My neighbours' trampolines blew across their yards. One is resting against his fence; along with everything from his patio! The other neighbour must have dragged his tramp around the corner and lashed it to the side of his house. (I helped him do this once before... we get a lot of wind here on the extreme West edge of the city. See below...)
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Extreme weather
Massive cleanup begins in ‘windy city’
josh wingrove AND and nathan vanderklippe, Globe and Mail, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011
Calgary’s in cleanup mode after hurricane-strength weekend winds shuttered the downtown, tipped over vehicles, uprooted trees and overwhelmed emergency crews.
An alert was issued and major streets were closed at 2 p.m. Sunday as winds reached speeds as high as 149 km/h in Calgary and across southern Alberta. Officials asked people to simply stay indoors – at one point, every one of Calgary’s 90 available fire trucks were on the road.
“There have been so many calls, our police and ambulance can’t keep up with them,” Calgary police Detective Dean Vegso said.
No one was seriously hurt. One firefighter was hit by falling glass, suffering minor injuries.
The property damage, however, was extensive. Powerful gusts peeled roofs from buildings and whipped trash into twisters on city streets. Photos showed tractor trailers tipped on their sides along highways. Countless trees fell, hitting houses and cars.
Danielle Smith, the leader of the opposition Wildrose Party, was watching Star Wars at her house in High River, Alta., when the image cut out. A large pine tree had been knocked over, crashing through her fence and onto the hood of one of her cars.
“It looks like the trunk fell right down on the hood of the car,” she said. “I suspect there’s not much hope it’s going to survive.” Another tree was also knocked down, barely missing her house.
The winds exceeded what Environment Canada considers a Category 1 hurricane in a coastal city. The Calgary Zoo cancelled its programming, citing “extreme high winds and weather warnings.” The winds were expected to subside late Sunday evening, Environment Canada said.
Power was knocked out across parts of the province. “It’s just knocking trees down left, right and centre,” RCMP Constable Stacy Campbell said. “We wish Mother Nature would work with us here.”
The province turned to its emergency alert system – overhauled in the aftermath of a devastating fire that hit the small city of Slave Lake earlier this year – to urge people to seek shelter. “Put as many walls between you and the storm as possible,” it said.
It was southern Alberta’s second day of strong winds in less than a week, after a storm blew semis into ditches on Thursday. Late fall often brings violent weather to the province, as chinooks deposit huge dumps of snow in the mountains – more than 50 centimetres in some places last week – and then hurtle over the prairies.
The debris resulting from these storms has proven fatal in the past: In 2009, a car-sized piece of sheet metal killed a three-year-old girl walking through downtown.
On Sunday, scaffolding collapsed at some low-rise construction sites, but there were no major problems at construction sites, including the Bow tower, which will be the tallest in Western Canada when it’s completed. It’s atop the Bow that winds reached 149 km/h.
“Calgary is a windy city. When a chinook blows through, we know there’s going to be some high winds,” said Kerry Gillis, senior vice president of major projects with Ledcor Construction, which is building the Bow tower. Crews reported it “was pretty hairy,” but nothing flew off the building, Mr. Gillis added.
Across Calgary, some century-old trees didn’t survive a storm worse than many could remember.
One tree tumbled into a house next to the home of Mike Stanfield. Its roots were pulled from the ground, leaving an exposed black mass of soil. “They’re knocked over all over town,” Mr. Stanfield said. “There’s dozens of them down.”
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Gaston was working with the team last Tuesday on eliminating cross overs in backward skating. It is hard to change habits that players have been doing for 10 years. #18 had quite a 3 game weekend. +4 even strength with no GA and +5 on the pp and no goals against on the pk.
#8 was +3 even strength, +2 on the pp, scored two shorthanded goals and was on for one against on the pk.
It is always hard to play a team that your team considers an easy opponent. That team has tied 4 games this season vs some of the top teams; so those teams weren't prepared to compete. My team was prepared to skate hard on offense and score some goals but didn't pay attention to defense or good habits at the blue lines. Lots of stupid turnovers. At least they were ready to attack and we have more talent than that team in a game of river hockey.
The next day we played a much better team and got a 6-0 shutout and gave up only one semi breakaway that the ref thought was worth a penalty shot; so our goalie had to earn the shutout.
So sometimes a coach has to be satisfied with a win, even though it is ugly as long as you can use the poor game as an example of what happens if you play with bad habits like handling the puck as last man or passing soft into the middle.
It was really easy to get up for the Friday night game vs an arch rival Calgary Chaos team and the trick is not to blow games you should win and to beat teams that you should beat.
Two big tournaments for us this month. One at Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan and the Mac's tournament here right after Christmas. There will be lots of college scouts there for my grade 12 players to impress. I used to recruit at both these tournaments when I coached at college. My number 8 is only in grade 10 but I am sure a lot of schools will be writing her name down. I think she is the best player in the league and a definite candidate for the National Team.
Tom
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Tom,
Just read that part about the invite to your Wed practice... I have a meeting that night so I will be tied up. We will have to schedule another day.
That is ok Dean. Terry Johnson is going to come to our practice tomorrow night and I asked him to give the players some key points in playing defensive one on one's.Terry was a good NHL defensive defenseman and I coached with him for 5 years at the U of Calgay and he has helped me with other teams over the years. Very good communicator.
I just got back from our dryland session. Tonight it was boxing at NSD. The instructor Dale was very good and he went over some combinations in a good athletic balance position. Weight transfer and using the body. All important athletic principles. They also did heavy bag work with 60" of punching followed by a 200 metre wind sprint. They finished with 15 minutes of core work. It was a good change of pace. I took some video on my iphone and will put it up the next few days.
Tueday we have a 90 min. ice session and will focus on 1-1's.
Wednesday is an hour on ice and will play games such as full ice baggo with either 2 touches or 1". One pass in each zone etc. The games will teach the players to support and to play with good habits.
Thursday we will have a 75 minute game preparation practice and work on individual and team defensive techniques along with team offensive concepts.
Every practice has skating and individual skill work at the start.
We have Friday off and play Saturday in Red Deer and Sunday at home.
The first half of the season was for me to get to know the players and how to put them into situations where both they and the team benefit. We taught all of the system things and the big ideas. The second half we will focus on the DETAILS and now I have the players on set lines and am using two lines for the pplay and the other line plays all other situations. The centre on the checking line plays the point on the pplay as well.
Some players are so much more effective at certain positions. The checking centre does a good job there and got 3 goals playing the point on the pp and one on a semi breakaway when she came out of the box. Another player has scored 4 in the last two weekends after she moved to left wing on a line with two good offensive players. That is why I experiment a lot to look for chemistry the first half of the season.
I don't know if it is just a season fluctuation but since we have changed the lines we have scored 25 goals in our last 4 games. The pp has been especially good scoring half the goals. I taught the girl's the basic rotation that Billy Moore's used at the U of Alberta against us. We hit the seam between the F and D at the hash and read; 1. skate thru and score or pass back door to the wide wing or D jumping down. 2. If the D pressures thent pass low and that player try to score, give and go or pass to any of the other 3 players. 3. If the forward pressures go high and the D can shoot or move it to the middle and create a diamond pp that can use screen shots or shot passes.
The players have been creating options on their own based on these principles and right now it is working. I hope it continues. We play the best team in the league on Saturday so we will see if it is still working.
My team did boxing last night.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/filemgmt/index.php?id=66 is a 4 minute video of some of the things they did. I had to put it in the files section because it wouldn't load in the video section. It is the first time they did boxing and they had a lot of fun.
It ended up being a good workout. Ran 1000 m. to warm up and then got the safety tips and instruction on stance and some combinations that they rehearsed and then punched into the instructor Dales gloves. They moved on to the hard part doing intervals of punching the heavy bag and sprinting 200 m. They finished with 15 minutes of core work.
Dale was getting a kick out of instructing them because they couldn't stop laughing but he was really impressed with their work ethic.
A good change of pace practice.
Tom,
Good boxing video!
Thanks!
It is very difficult to teach players how to play away from the puck. Quick support, give a target, get open, make the easy play, go from offense to defense and defense to offense, 'attack so you can defend and defend so you can attack.'
Teaching Roles One, individual offensive skills, and Role Three, individual defensive skills is much easier because a player can work on these on their own. You need game situations to learn how to read the play and react to the cues to be effective in Game Playing Role Two, the offensive players without the puck and Game Playing Role Four, the defensive players away from the puck.
You can do drills to create some situations that mimic a real game but there is no decisions making. The players know it is a 2-1 or 3-3 etc., so they don't need to read the play and communicate with teammates.
It is important to play SAG and full ice games that create situations that require the players to support on offense and on defense after they have scanned the ice and read what the situation is and then make the appropriate decision.
Last night I worked on close support, facing the puck, giving a target, looking around before you get the puck by playing three full ice games.
Game One:
Full ice game of 8 on 8 with the rule that there must be at least on pass in each zone. We played for 7 minutes and I enforced the rule. The score ended up 0-0 so both teams skated across and back because neither team won.
Game Two:
Full ice game 8 vs 8 of Baggo and the rule of that is that you get 2 touches or one second with the puck. This game requires very quick decision making. Score was 1-0 and the losing team went across and back once.
Game Three:
Full ice game of 4-4 Baggo with 45" shifts, Pass back to the your goalie when the whistle goes to end the shift. The score was 2-1 and the losing team skated one across and back.
These games automatically cause the players to get their heads up, give and go, face the puck, give a target, give close support and a lot of other positive playing habits. Other by products of the games are fitness, fun and competitiveness.
Quote by: TomMIt is very difficult to teach players how to play away from the puck. Quick support, give a target, get open, make the easy play, go from offense to defense and defense to offense, 'attack so you can defend and defend so you can attack.'
Teaching Roles One, individual offensive skills, and Role Three, individual defensive skills is much easier because a player can work on these on their own. You need game situations to learn how to read the play and react to the cues to be effective in Game Playing Role Two, the offensive players without the puck and Game Playing Role Four, the defensive players away from the puck.
You can do drills to create some situations that mimic a real game but there is no decisions making. The players know it is a 2-1 or 3-3 etc., so they don't need to read the play and communicate with teammates.
It is important to play SAG and full ice games that create situations that require the players to support on offense and on defense after they have scanned the ice and read what the situation is and then make the appropriate decision.
Last night I worked on close support, facing the puck, giving a target, looking around before you get the puck by playing three full ice games.
Game One:
Full ice game of 8 on 8 with the rule that there must be at least on pass in each zone. We played for 7 minutes and I enforced the rule. The score ended up 0-0 so both teams skated across and back because neither team won.
Game Two:
Full ice game 8 vs 8 of Baggo and the rule of that is that you get 2 touches or one second with the puck. This game requires very quick decision making. Score was 1-0 and the losing team went across and back once.
Game Three:
Full ice game of 4-4 Baggo with 45" shifts, Pass back to the your goalie when the whistle goes to end the shift. The score was 2-1 and the losing team skated one across and back.
These games automatically cause the players to get their heads up, give and go, face the puck, give a target, give close support and a lot of other positive playing habits. Other by products of the games are fitness, fun and competitiveness.
Agreed!
Good practice Tom.
I have posted more under "Game Intelligence"...
We practiced the pp last night. We had one goalie and did the game I posted a few days ago in the drills section 8. We had 3 sets of 5 in green, white and red. The rotation is attack-defend-rest at the far end.
Our focus was on the power play but it is easy to emphasize the pk with this rotation instead. We spent 10 minutes using the George Kingston rotation where there is a 5-0 pp going though options at each end and one groups passing in the middle. I blow the whistle one end dumps the puck down to the other end and then does a pp breakout and makes a rush to the original end, then works 5-0 again. The group in the middle goes to the far end and the far end group to the middle. (I had the middle group use the red line on the boards as the goal and do pp options as well. In the 5-0 I want quick puck movement and all 5 players to get shots.
We played a game with the defending team playing without one of their forwards to create a 4-5. One line rests at the far end while one attacks and one defends. On a goal, clear or frozen puck the resting team gets the puck and attacks vs the team who just attacked and the team that defended waits at the far end for their turn to attack. Forwards rotate who doesn't pk.
If you want to practice the breakout and forecheck the resting players could stand along the boards in the nzone and do a controlled breakout when the puck is shot down again.
The key points I gave for the pplay were; 'either you or the puck moves and I want a pass or shot every 2". We start our pp by attacking the seam at the hash marks between the F and D. they have three options.
1. Skate between them and shoot or pass to the F on that side or the D coming back door.
2. If the D pressures pass low and head to the net. the low player can score or pass to any of the other 4 players or if those options aren't there then cycle through the seam again.
3. If the F pressures then pass to the point and the D can shoot, go to the middle and set up a high triangle, or pass right back if the pk f denies these options. When the puck is in the middle I want one F screening and one on the left for a shot pass tip in (Right if the d shoots right) and the high triangle down to near the dots.)
If the pk uses a passive box then you have a 3-2 on the strong side and 2-1 at each corner of the box so you can basically do anything you want. Just move the puck quickly and create 2-1's and get the puck on the net for rebounds, tips, screen shots.
The game rotation is attack-defend-rest and it can be used for all numerical situations. (it is a lot easier to practice team play with a college or pro team that has 20 skaters but this rotation would be good for those levels as well because the units would stay together and get some rest between reps)
Met with Mike Mondin, coach of Canada's National Sledge Hockey Team, this morning for coffee. Mike was my A/C in the early 1990's with Team Kootenay U 17 (male) and Team BC. He has coached at many levels (Jr. A, etc.) and is an excellent coach. He teaches 'shop class' in Trail BC, at the local high School. We haven't had a face-to-face for about 4-5 years, so it was great to reconnect! His daughter is living and working in Calgary now, so I hope to have more opportunities to visit with him here in the future.
http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.php/ci_id/174344/la_id/1.htm
Mike shared some interesting tidbits and some challenges / differences between coaching sledge hockey and 'regular' hockey.
1) The players don't all 'follow' hockey, like watch it on TV / go to games / stay informed on the hockey news... some never played hockey EVER before their injury, so their anticipation and game sense is limited. Mike and the staff are trying to encourage more 'watching' of hockey games. One player watches NHL.com every night. He watches ALL of the goals scored every night to try to get better. (Mike is trying to encourage more of a shooting mentality in all of his players.)
2) Most play video games (hockey) and this might become more of a training tool.
3) The sport seems to be in it's infancy regarding tactical play. The coach has to modify 'how' and 'what' they teach to match the specialized needs of the equipment and level of the players. Canada is working on cycling, anticipating the rim and pinching, triangulation, etc. When sledge hockey first started, players seemed to do lots of 'looping' around. Mike is trying to implement more of a 'start and stop' mentality, especially in the D-Zone. The curriculum is very progressive (seems to be primarily old-school drills though) and will take time to implement - measured in years as the sport grows. Bringing new players in every year makes it necessary to go back and review previously taught concepts - so this slows things down.
4) The coach can't skate backwards on the ice during practice and even if he shoulder checks, he might not see the players as they are so low! He needs to stay along the boards, facing the inside of the rink at all times... safety!
5) The equipment is evolving rapidly. From Kevlar protective material that can be put into 'pockets' in underwear... when the body warms up, the Kevlar molds to the skin and hardens, to prevent puncture and slash wounds (from the specialized picks on the end of each stick... (6 on each stick as $25 each!). The stick technology is changing similarly to 'regular' hockey - wood to Kevlar to carbon fibre, with inserts, etc! Even the picks on the ends of the sticks evolve... materials, angles, shape, etc. Not to mention the 'buckets' they sit in... runners, sharpening, angles, width of blades (there are two on each bucket), etc. Sounds like 'secret' technology is in development, much like with Bobsled / Luge.
6) Some players prefer their two blades to be closer together; which allows for tighter turns. Others like them farther apart as this takes less energy to balance the bucket. Interesting continuum! This could be individual preference and also somewhat dependent on position.
7) When they are on the bench, even with the clear plexiglass boards, the players' view of the ice is limited; so Mike and the coaches can't say, "Look at what Jim is doing out there... good job Jim!" as the players can't see it! Mike has to take mental notes, talk later, and use video to supplement the key stuff he sees on the ice.
8) They don't overload guys with video, but they do supplement their written technical curriculum (systems) with video clips from the National Junior Team and their own team. They task the guys to pair up and perform scouting reports on other countries as a way to enhance the depth of understanding. They also use YouTube as a teaching tool. They post video using a hidden link; so the players can log on to see certain clips.
9) Body weight (relative strength), core and upper body strength are keys. The therapist says, "Arms shouldn't be used for legs!" so there are structural / fitness / recovery considerations different than 'regular' hockey. Some players need to lose body weight to become more effective; while others need to put on muscle mass to get quicker (more explosive.)
10) Since most guys have some sort of paralysis in the legs, they don't feel pain in their lower extremities. They can accidentally cut or puncture themselves with their picks; or get 'stuck' by opponents on the outside of the legs / stumps... these could get infected / cause blood loss. After every game, they need to check to make sure any cuts are wrapped and disinfected. More protective apparel is being created to help prevent this. Because arms and the upper body aren't as 'big' as legs, they fatigue easier / quicker.
11) Most guys live around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) but some guys are spread out all over the country. They just started a senior sledge hockey league, as the local Ontario league wouldn't let National Team players participate in it because 'they are too good! So on the positive side, they get about 16 games in this new league per year. (It is tough to find leagues of any sort to play in!) The geographic distances between players; the lack of leagues or options to play for people in smaller centres; requisite availability to specialized medical attention; budgets, etc. make 'distance learning' and occasional training camps the best solutions to overcome these challenges. Centralized teams have it far easier.
These are some of the more interesting things I picked up in my conversation with Mike. He has a copy of Tom's book and is looking forward to reading it (and checking out this web site.)
Here's an article about Sledge Hockey... thought this would be a better place for it (than the "Articles" thread) based on the post above. I am taking my boy to the game and he is pretty excited!
Dean
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Canada, U.S. primed for sledge hockey final:
If round-robin meeting is any indication, we're in for a doozy
John Down, Calgary Herald, December 2, 2011
U.S. coach Jeff Sauer politely described it as a dogfight. The Canadian players thought it was fun.
Those were the thoughts Wednesday following Canada’s hard-fought, 3-1 decision over their bitter rivals in the final round-robin game of the World Sledge Hockey Challenge at WinSport’s Arena A.
On Saturday, the championship bragging rights are on the line and it certainly figures to be every bit of a dogfight again.
“It’s always intense against the U.S.,” grinned Canadian veteran winger Brad Bowden. “We’re going to come out full guns blazing. They really got the jump on us in the first period when we played them last time and I don’t know if that’s going to happen again.
“We’ve kind of found our groove . . . I think it’s going to be a heckuva game and we’re going to have a lot of fun playing it.”
The final will feature the world’s top two teams. The U.S. has won the past two world championships, the Canadians are defending Challenge champions. Both are building toward the 2014 Winter Olympics. Both brushed aside Norway and Japan in the round robin and semifinal games of this tournament.
The line of Bowden, captain Greg Westlake and centre Anthony Gayle have been blue-chippers for Canada throughout the tournament. Bowden and Westlake broke through for six points apiece (three goals, three assists each) during a 9-2 romp Thursday over Japan in a semifinal.
They also did most of the offensive damage in that 3-1 win over the U.S. behind a generally solid team effort.
What makes the trio effective is their speed but the U.S., which will send out the youngest roster with an average age of 23, showed it can skate with the Canadians and aren’t shy about exchanging punishing checks.
“When our line breaks out of the neutral zone with speed, I think we’re tough to stop,” said Westlake. “When we get into having to retrieve pucks all night, waste energy, we’re less effective.
“We just have to keep having fun. We’ve shown we’re a good team when we get on a roll so we have to make sure we get on that roll right away. If we come out and jump on them, then I’ll have a great feeling about the game.”
Winger Kevin Rempel popped two goals in a three-point game against Japan but he’s a gritty sort who loves to mix it up, the kind of game he fully expects against the U.S.
“I love that rivalry,” he said. “When I play the U.S., it’s definitely some of my most fun games to play because they’re so intense, so much emotion involved. I can’t wait.
“It usually comes down to who wants it bad enough. We have to go in there and bust our butts, work hard, dig for pucks. We have to come out swinging and get the win.”
Japan, the 2010 Olympic silver medallist and winless through four games here, will play Norway for the bronze medal.
I'll tell you what, this sledge hockey is something else! I attended the last half of the game with my son (Calgary and parts of Alberta got hit by a winter storm today which pretty much shut down lots of roads... we were coming back from out of town this afternoon.) He was mesmerized by the crowd, the new rink and the game. (After the game, we had a chance to say hi to the coach, Mike Mondin, and my boy got an autographed hockey card from Adam Dixon - he was thrilled!)
I must admit, I was absolutely blown away by the skill and speed and aggression on the ice. I saw an open ice hit that would have made Scott Stevens shed a tear! Two or three 'almost' fights - if you can picture two guys strapped into their buckets, chucking them. Crazy body checks where both guys get lifted into the air and land upside down... having to roll over and bunny hop back upright onto their skate edges! Wow! You can call me a 'convert' - next time there is another sledge hockey match of this calibre, I will be there!
What a game! Hats off to both teams.
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Determined Canadian squad wins world challenge
Canucks rebound from early deficit to beat U.S. 4-1 in sledge hockey
By John Down, Calgary Herald, December 3, 2011
Canada took a large dose of fortitude, then used a reliable one-two punch to defeat the United States 4-1 Saturday and claim its second straight World Sledge Hockey Challenge championship at WinSport Arena A.
Down 1-0 and on the penalty kill before the second minute, the Canadians held off a determined bunch of reigning world champions through the opening 20 minutes before turning the tables in a game that was filled with board-rattling, body-tingling hits from start to finish.
“That first goal kind of took a bit of wind out of our sails,” admitted winger Brad Bowden, who scored once and set up linemate Greg Westlake for three goals. “It was like, ‘oh my God, is it going to be one of those games?’ But our coaching staff was great, got us back on track, got a lot of guys thinking positive again, including myself.
“That was a good wakeup call for us. We went back to work, stuck to what we know and it paid off.”
Norway, behind the two-goal outing of Audin Bakke and three assists of Morton Vaernes, defeated Japan 5-3 for the bronze medal earlier in the day.
Bowden, who finished the four-country tournament with a leading 15 points, was the Energizer Bunny throughout as he constantly dug pucks off the boards to feed Westlake, the event’s leading sniper with seven goals among 14 points.
The 28-year-old Bowden, of Orton, Ont., also drove in the dagger when he took the puck off a faceoff at the U.S. blueline and broke in alone to make it 4-1 at 5:20 of the third period.
“He’s an incredible player,” said Westlake. “That fourth goal was the biggest of the game, iced the game for us.”
Westlake cancelled Taylor Lipsett’s flukey goal that came 53 seconds into the game with a one-timer off a setup from Bowden at 14:44 in a period that was pretty much dominated by the U.S. But it wasn’t nearly the kind of domination that Canada flounted through the final 40 minutes.
“The guys played hard . . . everybody says they stuck to the game plan, but we did,” said Canadan head coach Mike Mondin. “We didn’t waver from it at all. They got some momentum, we were patient, kept battling back and got in the groove.”
Westlake scored the only goal of the second period and opened scoring in the third. Canada held a 19-14 edge in shots on goal with both Benoit St-Amand in the Canadian net and Steve Cash for the U.S. making some clutch saves.
But there were few answers for Westlake and Bowden, who were coming off a tournament record-equalling six points apiece during Thursday’s 9-2, semifinal win over Japan.
“Once we got the lines rolling a little bit and stayed out of the box, we just had to keep the pressure, keep the pressure and fortunately a couple went in the net,” said Westlake, a 25-year-old from Oakville, Ont. “We were waiting for that game all week.”
Canada defeated the quick, young Americans 3-1 in the final game of the round-robin and head coach Jeff Sauer was much more critical of his troops, who were skunked on five power plays, in this one.
“I was very disappointed in our performance,” said the former long-time Wisconsin Badgers head coach. “Give all the credit to Canada because they took advantage of our mistakes. They’re a good team, all the pressure was on them and they rose to the challenge and came out and did a good job.
“I certainly was not satisfied or pleased with the way our team played. We showed a lack of discipline, we didn’t move the puck the way we can. It was a good learning experience and hopefully we grow from this.”
We play a 32 game regular season. There are 12 teams in the Province and 2 divisions. We play the other 5 teams in our division 4 times each and the 6 teams in the northern division 2 times for 32 games.
I used the 2 pre season games and the first 16 league games to learn about my players and establish our systems and teach good playing habits and skills. We had 11 F and 4 D and the 2 G split the games. I tried 6 different F's on D and finally found 2 that are ok playing back and both are great skaters.
Five games ago we went to 3 set lines and set D pairings. Yesterday we started using 3 sets of 5 player units.
We use two of the lines on the pp and the centre on the other line moves to D to make two pp D sets. We use these specialty teams when the game is close and just roll if we are 3 or 4 in front. It has made a huge difference to the game results in both GA and GF. More of each.
The league doesn't post specialty team stats, so I have taken the scoresheets to see where the goals are coming from.
First Five Games of the second half.
Scores:
6-4
8-4
6-0
3-4
5-2
GF - 28 GA - 14
PP GF - 11/40 - 27.5%
PK GA - 2/40 - PK% - 95%
SH GF - 2/40 SH GA - 0/40
13 of 28 GF on Spectialty Teams - 46%
Even Strength GF - 15, GA -9
We are playing at 60% with a 12-8-1 record. We have beaten everyone in our division at least once.
It has been a softer part of our schedule with 3 of the 5 games vs teams below .500.
This week we have.
Monday off
Tues. - 90 min. practice.
Wed.- 8 hr bus ride to Regina
Th-Fri-Sat-Sun - play about 5 games in the Notre Dame tournament. Our pool has a team from Winnipeg, Vancouver, Notre Dame and then there is a cross over vs the other 3 pools of 4 teams.
Tom, I do NOT envy your Wednesday!
Or your Thursday - Sun and the return trip home!
Say Hi to Del Pedrick for me - an old friend, he is the Director of Hockey Development at Notre Dame.
Best of luck... let me know if you need a replacement coach for the HCSA while you are gone... I could run some games with the other teacher, schedule permitting!
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Thanks for the offer Dean. Gaston is doing a skating session with them on Friday.
We arrived in Regina about an hour ago and the tournament starts tomorrow. the schedule looks like this.
Thursday - morning game vs. Winnipeg and afternoon game vs Vancouver.
Friday - Play the host Notre Dame Hounds.
Sat. and Sunday - teams go into pools according how they finished in their pool. There are 4 pools of 4 teams and there will be a first place pool, second place pool etc..
The pools have one seeding game and one pool champ game. So 5 games in 4 days.
I have to see if my top scorer is cleared to play. She got a cheap shot to the head on Sunday.
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At last nights 90 minute practice there was a goaltending coach so I modified the practice so he could have an hour with the two goalies.
- Nervous System overload - 2 puck warm up - carry two pucks at once and pass 2 pucks at once.
- Balance and edges rotuine while carrying a puck.
- practice going back for a puck just inside the blue line - shoulder check - get puck and turn up ice and pass to partner. Switch.
- partner passing - saucer pass, backhand pass, take a pass skate by partner and then turn and pass back to partner.
- Murdoch breakout routine with the wing up against the D. Start with one D and then two D.
- D with Sean to work on tight gaps and F with me to work on angling wide and in the middle.
Goalies finished.
DT100 tansition game with active support from the point. We played this for about 6 minutes and then added the rule that the attackers must regroup with the new supporting players before entering the offensive zone. (there was no whistle) this was to practice the tight gaps that Sean had just worked on.
We finished with a 2 shot shootout.
Lots of coaching details that we have identified need work. We play 5 games so we don't need a lot more. The goalies requested a goalie coach come out as oour GC has been on a beach somewhere the last 3 weeks.
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Notre Dame Tournament Update:
Game Played the Winnipeg Avros today who are avery good team. We scored on the first shift 12 seconds into the game and then it was up and down for 40 minutes. We seemed to wear them down with the constant pressure and won 5-2. We got 4 even strength and 1 shorthanded goal and they got 2 even strength. Our pp was moving the puck and getting shots but no goals.
Game two vs Vancouver Fusion:
We outshot them 20-3 the first period and had a 2-0 lead. In the second we got lots of shots but tied the period 1-1 so even though they hardly had the puck the score was 3-1 after two and the shots about 32-7. We again dominated the third but they scored on a careless turnover at our blueline and then they scored again with 17" left on a shot from the corner against the boards that our goalie misplayed. So we ended with a 3-3 tie ousthooting them 52-11. We got 1 pp and 2 even strength goals and they got 3 even strength.
We really couldn't have played much better but what happens is that when you are totally dominating a game the feeling is that you are up by about 5 goals and some carelessness creeps in and players lose a little intensity. I think we have all been in games you lose that you deserve to win and games that you win that you deserve to lose. After the first period I told my asst. coach that I had a bad feeling about the game. We played so hard in our first game of the day that we just weren't hungry enough on rebounds or walk ins to finish. When you have seen thousands of games you start to see patterns like a chess master when he looks at the chess board and recongnize that somehting is amiss. I am to the point now that I can predict a goal about 3-5 seconds before because you see either the defense out of sync or the attackers creating something.
Their goalie had a great game and we didn't finish when we had many many chances. That is the problem with letting teams hang around even though the game is one sided. It is a real challenge for the goalie to keep focused when they are getting a shot every 5 or 6 minutes.
The end result is that we have to beat Notre Dame today in order to be in the top group the championship round. They are 2-0 winning 8-0 and 8-4 vs the same two teams. We know they were beaten earlier in the season by the top team in our league which we are 1-1-1 with. The tie would effect our ranking if we lose.
This is a good tournament with lots of college and university recruiters from both Canada and the USA. My captain who is a Lidstrom like D got kicked in the lower shin with a skate in game one and is in a lot of pain with the shin pad pushing on the bone bruise; so it is hard for her to showcase everything she usually does. We need to make her a big donut to relieve the pressure. She says it only hurts when she skates. Any suggestions are welcome.
Tom,
Good comments! I will post more thoughts under the Game Intelligence thread.
Good luck against Notre Dame. I have bookmarked the schedule / results page and will be watching. I will be attending the AWG tryouts at Winsport this weekend. Several of my girls in my Skill Academies are trying out. I imagine that Keenan girl you train will also be there.
Here's hoping you beat ND!
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Dean, commenting on your comment of why we didn't score more. We do have a lot of competitions in practice. We never stopped working and averaged 17-18 shots a period to ther 3-4. Our goalie didn't have a good game they have the Team BC goalie who stoned us. It is natural to have the feeling that you are winning by a lot when you are totally dominating the play.(Canada - Czech 98 Olympics when Hasek won it even though Canada dominated the entire game.) Everyone has bad games and our goalie was very good vs Notre Dame the next day.
Notre Dame beat us 5-2. they are National Champions and have no weak players. Tied 0-0 after one 2-1 after two and the second was played even but they blocked a lot of shots and scored on two chances. They scored another and we got a bad break when my last player was handling the puck under no real pressure and it hit some bad ice and hopped over her stick. The top player in the tournament picked it up and went in on a breakaway and when she pulled it to her backhand it hopped over her stick and slid thru the 5 hole. We sagged and they scored a quick one. Then the game was up and down again. Just too much talent to match when both teams are working hard. We would have to out energy them and there was no glycogen left.
I would have liked to play them the first game when we had a lot of jump and got over 90 shots in two games. Maybe next tournament.
My top scorer and one of the top three players in this tournament was getting headaches and when I found out she was taking tylenol I told her dad I don't want her to play until she is checked for a concussion. She sat out yesterdays game. My goalie has a bad shoulder and also sat out so we used the goalie we borrowed from the Notre Dame AA team and lost 3-1 to the Bruins in our league. They got an empty netter with about 20 seconds left. I just rolled the 3 lines and D. We have beaten them the last two league games.
They had a good skills competition with fastest skater, 3 players and a goalie from each team in team shootout and a shooting accuracy contest. the players got all dressed up in team colours and face paint to cheer on their players in the competition. They have a lot of fun.
It is very different coaching girl's as my team broke into 4 groups and each made a Gingerbread house and then had all of the parents and coaches come in to vote for the best one. I can't remember any boy's or men's team I have coached doing this. They really enjoy themselves. That and the group singing on the bus are some of the differences.
We finished second in our group so we are in the top 8 of the 16 team tournament. Today we play Weyburn Sask.. I will move my best D to centre and go with 5 D.
Probably get home around midnight.
We finished with a game vs Weyburn, Saskatchewan. It was a back and forth affair. I experimented with different D playing forward and it wasn't a good idea to put my best D up. We played well but fell behind 2-0 after the first. We rallied and scored 3 in the second to lead 3-2. We started the third really well and scored at the end of a long power play where they were 2 short for a minute and a half and one player got a 4 minute. We had the puck in there end the whole time. With 5 minutes to go we led 4-2 and I thought we would just put the game to bed.
They came at us with a 5 man forecheck and some of my D panicked and tried to jam it up the boards into the pressure and they made it 4-3. Then they got a pplay and the same thing happened when a F got total possession and instead of moving it away from pressure she tried to shoot it out from below the goal line thru all their players. they kept it in and tied it. They kept coming and won a battle on the boards and scored on a long shot from the point that went thru the goalie we borrowed to back up. It was the only weak one she let in and they won 5-4. Total collapse of confidence on our part.
We got 3 pplay goals to their one. During the tournament our pplay was really good as was our pk. About 30% pp and 95% pk. It was a great tournament and we finished 8 out of 16. It was invitational and we got the call; so the teams were very good. Notre Dame won the tournament. We have to figure out who to use to replace our top scorer and make sure they understand how to play a new positon. She is going to see a concussion doctor today and we will find out details. My goalie didn't play the last two because of a chronic bad shoulder and she needs to go see a doctor as well. My other goalie was at a Team Alberta tryout.
This week.
Monday - off
Tuesday - 90 min ice
Wed - spin
Thurs. - 75 min. ice
Friday - 75 min. ice. Scrimmage with all players, coaches and any family member over 12 who plays.
Sat. - at Lloydminster
Sun. - at Lloydminster
Sean my D coach and I talked about how to get them to calm down under pressure. We are going to try having a line play against 8 players who overload the strong side and get them to move the puck to the other side. On all the goals against in our collapse a simple D to D would have set up an easy breakout.
That is why going to tournaments vs good teams is great. It exposes your team weaknesses while there is still time to correct them.
At our 90 min practice n Tuesday the players seemed a little burned out mentally and physically after playing 5 intense games in 4 days. I also found out that our spin class was cancelled and we were doing weights on Wednesday instead. I wanted the spin for clearing out the lactic acid and aerobic conditioning.
I changed my practice plan and replaced it with an aerobic and competitive practice.
10 min. - balance and edges routine with no pucks.
Games with various kinds of pucks and balls and rings. All the players and coaches play all of the games and everyone is on the ice. 8 vs 8. (2 players sick) Losing team skate a circle for every goal they are behind.
15 min. - game of ringuette with the rule that you must pass before crossing a blue line.
10 min. - game with a hockey ball (it broke in half near the end)
10 min. - game with a tennis ball.
10 min. - game with a heavier rubber ball filled with air.
10 min. - game with a wiffle ball that has a small garbage bag stuffed inside to keep it from bouncing too much.
10 min. - game with a modified puck, hard rubber on the inside and soft on the outside.
15 min. - game with a regular puck.
It was a good workout for the players and coaches as everyone moved the whole time.
Wednesday we did the weights and core workout and the player we thought may have a concussion was cleared to play as she has had no symptoms while exercising.
Today we will have a practice focusing on quickness and good habits and Friday we have a family scrimmage that I have invited parents and siblings over 12 who play hockey to attend. After we are going to a pizza place. We leave Saturday morning for our two game road trip.
Yesterday there was a press conference to announce the schedule and teams for the Mac's tournament which is really big for the players and a tradition for hockey fans to watch U18 teams from all over. On the boy's side there is a Russian and a Czech team as well as some from Eastern Canada. No USA teams this year for some reason.
Our draw is games on the 26-27 the 28th no game and then play the 29 and 30th. You need to basically have no losses to go on to the playoff round. I think we have a good chance to make some noise.
Tom,
Good call on the change of plans for practice. Are you going to take this into consideration after the Mac's? Coaching is as much of an art as it is science!
I have experienced this too. Coming back from a big tournament, I have found the best thing is to take a few days off, perhaps do an aerobic workout away from the rink, then the first day back on ice, play some different games (practice at a different rink, if possible. Changing the scenery helps!)
I am looking forward to attending some Mac's games to see the Czech and Russian team. They are always interesting to watch! There is also a World Sport School championship on at the same time (what was Hockey Canada thinking?) with the Edge, POE, OHA, Shattuck, Finland and Slovakia U17 teams at Winsport. I will go watch some of those too. Of course, the World Juniors are playing too... (already been to two intrasquad games - John said their practices were 'typical drills - not scoring records kept - the usual hockey crap!' so glad I didn't bother going... we will continue on our crusade to educate coaches!!) so lots of hockey around here this Christmas break! (And with relatives coming to stay here... an excuse to get out of the house and somewhere to go!!!!)
Finished the last 'teaching day' with one of my high school groups today. Next week we will play in a fun 'Transition' tournament (let me know if you want to play Monday at 11 am!) with two teachers playing and the goaltenders switching with two skaters... then we will do one last dryland day later in the week.
Today, we played 2 vs 1 Spartan Box (10 min halves); then sat on the bench while the HS kids played a 3 vs 3 Transition Game 3/4 ice (4 teams) for 25 minutes... after a semester, we have succeeded in creating 'independent athletes'; they know the rules, leadership and sportsmanship required to make decisions on their own. It was wonderful!
Dean, I can't play Monday as Gaston, I and my son Jim (who is in the air right now on his way home for Christmas) are doing a camp for the hockey association in Jasper next Mon-Wed.. We have a good draw at the Mac's with one game a day only and play M-T off W play Th-F. Energy shouldn't be a problem in the elimination round. Two stop time 60 minute games on the first day was a killer last week.
I played in a student vs staff game at noon at COP and watched the Canadian jr's practice for a couple of minutes before the game.
After the student staff game I had a private session with a U15 AAA player. We have done one a week all season. She is a D but now scoring a lot and made Team Alberta as a forward. We are on the ice Thurs. 2-3 pm.
At dryland on Wed. we did weights and core and a little treadmill sprinting.
Practice starts at 4 pm so it is hard one for all to be on time. I was on my own this practice.
- No goalies at the start so I reviewed the slapshot technique and the players all had a puck and shot side to side while skating. I then demonsrated slapping with the head up and the players took more shots for a few minutes.
- Russian Big Moves all around the body while skating around the ice. I blew the whistle for them to watch as I demoed moves like; carry in the feet forward then backward, stick to skate inside and outside edges, puck behind and up on the forehand, backhand, with the feet and a pass through. hands close together legs wide and head and shoulder fakes and moves each way, yo-yo up and back, forehand toe drag starting with a fake inside, backhand toe drag, fake slap shot then around on the forehand. fake slap and tight backhand turn, zig-zagging down the ice with the puck only on the forehand then only on the backhand to loosen the shoulders.
- Goalies got there and we did overspeed with 2 of each colour making moves at full speed and then going in, passing to players at the goal line and shoot, then be on the goal line for the next shooters. Second player pivot in a circle before going in to give the goalie time for another shot.
- C2 starting from against the boards behind the red line - 1-2-3-4-5 one way and 5-4-3-2-1 starting the other way. Go in and shoot and then pick up a puck. With only one skater touch both knees at each blueline before shooting. With 2-3-4-5 skaters all must stay in each zone and everyone get a pass before moving to the next zone. Forehand passes only and all face the puck.
Team Organization - 16 skaters in 4 teams of 4. Two green and two white teams. (one affiliate came)
- One goalie games.
- Game one - 2 pass. Only forehand passes allowed, goals must be on one timers. Puck must stay inside the zone.
- Game two - one second or 2 touches only. Defenders must clear the zone before attacking and all must get onside.
One green team switch ends.
- Game Three - Puck carrier must take AT LEAST 3 Hard Strides to Open Ice before they can pass or shoot. (most important rule of all)
- Game Four - Puck carrier must make an escape move to open ice before passing or shooting.
- Game Five - Each team has one Joker behind the net and one at the point. On transition to offense you must pass to at least one of the Jokers. Jokers can check Jokers. Rotate on their own.
DT100 - 2 on 2 backchecking transition game. Attack full ice 2-2 and the defenders get passive support from the high slot as if they are wingers in dzone. On a goal, frozen puck or breakout the defenders pass to the supporting players who go the other way while the original attackers must backcheck, defend and pass to the new players who are supporting from the high slot.
E1 - We finished with a game of Rebound at each end.
We haven't had a skills and good habits focused practice in a long time and I think we needed it. I was pleased with both the effort and execution.
Family game Friday night and two road games on the weekend. All my players are cleared to play.
Posting for Tom.
Merry Christmas.
I am just leaving to do a camp in Jasper.
We did the 5 hour drive north to play two games on Saturday. The team is third in the Northern Division and I think we underestimated them.
They were all over us the first period of game one but our goalie was good and it ended 1-1. We picked up our game a lot and ended up scoring with 2:03 left to win 2-1.
Game two we played better overall but had a bunch of mental lapses and took a string of penalties in the second. It was 0-0 after one and we had more scoring chances. They got 3 pplay goals in the second. That matches the number of pplay goals against the last ten games. One was with a two man advantage. Score 3-0 after two.
We dominated the third and scored two pplay goals and missed some open nets but a D made a bad pinch and they scored on the resulting breakaway. I pulled the goalie with 1:30 left and the score 4-2 and they got an empty netter to win 5-2. Shots were 33-22 for us.
They were the hardest working team we have played so far this season. So we stay in third place in the South Division for the Christmas break.
This week:
Monday - off
Tuesday - 90 min. on ice practice
Wed. - spin on the bikes and core exercises.
Thursday - 75 min. practice
Friday - I cancelled the practice so they can stay home and be with their families at Christmas. It looks like some of the players are mentally and physically spent and I thin the three days off will help to recharge them before our big tournament the Mac's that starts Dec. 26, 11:30 at the Flames community arena.
I got an email from Kalle Kaskinen who does a lot of work with Juhani in Turku, Finland. He is an assistant coach of the Finnish team at the World Juniors. They are in Calgary training until Friday and then they go up to Edmonton to play in the first round. I leave for a camp in Jasper this morning and we have planned to get together on Thursday.
Gaston, Jim and I did a skills camp in Jasper for 3 days and drove back through the mountain pass to Lake Louiseand then onto the main highway. 230 km or slippery, snowy roads through the pass but beautiful scenery. I will attach a picture of a wolf pack we saw.
I just got back from meeting with Kalle Kaskinen who is an asst. coach for the Finnish world junior team. I was going to go to their practice but the ice plant shut down all night and they had to cancel the on ice session.
Kalle showed me a lot of video clips of their game vs Canada and then the Slovaks with his Steva program. We discussed a lot of team play ideas and I gave him a thumb drive of my material.
The team is going to the Flames - Red Wings game tonight courtesy of "Kipper" who is also from Finland. If he is on the same side of the Saddledome we will get together during the game.
The Finnish association is hiring Kalle to be in charge of one of their youth programs for the next three years. I think it is the U16 program.
I have our last practice before the Mac's tournament this afternoon and then the players have the next three days to be around home for Christmas.
I plan on a lot of battling transition games and review angling, d-side and stick on the puck. One of my goalies is injured so it is a one goalie practice.
I cancelled tonights practice and the trainer who leads the sping class didn't show up on Wednesday so I had to add conditioning skating to our practice. We have lost our game a little and the hard skates also stressed all out effort. One goalie is injured so a one goalie practice.
Practice outline;
A300 - Russian Big Moves while skating around the rink.
B200 - 3 pucks each, forward to the top of the circle, back to blue line, straight forward and shoot. Next player start when previous player goes backward.
B5 - Double drop and shoot.
F1 - from corner skate up and around one circle and under the other circle in the zone and hard to the red line. 4 groups and repeat from all 4 corners.
B6 - 3-0 weave with a regroup with 2 D who hinge and pass. Middle D join the rush and takes the shot.
B6 - 3-0 weave but F's dump the puck in and the D the D to D options on the fast break out.
DT - 400, 3 - 3 game with low battles. Regroup with a joker at the point to go onto offense.
F1 - 4 groups follow the stick of the coach. Forward, sideways, back for 30 seconds. Do twice each.
DT400 - 2-2 game with a regroup and D getting passive support.
DT400 - 2 on 2 game with Back Pressure.
F1 - 4 group short sprints. Coaches first stand on closest offside dot and players skate there and back to boards one group at a time. Next the middle dot, next far dot, next far boards and then repeat backward. Far boards, far dot, middle dot, close dot.
Short team meeting about the upcoming tournament that starts Dec. 26. Merry Christmas wishes.
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After the practice I drove home changed and then went to the Flames-Red Wings game. The coaches of the Finnish Jr. team met with us after the first period in the Saddledome Restaurant and we stayed there through the whole second period and talked while we watched the game on TV. Went back to our seats for the third. I am attaching a picture that my son took.
Today Finland practices at 10 and we are going to watch and then go play hockey at noon.
We start playing in the Mac's Midget Tournament this morning. The tournament has been going since 1978 on the boy's side and the girl's were added about 8 years ago. Lots of college coaches will be there recruiting on both sides but it is especially important for the girl's as this is generally the highest level they play before going to college. I have 4 players in grade 12, 1 who has already finished high school and 1 late born girl in her final year of midget who started school a year later; so is in grade 11. Five of them have attracted attention from colleges so far.
The boy's play Jr. A if they want to play NCAA or play major junior if they want a crack at pro and if that doesn't work out they get a year scholarship of tuition and books at a Canadian school for every year they play major junior. (for some unknown reason NCAA decided to classify major junior as pro which makes the players ineligible-they get a little spending money each week)
We play a team from Vancouver today. There are 3 groups of 5 teams. The winner of each group goes to the playoffs and there is one wild card. We have a perfect draw as far as rest goes. We play Mon. Tues. off Wed. and play again Thurs. and Friday. We have a chance to win our group if we are at the top of our game.
It is a great opportunity and challenge for the players.
http://www.macstournament.ab.ca/tournament_13.html
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Game one vs a team from British Columbia. We won 6-4. It ended up a contest between each teams top scorer. My player got 2 goals and 3 assists and theirs got 2G and 2A. I think our goale was the difference and played a little better than theirs. It helped that we went 4 for 8 on the pplay and they only got 1 power play goal. The shots ended about 30 each. Tomorrow we play a team that is a few points in front of us in our league and we are 1-1-1 against so far.
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Game two: we were behind 4-3 and pulled the goalie tying it 4-4 with 20 seconds left. We probably deserved better outshooting them 32-11 on the scoresheet. There goalie was really good. They scored one on the pp, one on a penalty shot and 2 even. We got 3 pplay goales and one even strength. Our top scorer got hat trick and should have been given an assist on the tying goal. She is only in grade 10 and may be the best player in the 15 team tournament. We played Medicine Hat and that is there second tie in a row. The team we beat yesterday won 4-2 today. So far we are leading our pool. We practice tomorrow and have games Th. and Fri.
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We are in the middle of a big tournament for this level. We probably have to win our next two games to be in the 4 team out of 15 playoff. Three of the 5 teams are undefeated in our pool. One has one tie and two wins, one two ties and one win and we have one win and one tie. We have a game vs an 0-3 team tonight and the team with 2 wins and a tie tomorrow.
It is our day off and we had a practice to review team play. We did the balance and edges warm up with a puck and shot, two flow drills and then I went over dzone and the players walked through their coverage responsiblility as the coaches at each end pointed where the puck was. We fixed details like the man-you-puck triangle when covering away from the puck. Most teams we play have F3 high in the slot ready to fill on a pinch or come in for a shot. We made sure the net front D moves out to cover higher instead of standing in front of the net.
We also reviewed our pk rotation which is basically the same coverage as even strength without the low forward in the zone. Covered our pk forecheck and 2 short rotation as well.We want to pressure the puck up to the boards from the dside leading with the stick on the puck. Everyone else must have sticks on the ice in passing lanes and heads on a swivel. We play a 3-3 on the strong side and give the 2-1 to the players farthest from the puck. This should give us time to rotate and forces them to make a long saucer pass followed by a one timer to get a good scoring chance. If we create good angles and have good defensive habits we usually get as many good scoring chances as the pplay. If we don't then they get chances.
At each end we had the players practice the pplay options 5-0. Each player got the puck 5 times and started with attacking the net and shooting and then passing to each of the other 4 players. The rule was there must be a shot every 3 seconds. I gave the players the guidelines how to practice the various options and then leave it up to them to give close support and move through the whole team practicing. I think it is important to walk through the options available so the players aren't trying to force plays but instead know that if the first option is taken away then go to option 2 then 3-4-5. Even if they only get as far as option 2 it helps eliminate giveaways. We have been very good lately and scored 9 goals on the pplay in our last 3 games.
Physically light practice and beneficial to everyone to create clarity and eliminate confusion.
http://www.macstournament.ab.ca/tournament_13.html is the tournament website and we are the Flyers.
All the players were there but one who got a concussion in the game yesterday.
Really hard game last night. We were playing a team from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. They play a dump and chase game and swarm the puck carrier. They also had two superior forwards who were very dangerous every time they got the puck.
First period we both played hard, no penalties called. We outshot them 7-4 but they got a goal when one of our players mishandled the puck in the slot. Second period was up and down again. We outshot them 9-5 but neither team scored. My goalie made 2 great saves.
My good friend Cronker, who comes to all the games came down and suggested to me that I put #16 one of my D, who really is a forward but agreed to play D because we need her there, on forward because she seemed to have more jump in her legs than anyone else. She plays D on our checking unit. I moved her up to left wing and we went with 5 D and the two wingers split RW for the period.
We came out hard and scored early in the period and then #16 stole the puck from their D behind the net, walked out and scored. We outshot them 17-4 in the third for 33-13 in the game and held on to win 2-1. I bought Cronker a Soda after the game.
So we are 2-0-1 and tied at the top of the group with St. Albert. We play them tonight and the winner moves on. I think we have to win because if we tie we would have 6 points along with about 3 other teams and they are ahead of us in the tie breaker right now.
We lost to them by a few goals earlier in the season when we were playing .500 hockey. Since we went to 3 sets of 5 with two scoring and a checking line and two pplay units, we have gone 6 and 2 in our league. Both teams have played 3 games in 4 days and they also played yesterday; so I like our chances to get into the 4 team playoff.
Ahh Crap Tom. I checked the Mac's site tonight when I got home and saw your team lost. Sounds like it was a hard fought game though.
"Game F29 St. Albert Kal-Tire Slash 3 Calgary Flyers 1
The Calgary Flyers suffered their first defeat of this year’s Mac’s Tournament after Slash assistant captain Jessica Kampjes scored the game-winner shorthanded. It was Kampjes’ second goal of the game, an unassisted effort with less than a minute remaining in the first period. Noelle Appleby chipped in the insurance marker mid-way through the second and Slash tender Emily Mitchell stopped 36 to take the win for St. Albert. Calgary’s Alexandria Serpico scored unassisted and Alicia Anderson stopped 26 in a losing cause."
Dean, it was a hard fought game. We outplayed them a little but their goalie was really solid. Early in the game some of my players were really nervous and we made a blind pass into the middle right on their stick for a breakaway. At the end of the first we had a pplay and instead of getting it deep a player tried to win a 1-1 standing still on the blueline and they got a breakaway.
One of my best players had the flu and tried to play but was too sick. That really hurt because I had to put a good D on F and a lot of chemistry was lost.
It was one of those games where the players needed a goal to reward them for their effort and their goalie stoned us. Another day with the same effort and scoring chances we win by two. They cashed in on our mistakes and we didn't on theirs. Outshot them 37-29 and your usually score more than one with that many shots.
All you can ask is for your players to give all they have and they did. A lot of sad girl's after the game but some attracted attention from colleges in Canada and the USA and that is good.
We don't play for a few weeks now so we will do a lot of skills and game understanding SAG and Transition games at practice.
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Just got this notice from our team manager. Alexandria is only in grade ten and was the top scorer of the 15 teams in the round robin.
Hi all and Happy New Year,
Well at least some good news. The Flyers were the least penalized team
in the tourney and therefore won the Most Sportsmanlike Team award. Alex
was the highest point getter and wins an award for that as well.
Last day of the Mac's. Edmonton vs Regina.
Female Final Game Summary - Mac's Tournament
Regina Rebels 3 - Edmonton Thunder 2
1/1/2012
The 34th annual Mac’s Midget Hockey tournament final looked more like a goaltending clinic by Regina Rebel Rae McClintock and the Edmonton Thunder’s Chloe Sanderson. Both girls came up with big saves when it really mattered. The score remained 1-all for the first two periods as each goalie put up a wall against the opposition. The Thunder’s Amy Boucher broke the stalemate in the third with an unassisted goal to give them a lead, but Talia Terry of the Rebels evened the score on a power-play shortly after.
Both teams seemed to get sharper and more at ease as the game went on. The dedicated crowd was animated and excited for the whole game, showing their support for their teams. At the end of regulation the game was tied at 2-2 and went into sudden death.
The teams came out strong in overtime and both McClintock and Sanderson shone with the game resting heavily on their shoulders. It came down to the wire and with 53 seconds left in the period, Delaney Frey scored the winning goal to give the Rebels the game and their first Mac’s championship. Frey got player of the game for the Rebels and Jessica Sekulic won player of the game for the Thunder.
Congratulations to the Mac’s Tournament female division Champions for 2011-12, the Regina Rebels, and runners-up, the Edmonton Thunder.
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Male Championship Final Summary - Mac's Tournament
Russia Severstal/Locomotiv 5 - UFA Bisons 0
1/1/2012
After the first 20 minutes of play, the game remained scoreless despite many opportunities for Russia. The first goal of the game came at the five minute mark of the second period when Ahmed Gimbatov received a wrap around pass from Oleg Dubinin to sneak the puck past UFA goaltender Wilson Sproule. Russia continued their success with a breakaway goal scored by Artur Chuvilyaev in the final two minutes of the second. A pass out front of the net from Alexander Sharov put Russia up 3-0 at the beginning of the third. Minutes later, Sharov scores a backhanded goal, to record his second of the night. In the last minute of play, it was a hat trick goal to ensure the win for the Russians, by Alexander Sharov on the PP.
Game Star nods went to Connor Bleakley for the Bisons and Alexander Sharov for Russia.
Despite a record of 5 goals on 14 shots today, the tournament MVP award went to Bisons Goalie Wilson Sproule. This is the second Mac’s championship title for Russia Severstal (2007).
Congrats to the 2011/12 Mac’s Champions, Russia Severstal/Locomotiv and runners-up, the UFA Bisons.
We started with the tryouts in the middle of August and the first league game was early September; so we are about 4 months in and have played about 33 games and had twice as many practices. So the team has been with me about 100 times.
We had our first on ice practice of the year on Monday.
10 min. - individual puck handling and partner passing while moving. Both starting with 2 pucks and then one.
10 min. - C2 passing and shooting. 1-2-3-4-5 leave. Everyone gets a pass in each zone and all do figure 8's in neutral zone 5-4-3-2-1 the other way.
10 min. - 2 pass at each end.
20 min. - D at one end and F at the other. D work on pivoting to loose pucks, passing and point shots. F works on stickhandling moves led by Jim. First alone and then going around coaches and shooting. F then work on cutbacks along side boards then shoot and then below the goal line and walk out and shoot.
10 min. - D play a one zone transition game with jokers at the point and the rule that all goals must originate from plays started at the point. F play a one zone game of 2 pass and all goals must originate from plays below the goal line. (the games used the skills each group had just practiced.)
10 min. - 2 on 2 transition game with the D getting passive support. The players break out and regroup with 2 players at the other end who hinge and pass up and then follow the play into the zone. (one goalie hurt her shoulder and we had to use only one net.)
10 min. - 4-4 transition game with the Perry Pearn rotation (attack-defend-rest)
10 min. - 2 on 2 at each end with jokers below the goal line and at the point. On transition to offense you have to pass to a joker.
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I just got home from our off ice session which was on a 2/3 size hockey rink with a cement floor. We had one hour.
15 min. puck handling skills. There were 14 players (3 excused) and ten different kinds of balls. Handle the puck around the body. I demonstrate. Juggle the ball bouncing it up in the air. Exchange balls about 5 times so everyone has to get used to a different bounce and feel.
- Move around passing as many times as you can in thirty seconds. Repeat 3 times and ask how many the did.
- Move around the court passing two balls at once with a partner and see who makes the most passes.
- 7 on 7 full court game with a hockey ball and a soccer ball. Only use the stick with the hockey ball and feet with the football. Keep score.
- 4-4 at one end and 3-3 at other end games of two pass.
- 15 m. multi jumps. immitative skating, karaoke, side strides, bounding, one leg, carry partner.
- Full court 2-2 with the attackers getting passive support at the points so the defenders break out and attack the 2 new defenders who followed the play in. Rotation: defend-attack-breakout pass-rest.
- Full cout 5-5 change on the go themselves. Use a baseball sized wiffle ball stuffed with a kitchen garbage bag so it doesn't bounce and has a little feel.
- Isometrics for the neck. Recommended to the girls that they do neck exercises like the isometric and lay down with your head over the bed or table and nod yes and no as many times as possible. This is to stabalize the neck in order to prevent concussions.
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We have another on ice session tomorrow and then off until next Tuesday. Our season restarts Jan. 14. Next week is
Tues. - on ice 90 min.
Wed. - spin
Thurs. - on ice 75 min.
Fri. - on ice 60 min.
Sat. - Sun. games.
This is a week off from games and we start the 2012 segment next weekend. Four players were on vacation. So we had 11 skaters and 2 goalies. Goal of the practice was to do everything with the feet moving and making quick decisions and quick transition from defense to offense and offense to defense.
I did a lot of coaching the principles of 1-1, 2-1, 2-2 and outline them below.
75 Minute Practice
A300 - Russian big moves while skating around the ice. Goalies do crease skating to warm-up.
B6 - Shots while skating at each end. Rotate clockwise after all have shot.
Shot one - walk out of the corner around the top of the circle and shoot with the feet moving.
Shot two - walk out of the opposite corner.
Shot three - skate from the boards to inside the dots and take a point shot from the original side.
Shot four - slide to the slot and shoot from the other point.
Shot five - breakaway from the blue line.
Rotate and repeat.
C2 Overspeed:
Carry the puck in the neutral zone as fast as possible making moves and fakes. Go in as fast as possible and pass to the player on the goal line and shoot without handling the puck. The second attacker do a full pivot with the puck before passing low.
Sequence is to carry the puck, pass low, shoot and then stand on the goal line to pass to the next players.
Greens attack one net and whites the other. To make a 1/3 w/r ratio alternate between 2 greens and 1 white leaving and next time 2 w and one g. Whistle goes every 7".
I stressed to attack the 85% scoring zone with speed and don't coast. Also only one pass is allowed in the offensive zone and all rebound. Speed, speed and more speed.
C2 Overspeed with Passing.
- 3 players leave from the boards always facing the puck and change directions when they get it. Make as many passes as possible in 10 seconds and then attack with speed.
- 11 players so attack alternating ends, 3-0, 3-0, 3-0, 2-0.
B600 - two D at the top of the circles at each end and Forwards at the bluelines on each side.
Do a sequence always regrouping with the D at each end and then attacking the end you originally faced.
Drill One:
2-0 leave and regroup ithe opposite D who HINGE and pass up. Regroup with two at the oringinal end who HINGE and pass up and attack 2-0. Only one pass in the offensive end. Rebound.
I stopped them to give instructions on supporting from the puck side boards and the middle. On the hinge the strong side F had to cut across the middle giving the skate and stick as targets, instead of skating right at the D giving the wing-wang as a target and the new strong side forward has to face the puck skating to the new strong side boards.
Drill Two:
Regroup with only one D who pivots and up and then regroup with the opposite D who makes a skating move and passes and then attack 2-1 vs the original D.
On the 2-1 I stopped them and gave some principles of attacking. The first pass should be made early, i.e. near the blue line to force the D to make a decision and give the pass receiver more than one play. The attack must be made with speed so it doesn't become a 2-2. Also avoid skating parallel but follow the principle of "one high one low, one fast one slow.' i.e. if I have the puck and slow down my partner should go fast so I can pass behind the D's skate. If I am really fast then the partner should stagger back a bit. 2-1's are much more effective when the attackers pass on the forehand because it creates passing lanes and sets up a toe drag and in if the
D overplays it (i.e. Gretzky and Kurri, cross and drop before the blue line, Gretzky face Kurri on the right side, saucer over the stick if the D lays it down, slide and drag and go in if the D overplays it. Pass to Coffey in the high slot if the backchecker doesn't pick him up. On the forehand you can see 180 degrees and are in a strong passing posture. On the backhand you see 90 degrees and are in a weaker passing posture and usually must pass through the defender.)
D must recognize the most dangerous player and allow the goalie to only have to cover on half of the net. It is really a 2-2 (goalies are people too)
Drill Three:
Regroup with both D and attack the original D 1-1.
Attacking point - don't simple skate at the D but use change of pace and protect the puck. Do some zig zag skating to force the D to go laterally and try to catch them on the way back. Don't attack where they are going to but where they came from. If you are in an outside lane skate toward the inside to force the D to protect the middle, then go outside a bit and catch the D when they adjust outside. Also you must sell fakes like a fake shot, change of pace, fake inside to force the D to either reach or straighten their legs and give you a half second to get on the offensive side and accelerate to the net.
D must realize they don't need to do anything but create a tight gap from the D side. The attacker is licking their lips waiting for them to reach for the puck.
Nat my goalie coach got there from work and took each goalie for 15 minutes. So I had one end of the ice.
D400 - 2-2 game of quick transition. Extra players wait at the blue line for a pass and attack right away. Sequence is attack-defend-pass leave. On a goal or the puck is frozen the new attackers get the puck.
Instruction points after a few minutes of simple 2x1-1 coverage. The 2 attackers should create a 2-1 on one of the defenders by crossing and one take the ice behind. Options are to cross and drop, fake c and d and go through the middle. Cross and pick, two quick passes, etc. Force decisions.
D must stay with their check if the play is made from near the top of the circles and in. At the blueline they have time to switch but they must talk. See the puck, see their man, box out, seal sticks to the outside and always D side.
D4 - 3 on 3 game with 3 Jokers on each team. One joker behind goal line, one one at the point, one at the half wall Jokers can check Jokers. (I played to make it 3-3)
Rules:
On transition from defense to offense you must pass to a Joker who can only shoot or pass.
Players are allowed only one second with the puck.
Conditioning Skating:
- Side ladder. Always face the same wall when stopping.
- Start at the boards and skate to the coach and back in 4 groups. I called out the number of the group in sequence. To get the proper rest they can't leave before the number is called.
1 - close faceoff dot
2 - middle dot
3 - far dot
4 - far boards
5 - far dot
6 - middle dot
7 - close dot
Skating 2
All player line up on one blue line and leave when the number is called.
Exercise - skate to the red line, back to the blue and hard to the far blue. Repeat in the other direction when the number is called.
Tom,
I like the looks of this practice - "connected purposefulness!"
Too bad it wasn't recorded as it would benefit other coaches from seeing 1 minute clips of each activity... maybe another time!
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It was a good session. I was running things alone as it is an early practice and my assistant coaches couldn't get there and my goalie coach was busy with the goalies. So no chance for video.
I have attached a picture wearing the Hoodie that Kalle from the Finnish Junior team gave me. Nice guys.
Team hasn't been on ice since last Thursday, 4 days. There were no games on the weekend but we have two this weekend. The goal of practice was individual and team offensive skill and general conditioning. I wanted lots of skating, lots of stick handling, passes and shots. We also worked on some good habits and competing.
We had 8 F, 6 F and 2 G alsong with 2 AC who did some of the drills and games where we needed more players.
A300 - skate around the ice doing big moves around the body on both sides and the puck in the feet and back to the stick etc. Puck handling while weaving through each other in the neutral zone stress puck protection, escape moves and fakes.
A200 - 4 lines with a puck and do the balance and edge control. Finish with a shot. All exercises both forward and backward.
B600 Sequence with 2 Regroups
- Forwards and D line up at the 4 blue stripes on the boards.
- Start with 2 D at each blueline who move with the play. D rotate in and out.
- Always 2 F leave skating across the blue line toward each other, cross and drop then skate toward the far 2 D.
- Do each exercise for about 4 minutes from the same formation.
1. 2-0 regroups with D at each end and attack 2-0. Shot must come before the hash marks. No late passes and tip ins.
2. 2-0 with double regroups and attack original D 2 on 1.
3. 2-0 with double regroup and attack original D 2 on 2 (AC play D to give 8 D).
4. 2-0 double regroup and middle D join the attack vs one D to make it 3-1.
(if we had 12 F's then we could do this with 3 F at a time and have a proper w/r ratio.)
B500
- D at one end with Sean to work on breakout decisions and point shots. F with me for puck protection and plays behind the net.
- 4 F at each circle numbered 1-2-3-4. Place the puck on the dot and race to the edge of the circle when coach says go. Protect the puck competing 1-1 and on the whistle go to the net to score. One circle at a time starts on every whistle. Rotation - 1-4, 2-3, 2-4, 1-3, 3-4, 1-2.
- After all have competed 1-2 from each circle switch. Now the players waiting become Jokers who the battling players can pass to. Jokers must pass to the player who passed to them. On the whistle try to score. Same rotation of numbers.
- Setting up plays from behind the net.
A white player goes behind the net with the puck (4 white and 4 green) while a same coloured player is in battling in front to get open vs a green defender. The player behind the net always faces the front of the net and skates back and forth and passes to the teammate in front who battles to get a shot. rotate through every player in every situation.
The same activity but now the player behind has the option of walking out and doing a wrap around when they see the goalie out of position or the defender not looking. (the key in this activity is for the puck carrier to face the play and not give blind passes to the front.
D4 - 4 on 4 game of 2 pass at each end.
3 minutes of each rule
1- just two pass.
2- only forehand passes allowed.
3- puck carrier must make an escape move before they can pass or shoot. (create time and space for yourself)
DT 100 Continuous 1-1 and 2-1.
All players are live. It is an efficient way to change on the go. When the puck crosses the red line the F gets point support from a D and the D gets support from a F making it a 2-2 at each end.
Move to the 2 on 1 by simply telling the F that now 2 join the play. F1 must go low to help the D with the 2-1 making in 2-2 and F2 must cover the point making it 3-3 at each end.
DT 100 with the D Joining the Attack and the F Backchecking (creates a 3-3 at each end.)
The same rotation as the continuous 1-1 but now the D defends one end and joins the rush to the other end and plays until the defenders break out of the aone, before going back to the line-up.
The F attacks and then must backcheck and defend in the zone and assist in the breakout before returning to the lineup.
The above 2 transition games are CORE activities because they require all the skills needed in a regular game. The continuous 1-1 game can be played with the new players either passive or active (I prefer actice) or some passive and some active ( the 2-1 can have F1 active and play the low 2-2 while F2 covers the passive D at the point and both F attack 2-1 the other way. You can play this game up to a 3-2 which gives a 5-5 at each end.
The transition game with the D joining the rush can be done up to a 2-1. One F would backcheck making that a 3-2 through the neutral zone and a 4-4 at each end. A 2-2 with one D joining the rush and the high forward backchecking creates a 5-5 at each end.
I have been puzzled why so few elite teams that I watch stick with drills instead of do the progression to transition game or only use passive support or sort of use transition games because the coach blows a whistle for the team to breakout instead of allowing he players to BATTLE and do plays under pressure.
Dump ins and regroups can be added to transition games to create loose puck situations, work on breakouts and forechecks.
TRANSITION GAMES are the MISSING LINK in the practices I see. (along with games with modified rules that require certain habits or skills we want the players to have.)
E1 - 2 shot shootout. All players get one shot at each end. 2 goals = 0 laps, 1 goal = 1 lap, 0 goales = 2 laps.
All players pick up 2 or 3 pucks and put them in the bag.
All players lay on face down around the middle circle with the sticks in the middle and the captains lead a cheer.
Flyers Jan. 13 Practice Plan
B6 Puck Handling:
Loosen shoulders and increase reach.
Two circles in each zone opposite ways
1. Puck only on the forehand side of the stick
2. Puck only on the backhand side of the stick
3. Fast hands and fast feet
4. Alternate facing inside and outside each quarter of the circle.
Finish with a shot on the net.
B600
2-0 Double regroup.
1. Double regroup and attack 2-0.
2. Double regroup and attack 3-0 with the middle D joining the play.
B6 Diagonal Double Pass
Exchange the pucks twice with diagonal corner.
Progression is to pass to the corner give and go and shoot.
D400
Game with the rule to go onto offense you must pass to a joker behind the net who passes.
1. Play 3-3 with the jokers behind.
2. Play 3-3 but with one player at the point who can jump in and a joker behind the net. Jokers are not checked.
D200 Game with varying Situations
From 1 to 4 players are sent out for each team.
Play 20-25” shifts.
Use only one puck and pass to the teammates coming on.
DT400 3 on 3 With a Player at the Point
Use only one puck.
Coach dumps the puck in and the first 3 players from the lineup race and battle. The 4th player play the point.
- First team to get the puck can score.
- To transition to offense you must pass the puck to your point man.
- Do not check the joker at the point.
- On the whistle players race out and the goalies change. Pass the puck to the coach who dumps it in when everyone has cleared the zone.
E1 Shootout.
Change on the go.
-Place 8 pucks on each blueline
-players wait on the bench.
Rules:
-If you score race to the bench and then next player pick up a new puck from the blue line.
-If you don’t score pass to a player coming off the bench who can’t leave until you are within a stick length of the bench.
-First team to score with all the pucks wins.
-Leave the puck in the net when you score.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/filemgmt/index.php?id=75
You see everything in this game. As my players stepped on the ice for the pre-game warm up one my biggest D went flying around the ice with her head down and totally flattened our goalie who was supposed to play. It was 165 lbs vs 125 and the 125 lost. She is now out with a possible concussion.
The other goalie played well and we won 3-2 with no back up. Road game today and an affiliate will back up.
Helped with a rural PeeWee Tier 1 team this evening... The overall skill level was very good! I mentored the coaches for the first hour of practice (they ran practice while I watched and made some comments); then I ran five 1 v 1 games half ice for the second hour (Side by Side; The Hunter; Backpressure; Face to Face; 45 Degrees).
Both the kids and the coaches really liked playing the pressure-filled games, especially incorporating the aspect of always keeping the score (the accountability) and the leadership aspect. (I appointed a leader for each team who was responsible for tallying the scores of the various games and presenting it to me - then once we determined a winner and loser (or a tie), they would take the results and reward / punishment 'back' to their team). I would use revolving leadership every practice - to let other kids practice a leadership role - in the future. I set time limits on the leadership communication (15 seconds) too - to add stress! The kids need to learn how to properly collaborate and communciate under pressure too... just like in a game situation!
The coaches mentioned previously that they wanted their kids to compete more consistently and this certainly achieved that goal. The coaches couldn't believe I was able to hold their interest for the second hour - but it is easy when you turn the responsibility over to the kids - when they know there will be accountability - and I did 'exercise' that accountability on three occasions (not paying attention; taking too long with drill management (move bodies and pucks, etc.) with a series of pushups and situps!
Interesting talking to the Team Canada NJT Exercise Physiologist afterwards (a friend of mine, Steve's son is on the PeeWee team). He said the Canadian team was under incredible media scrutiny and an exceedingly tight timeline the entire tourney. He sat down with head coach Don Hay in early September for a day to plan the entire schedule, from the tryouts throught the selection to the event (travel, meals / nutrition, practices, meetings, rest and recovery - only two days!! - tests and measurements, etc.) and reported that Don was great to work with - (a very intense man - which I can attest to myself!)
Steve was fortunate to be given carte blanche to do the schedule - taking into account the games - then also had to schedule a ton of media stuff too. He was astounded by the amount or public appearances, advertising and media opps there were - far more than any other team at the championships with Canada being the host country and the championships mattering most to Canadians on the whole.
The ex. phys. geek in me really enjoyed hearing the daily monitoring and testing they did to make sure the kids were properly hydrated and rested to the best that the schedule and media would allow!
Behind the scenes conversations like this really help accelerate my own PD and learning - not like going through it myself - but the next best thing! Hopefully by sharing it here, this helps make others aware too.
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It sounds like an effective seminar Dean.
When I taught PE the large classes were divided into 12 teams and one player from each team was responsible for keeping score. There would always be 6 games going on at the same time. At the end of each game the leader of each team had to come up and the winning team circle the team number. If there was a dispute about any rule violation etc. they would do 'rock paper scissors'.
I just got an email concerning a member of the National Team of India who is very interested the the ABC's of hockey and I have referred him to this site. He has read the coachng manual.
We had 3 good on ice practices this week and one very hard spin class with 70 minutes on the bike.
I have one goalie who has to attend her teams Alberta Winter Games weekend team building sessions and my other goalie who got a concussion when her players crushed her when they were skating onto the ice before our game two weeks ago practiced last night but had head aches after and the doctor said she has to start the concussion protocol over. So now we have zero goalies for our weekend games.
We have requested permission to use an A goalie and I think she will be available. All our other affiliates are playing.
So it will be very interesting.
John ran a great practice with the U18 National Training Centre (soccer) girls yesterday. These are girls who have been identified by the CSA as the best age-group players in southern Alberta and who are trying to gain a roster spot with the National U 18 team. (One of these girls is currently on the National U18 team.) There are several NTC's across the country in the large cities. I helped John coach this group a couple of years ago. The skill level and desire to compete is very high. It was very enjoyable and I love going to watch / help when my time allows...
John invited some of the best U 16 girls in the city as well as some top NTC U16 and U14 boys - plus a midfielder who was just named to Canada's U22 (male) team and is on the 2012 Olympic tryout roster. He had 27 players and 3 goalies in total - perfect numbers for nine teams of 3 players each!
He ran the "Time Machine" - two cross-field 3 v 3 games play at the same time on neighboring pitches (total of 12 players participating at once - plus 3 goalies.) The remaining players (15 players) line up straight and separate the fields. The first couple of teams at the end of the line have to be alert to watch for scoring. When you score, you dig the ball out of the net and attack the other way. When you get scored on, you sprint off to the back of the line and the next 3 players run onto the field to defend their 'new' net.
One end had 3 nets - 2 on one side and 1 on the other. All three nets had goalies; they played with a regulation size 5 soccer ball. The other end had 2 small nets; no goalies; and played with a smaller, heavier 'futsal' ball. (This really encouraged quick transitions!)
This was some of the best soccer I have ever witnessed in person. They played for almost 90 minutes straight!
John had pre-established certain expectations for the teams based on age and skill level - to help challenge them and hold them accountable to their performance.
John challenged the one team of boys (an exceptional 13 year-old (over 6' tall and coordinated!), a 15 year-old NTC U18 and the 20 year-old National Team player) to win outright by a certain point spread or they would have to do 100/100 (pushups and situps). They won!
(When told (erroneously by design!) that they were close - within the point spread - with 5 minutes to play, you should have seen them turn it on! They stayed in the game for the last five minutes and cleaned house. I think they scored more than 20 goals in that five minutes!! Funny what motivation will do to some people...!)
The team with the female U18 National TC player (and 2 other NTC U18's) was challenged to finish first of the girls; they were beat by the boys (expected) AND a team of 1998 girls (U16) - none of whom are in the NTC group, but are elite players for their age - so they had to do 80/80 for finishing second to these girls.
So you see, even though a group might seem to be strong and 'win' on paper... THE GAME ISN'T PLAYED ON PAPER! I have seen this happen regularly and that is why you have to play the games... not just cede the points because of what 'should happen'! This is an important point for coaches and players to understand. It gives hope to the 'paper underdogs!"
See the Game Intelligence thread (Jan 27 2012, page 4) for a comment I overheard after this practice...
We have played this in hockey and in handball too and it really challenges the players to remain focused and intense - speed of transition is critical! Our grade 7 group which has more than 30 kids (and 5 goalies) loves to play the Time Machine! (You need numbers to do it well!)
We want to try "The Vortex" which is a "Time Machine" with a third field and an extra 'line' of players... this time, we tell the players the direction of rotation to ensure there are no screwups in substitution!
We have played with teams of 2 and it works very well as it covers off the four playing roles - sort of a precurser to playing 3 v 3!
When playing with one's own team (rather than a collection of super players, like in this case), the coach can also focus on tactical plays while the kids play this game (3 players per side is the magic number as you can work with triangulation - both on offense and defense!) With this NTC group, John focuses on principles of play and their execution - since they aren't really a 'team'.
I also recommend coaches try playing games with different weights of puck (blue, orange and black) or objects (balls) as well as different shapes and sizes of objects for handball, soccer, etc. (golf balls, squash balls, tennis balls, utility balls, footballs, basketballs, sponge balls (like Nerf), etc. This forces people to adapt their 'touch' to match the physical object they are using.
Different shapes, sizes and weights 'change' the dynamics of the game. You can't throw or pass the lighter objects as farl so this encourages short passes therefore needing close, quick support to be successful. We let the kids figure it out as we go... and often times, we will 'switch' the object partway through the games to force skill and tactic adaptations!
This is our practice plan for Thursday. It was the final practice before two games on the weekend. Skating and shooting, lots of flow drills while passing at full speed, breakouts and then team play. Practice ended with a shootout. Diagrams on the pdf attached.
A200 Edges and Balance with a shot on goal.
B6 Double Cross Drop and one timer.-leave corner and pass across.
-cross blue line and cross and drop
-pass across nzone.
-gain blue line then cross and drop
-pass across and one timer
B6 3-0 weave
Skate inside and pass outside
Regroup at other end and attack 3-0 with offensive triangle.
B600 Double Regroup Options
A. double regroup attack 2-0, 5’
B. double regroup attack 2-2, 5’
C. regroup and instead of second regroup dump puck in and breakout using; over, counter, reverse. 5’
Goalie practice at one end so 2/3 ice
DT 400 Back Pressure Game of 2 on 2 to 2 on 4
On a goal, breakout or frozen puck the back checkers skate back to the far blue line and attack vs the original attackers.
Two players from the line-up at each blue lineback check with the puck side backchecker giving back pressure. It goes from a 2-2 to a
2-4.
T D400 Team play practice.
Review the team play. Attack and on transition pass puck to coach and tag up at red line – coach shoot puck in and former offensive team defend vs new group
3 lines start from the far blue line.
-practice forecheck
-defensive zone coverage
-5-4 powerplay
4-5 penalty killing
E1 Two shot shootout
2 each
1 goal = 1 lap
0 goals = 2 laps
2 goals = 0 laps
I ran a 75 minute, full-ice Timbits (2005) practice early this morning at 630 am.
This was my first one with this group. They have only had about 20 practices so far this year! (Sounds low to me but I don't know Timbits! Can anyone else on here tell me if this is 'normal / high / low' for this time of year (late January)?
We warmed up with a few reps of British Bulldog (8 minutes). The players had to skate the length of the ice controlling their puck, with their head up so they could see the ice (open ice and checkers and other kids). The coaches turned their sticks upside down and tried to steer the kids; they could even try to put their stick onto the individual pucks (but no knoocking pucks away!)
12 skaters, so we created four teams of 3 players each, put pinnies on, and played two cross-ice games 3 v 3 inside each end zone. We had four nets, so the coaches acted as goalies but they had to turn their sticks over (like ringette). We kept the nets a few feet off the boards; just like in a real game. The coaches kept score for their own team. We played 14 minute games (four) and after each, we checked the scores. Winners got a quick drink and relax; all of the losers had to do 10 jumping jacks on the spot (for balance) with the group - keeping it as a team 'punishment'. Then the losers got a drink and we switched opponents / ends.
We played 'normal' hockey: you attack one end and defend one end. No transition stuff... yet! I will slowly add the 'rules of engagement' as the practices go on...
'Rules of Engagement' taught today:
1) Pick captains (coaches keep track and rotate each time) to do Rock Paper Scissors to see who starts with the puck.
2) Always change sides for each 'new' game (even when switching ends to play another team).
3) If the puck goes outside the area (blueline), closest player gets the puck and brings it back to the line where it went out. Opponents have to give him 5 feet; other players get open!
4) Focus on the skills (skating, puck control, shooting, angling) - respect your teammates and opponents (no penalties!)
5) Shut up and let them play! (Coaches could encourage "heads up play" at most.) Have fun... repeat!
6) After every game, bring them in to get the scores. Ask the players first, then confirm with the coaches (goalies). Do the punishments, get water. Then a quick reinforcement of the critical things today: Heads up play!!! Ask why and guide them with their answers. Three things to do with the puck: Skate with it (puck control / stick handle / deke); pass it; shoot it.
The coaches (and parents watching) were blown away that we didn't use any pylons AND we hardly talked to the players! After two games, we asked the kids if they would rather get some pylons out and do some skills or should we keep playing these games, and they all yelled, "GAMES!" Afterwards, a couple of kids came over to say "Thanks for a fun practice" as did several of the parents!
We now have 4 games left. After starting at 7 W and 7 L we are now 15-11-2 and have 4 games left. There are 3 teams from Calgary and we are in third, another Calgary team is 3 points behind with a game in hand and the other is 5 points behind with 4 games left. We are in third place in our division. There are 6 teams and the top two get a bye round one and it is 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5. One team is far behind us all but has started winning lately. We have beaten both of the team in front of us and every game is close.
So we have a realistic chance if we play well and the hockey gods are good to us.
Last night we had a dryland session on the NSD sports court, which is about half the size of a regular rink. I had them play a full court game the entire practice.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=2012013110134174 is a 90 second video.
We had 14 players and 3 teams of 4 and they took turns in the net. Game to 5 goals and the losing teams had to run across and back as many times as the number of goals they lost by. Greens attack White at one end, White breaks out and attack Red at the other end. Red breakout and attack Green and continue this rotation. Switch who they attack the next game. The game went the full hour and it was a great aerobic work out.
We are on ice the next three nights. Tonight both of my goalies are out. One is sick and they other still has a concussion after getting run over by her team mate in the warm up two weeks ago. She has trouble focusing. Las night she tried the exercise bike but had to stop because of symptoms. I don't know if any of our affiliates can make it to practice so I will take my 4 small nets on and adapt.
There is a big debate whether Calgary should drop to 2 teams instead of 3. Two Bantam AAA teams supply the three teams which would be ok, as there are 3 years of midget eligibility and 2 of bantam. The thing that throws it off is that many players go to the Edge and Warner Sports Schools where they get on the ice and dryland every day instead of two or three practices, one dryland and two games per week. Midget AAA is the girls Junior as far a scholarships go. They go to college right out of high school whereas the boy's play a few years of Junior first. So getting on the ice every day makes sense to a lot of players and their parents.
I was allowed to protect 8 returning skaters and one goalie at the draft. Only 6 were returning and I had to chose a goalie. My team ended up with those six returning midget AAA players, two returning midget AAA who were not protected by their last season team, two Bantam AAA players who were my first two picks and five players who played Midget A last season and an underage goalie from the Bantam AAA league.
For comparison Edmonton has only one team and is about the same size as Calgary.
Our team has really improved as the season has progressed i.e. two players from the A league are my second and third top point getters right now.
Our focus the last games is going to be the 'war zone' in front of each net. Attack and Defend with superior numbers. We always focus on good habits but will do a lot more flow drills and transition games that require doing things at full speed skating and quick decision making skill.
We go north this weekend to play Edmonton and St. Albert, the top two teams in the northern division. It will be a really good test to show where we are right now.
If only my goalies would get healthy.
90 Minute Practice with Zero Goalies
Our team has 15 skaters and 2 goalies. One goalie has the flu and the other a concussion. Two skaters have the flu and one had to leave after 30 minutes to get her knee checked by a doctor. So we started with 13 and went down to 12 skaters.
I told the rink attendant to take the big nets off the ice and I brought two small nets on to make scoring a challenge. The practice theme was good habits, skating technique, speed and competition.
15 minutes:
D1 - 3 full ice games lasting 5 min. each.
1-the puck carrier must take three strides and then pass or shoot. (puck support game as well as the habit of skating to open ice instead of the common habit of passing while standing still)
2-the puck carrier must cross a blue line before passing and if you get a pass in the offensive zone you cannot pass but must try to score. (moving to open ice with the puck with speed and using good moves and puck protection skills)
3-at least one pass in each zone and goals must result from Give and Go plays. (puck support and learning to Pass and Go instead of the common habit of Pass and Watch)
A200 - Skating and Balance exercises with a puck followed by Russian Big Moves Exercises
Work on the inside and the outside edges and carrying the puck all around the body.
B202 - moves with everyone in the neutral zone.
Start with all at once and then alternate one colour make the moves around the other colour who stands still then rotate.
B600 Continuous 3-1 with 2 F and 1 D - Finland U20
Continuous flow drill where the D defends a 3-1 then gets a pass from another D and makes a breakout to either of 2 F coming into the zone and joins the attack vs opposition D. The defending D will do the same and pass and join the attack the other way.
This is a very quick drill and with the low numbers my assistant coach had to join in. We did this about 5 minutes.
D400 Perry Pearn 3 on 3
Play 3-3 and the resting players wait at the red line. The defenders must break out of the zone before passing and then they rest and the original attackers must defend.
We played 3 games to 3 goals with the losing team skating a rep of various conditioning drills for every goal they lost by. It ended 2 games to 1 with the team that lost game one 3-0 and had to do a hard skate winning games two and three.
10 Minutes - Talk on the Talent Code and what you need to do to get better.
With the small numbers and a long practice I gave them a physical break and explained what it takes to get better. The best female player I have ever coached came to pick up tickets to the Flames-Red Wings game from me (practice made me miss this game) and I introduced her. When she left I explained how when I took over coaching college her name wasn't even mentioed by the former coach as being a good player. She worked as hard as she could every practice and became the best player in the league by a long way. She went on to play for the Oval Extreme (best women's team in the world at that time) and was a better player than any of the National Team players I coached later in the WWHL.
I told them about creating movement patterns that become faster and faster with Deep Practice.
We started off as the least talented Calgary team and struggled vs the last placed team in pre season games. Now if our goalies play as well as the goalie at the other end we have a chance to win vs all the other 11 teams in the Province if we get full effort from everyone and play with discipline in team play and technique (so we stay out of the penalty box).
D100 3 on 3 Full Ice Game with 45 Second Shifts
Extra players in the box and pass to team mate coming on when the whistle blows.
Tonight and Thursday we should have two goalies.
February is 'Own the Slot Month'
We are refining our game down to the details in the 'War Zone' that circle in front of the net to the dots and out to the top of the circles where most goals are scored from. That is the area that most games are won and lost.
Our focus is to get there with 4 attackers and get shots and fight for rebounds on offense and on defense collapse there with a player on the puck and a box behind. On offense we keep our sticks free and tie theirs up on defense.
It was the second practice with this as our theme.
Practice Plan
- Warm up -
B202 - Everyone including goalies stand opposite a partner one on each blue line and saucer pass keeping the puck flat and dropping it on the red line. First standing still and then moving back to the top of the circles and up to the blue line. 10 of each.
B202 - Passing and Shooting: on both nets
Greens on one side and whites on the other side at the red line. Each shoot at a different net.
- Sequence One - 1 pass across to 2, 2 back to 1, 1 back to 2 back to 1 who goes in and shoots with the feet moving, follow the shot for a rebound and then circle back to rebound the next shot before returning to the line.
- Sequence Two - same two give and goes and then give and go with the last shooter who is on the goal line and shoot without handling the puck. Pass to the next shooter and after you pass step out and look for a rebound.
B202 - One on One's in Both Directions
- 1 leaves from against the boards at the red line with a puck going north and 1 leaves from the other side with a puck going south. 1 skates back to the blueline and attacks the south goal and opposite on the other side.
- 2's leaves from the red line with NO puck and the stick upside down and skates back to touch the blueline then up to close the gap and defends vs 1 on each side.
- Key offensive points are to beat the opponent with speed and good fakes and at least get a shot on net and crash for a rebound. Defenders must play a tight gap always on the defensive side and tie up the stick on rebounds.
- No whistles, which allows coaches to coach. Players watch and leave when the last group gets to the top of the circles.
D400 - Swedish Net Battles at one end and goalie with one Tender at the other end
- Green vs White - one white behind the net gets passes to the front where two whites battle for position with two greens. Each player gets two passes from the coach and then rotate. Keep score.
- Attackers fight to keep their sticks free and get open and defenders tie up the sticks and must see the puck and their man. Battle for rebounds. When the puck goes out of the 'war zone' a new puck is passed to the player behind the net by the coach.
T4 D400 - 2 on 2 from Below the Goal Line-coach pass to a low player in the corner who must attack the net from below the goal line.
-defenders check one attacker each and play until a goal or the puck is cleared.
DT400 - Team Play Review Game with the Perry Pearn Rotation:
- Players are lined up behind the red line.
- You can have the three lines play together and the 6 D are in two groups of 3. We just used two colours as we play Total Hockey and everyone needs to have ALL the skills.
- Goal is to create loose puck battles and review our forecheck and cycle on the attack and the breakout and dzone coverage defending.
- Rotation: 3 greens shoot the puck in from the red line vs 3 whites who start at the blue line. They battle for the loose puck and the greens try to score and the whites defend. The defenders must carry the puck over the blue line before passing to the next group; on a dump out the attackers regroup and dump it in again. When the whites clear the zone they pass to the next 3 whites who dump and chase vs the original greens who must skate up and touch the blue line before going back for the the loose puck battle.
- Attackers do OUR forecheck which is 1 on the puck, 2 on the second D, 3 on the puck side boards and the defenders go back with 1 and 2 and 3 gets on the boards for an outlet when they get possession. So it is an effective way to review offensive and defensive team play.
- Keep score and coaches stay at the red line and talk with players when they return to the line up.
DT100 - 2 on 2 Backchecking Game
- This game is full ice and the players line up on one side along the boards at the red line.
- Two greens attack two whites and when they cross the red line two white players follow and give passive support from inside the top of the circles as they would playing wing in a game. If the attackers bring the puck high in the slot they can challenge as they would in a game.
- On transition or after a goal the defending whites pass to the supporting whites who attack the other way and the original green attackers must backcheck and are followed by two new greens when they cross the red line.
- The backcheckers must identify who they are covering and tie up their sticks so they don't score on a rebound. They must battle for the puck and make a breakout pass to their supporting players and the attackers must now back check.
- This is a very intense game and the backcheckers have to communicate and not get the 'stare' going where they are puck focused and lose track of their coverage.
E1 Change on the Go Shootout
- 8 pucks on each blue line.
- Score race back to the bench and the new player leaves when you get one stick length away and a new player picks up a puck from the blue line.
- Don't score then get the rebound and pass to the next player at the bench door who attacks.
- Losing team pick up the pucks.
Big test this weekend as we travel to Edmonton and play the top two teams in the Northern Division.
John and I ran a PD Session for the Calgary Catholic School Division Friday morning. We had 1.5 hours of on-ice and 12 teachers in full gear. We invited a few other coaches to come watch (we missed you Tom!)
Based on experience, it is most effective to have 1.5 - 2 hours in the gym first to teach the concepts and games off-ice (introduce and expand on the theory and our particular 'rules of engagement' (ROE); then have the coaches play handball games to learn through doing), then let the teachers hit the ice and play our games (which leads to better, more efficient utilization of ice time), but it wasn't to be. In an ideal world, we would then have the teachers run an ice session using some kids from the skill academy and we would then mentor them.
After introducing the coaches to our philosophy and ROE, we had them play four games from our 1 v 1 sequence: Side by Side, 45 Degrees, Face to Face and Back Pressure. Then we played The Spartan Box 1 v 1 and 2 v 2. We finished with a brief overview of The Fortress. We had to talk more than we liked and this led to less 'play time' but as mentioned above, we had to operate within our constraints.
1.5 hours goes by far too quickly when you are introducing new games and 'how to teach' methodology to teachers who come from a drill-centred and explicit teaching model! (We believe in game-centred, implicit learning as it has been proven to be the best method to learn long-term!) I continue on my crusade to bring teaching methodologies into the 21st century (amazing that it is based on 19th century philosophies!) to best meet then needs of today's student
I don't think we 'converted' everyone, but we did receive tremendous feedback from several teachers, with requests for further workshops in the future. At least the teachers are now aware and 'thinking' that there may be other ways to teach! (To make larger changes, we need to change how teachers are trained at university.)
Everyone involved said they had fun... moreso than if we had brought out pylons to run a traditional drill-oriented practice. I asked them to think about their students - what approach would they enjoy more? The answer was a resounding, "Games!"
I salute those who came to the session and truly appreciate the opportunity to try to make the game better for the kids.
Dean I was going to catch the last hour but my brother called me on skype just as I was
Leaving and
By the time I was off the call i had missed too much to
Make it worthwhile.
I am on a bus to our game in Edmonton now.
I just finished meeting with every player which I usually do on bus rides over 2 hours.
We are coming up to the last two games of the regular season and are tied for third with another Calgary team. They have 3 games left but we play on Friday night and if we win that and Sunday we would win the season series 3-1 and remain in third spot.
Las weekdend I implemented a different forecheck for the playoffs. Instead of the Tsunami we are now using the Pounce which is a combination of left wing lock and Torpedo. It looks the same as the Tsunami with 2 forecheckers and pressure on the outlet pass to the boards on both sides but instead of reading 1-2-3 on the forecheck the left wing stays on the left side and covers their right wing on the breakout and the point when the RD pinches on the right side. The LD is a defensive defenseman and always on the puck side. I used this style for five years coaching college and we won over 70% of our games; so it has been effective with my teams.
I am attaching a 45 second clip of my college team vs the University of Calgary. #5 is the left wing, #10 is the LD, #17 the RW, #16 the C and you can see the RD pinching on that side and moving back to the point on when the puck goes to the other side.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?s=20080727110408764
I am pretty sure Dean was the asst. coach of U of C that year and head coach the next two seasons.
Today we will do a pre game practice.
The practice is at 4 pm so some players scramble to get there on time if their classes run late. We had one goalie for the first 30 minutes as the other goalies classes have changed in the new semester that started this month.
Goal of the practice was to prepare for the two games on the weekend. Tonights game is basically for third place in the standings as the playoffs start next weekend.
5 minutes:
All 15 skaters and one goalie did the Around the Clock passing drill that I posted a few days ago.
10 minutes:
Shots from 3 lanes with one second before leaving after making the pass. Players line up in three lanes at one end and start with the middle player passing to one wing and wait one second then leave and get a pass from the other wing who waits a second then leaves and gets a pass from the far wing. They shoot before the top of the circle. We wait so it isn't Machine Gun Shooting and the goalie can prepare for each shot.
10 minutes: Forecheck Review
Don't usually do this on the ice but we reviewed our Pounce forecheck which looks exactly the same as the Tsunami but the left wing is the designated F3 and only the RD pinches with the LD filling on both sides.
15 minutes:
The other goalie got their and now one goalie worked at one end and we did a 2/3 ice review.
Broke the team into 3 sets of 5 in Red, Greeen and White. We then worked on the Pounce forecheck in a rotation.
Leave from the blueline and White attack vs Green. To focus on the forecheck white crosses the red line and dumps the puck in and they play in the far end. When Green breaks out they pass to Red who now dumps the puck in vs White who has to skate up and touch the red line before going back for the puck.
This is a semi controlled scrimmage and we stopped everyone a few times to point out important things. We have switched the centres on two of the lines so it was good to do team play together.
12 minutes: Power Play
We did the same rotation but switched who each team attacked against. Now the defending group rotated sitting out the LW, RW, C so they all got a turn at killing penalties.
The attacking team is allowed to enter the zone any way they want and the defenders can shoot it out is in the pk.
10 minutes: Double Regroup
- 5 minutes with the double regroup in the neutral zone and attack 2-0.
- 5 minutes of double regroup and attack 2-1
8 minutes: Change on the Go Shootout
All in the box and 8 pucks on each blue line. Score then race to the bench and the next player can go. Don't score then pass to a player at the bench who gets a try. First team scoring all goals wins.
I don't remember ever coaching in a 0-0 game before. I probably have but the memory is gone like my skating speed.
Friday night was a good game. The shots were 8-8 after one period and we were really tight. We ended up with a 31-21 advantage in shots and had strong second and third periods but couldn't score. My goalie who hasn't played since getting a concussion last month was really good as was theirs.
Sunday we got lots of chances and gave few away but lost 2-1. A bad give away resulted in a breakaway and the winning goal against. They only got 17 shots and half of them were on two long 5-3 pplays.
If anyone has the magic formula to start scoring again I am all ears. 2 goals on our last 92 shots. Lost 2-1 shots 30-22, Tied 0-0 shots 31-21 , lost 2-1 shots 31-17. Shots 92-60 and the shot total reflects the zone play. We are playing very well. So we have scored 2 goals in the last 92 shots which must reflect lack of confidence because we had a stretch of ten games averaging between 3-6 goals a game. Giving up an average of 20 shots a game and 4 GA in 3 games shows we are playing very good team defense.
Playoff start on Thursday vs another Calgary team.
We practice Monday, Tuesday, team get together Wed. play Thurs, practice Fri. game Sat and if needed Sunday.
I started with this skating exercise as the warm up to about sixty percent of our practices this year. At first only a few players could do one leg without a puck. Now they can all do the exercises with a puck and finish with a shot. I missed the first few so I got some players to demonstrate the beginning ones like snowplow, scull and slalom.
I am proud that they worked at doing these exercises because they are not easy.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/filemgmt/index.php?id=95
Funny how playoffs can change the intensity level. We won our first playoff game 7-1 and had fewer shots than the last three games where we scored a total of 2 goals on 95 shots. We also gave up 28 shots which is about 9 more than usual. A player who got 1 goal all year got 2 tonight.
It is only one game but a good start.
Game two was really hard fought and they were desperate not to get eliminated. 0-0 after one and 1-1 after two. They popped a pass thru the middle in the third and got a breakaway and scored on a nice deke-shelf. We got 2 breakaways and missed the net.
Series 1-1.
Game three. We led 1-0 after an even first period. They socred two in the second, both of the faceoff. We got one in the last minute of the second so 2-2 after two. We had a pplay going into the third and our player who go the first two goals tipped a shot from the point and we scored in the first minute. Our D went coast to coast and scored, then we got another on a rebound. They pulled the goalie and we got another. 6-2 final. We killed 2 long two short situations and our goalie stopped a penalty shot by the leagues top scorer.
Next week we start a best of five series with the top team. We were 1-3 with them in the season.
The story I told at hockey this morning wasn't about winning the series but what happened at the start of the third period.
The best of three series was tied 1-1 and the game 2-2. Losing teams season was over. There team was late coming onto the bench and my team was there with about a minute on the clock. A song the girl's all knew blasted over the sound system and every player spontaneously started singing along and dancing to the music. I looked at my assistant coaches and said 'only in Girl's Hockey', smiled and waited for the opposition to get there. They came onto the bench white faced and tense. 30" into our power play we scored and a few minutes later our captain who had scored one goal all season walked through their entire team, deked the goalie and scored.
Only in Girl's Hockey.
We start a best of five series vs Red Deer, a city 90 minutes north of Calgary on Saturday. Away and home and possible 3 games next weekend. They won our division and them and Edmonton have the most talent. This team has been together for years and has 5 players in the top 30 scorers. We have one but the team we just beat had 4.
We were 1-3 with them during the season. Last time lost 3-4 and had a goal disallowed that everyone in the arena but the ref saw go in the net. The linesman even tried to convince him it was in.
We only have 9 forwards and 6 D and one forward is out for sure with a concussion and another couldn't hold her stick at Tuesdays practice because of a hyper extended wrist. I don't know if she can play or not.
Since switching from the Tsunami to the Pounce we have cut our goals down from 2.5 to 1.5 GA. Per game. The Tsunami is Total Hockey and great for players to learn to read and react during the season. Now that winning is the only way to continue on we switched to the Pounce. It is the system I used in colllege and the players roles are defined.
It looks the same with 2 forecheckers, lock on the strong side wall, pinch on the weak side but the C RW are offensive forwards, LW defensive forward, RD offensive defense and LD defensive defenseman. The players are in positions that suit their skill set.
Practiced the 5-3 and 3-5 for 30 minutes our last practice. Last game we had two 1:45 ones against us and killed both. Today's practice we will review our systems for 30 minutes and the other 45 minutes will be fast paced.
Tom,
What precipitated the shift from the Tsunami to the Pounce?
Would you ever consider maintaining the Tsunami throughout the year instead of switching it up?
How many games does your team have under it's belt using each?
Dean as I said in my posting.
"Since switching from the Tsunami to the Pounce we have cut our goals down from 2.5 to 1.5 GA. Per game. The Tsunami is Total Hockey and great for players to learn to read and react during the season. Now that winning is the only way to continue on we switched to the Pounce. It is the system I used in colllege and the players roles are defined.
It looks the same with 2 forecheckers, lock on the strong side wall, pinch on the weak side but the C RW are offensive forwards, LW defensive forward, RD offensive defense and LD defensive defenseman. The players are in positions that suit their skill set."
Basically our goals against was too high to be successful in the playoffs and that is why I decided to switch.
We played the Pounce the last 4 games of the season so the players were familiar with the system. Defensively we were good but didn't score much but it gave the players two weeks to get used to the Pounce. We got 14 GF and 5 GA in the first three games of the playoffs vs a high scoring team. We need a GA of 2 or less and a GF of 3 or more to continue on. I used the Pounce my five years of coaching college because there the job is to win and we won over 70% of our games and were in the finals 4 of the 5 years. So it an effective way to play if the main goal is to win and that is the entire point of the playoffs.
We don't have enough talent to play 'Total Hockey' and be successful in the playoffs. The Tsunami is Total Hockey. The Pounce has my best scorers getting most of the scoring chances and my best defensive defenseman playing the 1-1's on the strong side and assigns who is F3. The Tsunami is great for developing players but it takes ten years to become a complete player. Everyone has improved a lot and they all are good enough to play in the league now, which wasn't the case early in the season but if we don't win the season is over.
We are going into a series vs a team they have kept together for three years to take a run at a National Championship; so we need structure and to maximize our players strengths. Maybe it is the right move, maybe it is wrong but it is the kind of decision you have to make and then believe in.
Tom,
Excellent rationale and thanks for clarifying your decision. I wondered if your depth of hockey sense / skill level was a limiting factor in deciding between continuing with the Total Hockey approach vs more of an assigned system.
Have you ever started with the Pounce and switched to the Tsunami?
Would you ever consider keeping the Tsunami for the year - or does it depend entirely upon the depth of hockey sense of the team?
Dean if all the players have the hockey sense and skill level to handle all of the offensive and defensive tasks successfully then Total Hockey is a superior way to play because it is based on 1-2-3-4-5 in relation to the puck or to your net. It takes more than 7 months for everyone to be able to handle a defensive 1-1 or 2-1 and that is the kind of situation every player will be in if you play Total Hockey.
I was surprised when I spent the year in Salzburg to find that Pierre Page was using the exact same system as I had used for the last five years coaching college. His goal was to move towards more Total Hockey and he probably would have come up with the Tsunami.
The two practices this week had every player in all of the offensive and defensive situations and every player working on every offensive and defensive skill. So the development in practice continues but in the game our best defensive players will be defending almost all of the attacks and our most skilled offensive players will be in deep forchecking and leading the rushes. This gives us a better chance to achieve the 2 or less GA and the 3 or more GF in the playoffs and will give us a shot at pulling an upset.
So we play things like this 2-2 transtion game where all the player end up in all 4 Game Playing Roles. When I coached my son's teams 2 years of bantam and 2 of midget I had them long enough that we played total hockey with a 2-1-2 and a pinch on a wide rim. I had them long enough to develop the skills and we won about 80% of our games. So my preference is Total Hockey BUT my reality is to put the players in situations where they have the best chance to succeed.
I think most coaches are in the same situation.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20120224091730987
Tom,
Once again, excellent points in your response. It depends on where your players 'are' as to how long it would take to completely embrace Total Hockey; unfortunately we as coaches often only work with close to the same people for a season (7 months - the hockey season) - sometimes two seasons - before sweeping changes to the core personnel... and then it's back to (almost?) square one, depending on turnover!
Total Hockey is not something that can be successfully implemented, understood and executed in a short time frame. It is a philosophy that first the coach and his / her staff need to come to terms with; then they try to infect the players. It could take as long as 4 years or more... and which coach has that luxury?
Nice to hear that all players get a chance to play all roles / all four O and D principles in practice even though you are 'specializing' your team system for playoffs. It's not like they will 'forget' Total Hockey by moving away from the Tsunami; but this is giving your players the best platform for success. That is good coaching!
My preference would also be to play Total Hockey but as you say, most (99.9%?) of the coaches out there are in this situation!
Continued good luck against Red Deer.
We travelled to the division winning Red Deer home rink and played game one. We didn't have much going and they were laying in wait for us for two weeks. Tied 0-0 after one, they got a 5 on 3 and scored on it in the second and got another in the third when their D walked in upobstructed and scored. I pulled the goalie with 1:30 left and we got a lot of chances and they cleared the puck from deep in their end and it went right in the middle of the net and they beat us 3-0.
Game two was in Calgary and was a tale of two games. We outshot them in the first 12-7 and got two goals. We came out back on our heels in the second and stood around collapsing on top of our goalie and they got 4 goals in 8 minutes. We got a late goal to make it 3-4. They dominated and outshot us 16-4.
The girl's again danced to the Katy Perry song as they came out in the third. We had a really solid period but were behind 3-4. I pulled the goalie with 1:20 left and we had a power play. We scored with 50 seconds left to tie it 4-4. We outshot them 14-8 in the third.
About 6 minutes into the overtime one of our left wingers let a rocket go up into the top corner and we won 5-4. We oushot them 6-0 in overtime.
When we play with the drive to create scoring chances we are very good and when we play tense with a fear of losing we are very bad.
We practice Tuesday and Thursday and then play in Red Deer Friday, Calgary Saturday and if needed back to Red Deer.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/filemgmt/index.php?id=102 is a video of the third period and some of the OT until the battery when dead.
Tuesday we had a quick paced practice that focused on skills and regroups. We also did a 3-3 2/3 ice transition game while one goalie worked with Nat the goalie coach. A full ice continuous 1-1 and then 2-1 kept the pace up. As coaches we just wanted them to play with good angles and gaps on defense and close support and north south play on offense. The D worked on shooting from the point and the forwards on cutbacks and going to the net. We finished with a 2 shot shootout.
Tonight we will focus on Team Play review. I will find out if my top scorer is ready to go. She was cross checked in the head. They have two players out with suspensions for head shot major penalties tomorrow.
As coaches we are focusing on the players believing in themselves. At the beginning of the season we weren't as good as this veteran team but now we are. The best of five series is tied 1-1 with up to 3 games this weekend.
Playoff series two - second weekend.
Played a really hard away game and came out on top 3-2. First period 0-1, second 3-1, final 3-2. Shotclock said 43-28 shots for us. They had two players out who were suspended for head shots and they play today.
It really helped us having a full line up of 3 sets of 5 as the player who sat last weekend with a concussion scored one, blocked a big shot and back checked to save a goal. Our top scorer who we worried may have gotten a concussion from the head shots was ok and scored our first goal. We now lead the 3 of 5 series 2-1.
Got back late about 11:30 and the game today is 2:30 at our home rink which is Olympic size.
I have attached the phrase that will be on our dressing room wall.
We watched Miracle on Ice on the bus back. They were in the middle of the game vs the Soviets when we were about a minute away from the arena, so I had the bus driver stop at the top of the hill before going down to the parking lot and we didn't move until "Do you believe in miracles."
Won 2-1 today. First period 0-1 shots 6-14 they were all over us and our goalie kept us in the game. They could have been leading 4-0 because we just watched. Second period 2-1 we scored on a penalty shot and a power play, and third period 2-1, shots 28-27 at the end of the game.
I don't know if the ref got out of the arena safely. The opposition fans were not happy but we were.
Just went through the scoresheets for the first 2 rounds of the playoffs. Won 2 games to 1 in round one and 3 games to 1 in round two. The lines won't line up when I save so I will attach a pdf.
PP+ Pk- E+ E- EN
2 1 5 Game one - 7-1
1 2 Game two - 1-2
1 1 5 1 Game three - 6-2
1 1 1 Game Four - first game of best of five - 0-3
2 3 3 1 Game Five - 5-4 in OT
1 1 2 1 Game Six - 3-2
1+1PS 1 Game Seven - 2-1 - Series win 3-1
-------------------------------
+9 -7 +16 -6 -1EN
So we are +2 on specialty teams and +10 at even strength. This shows me that our Pounce forecheck is producing results and the dzone at even strength is giving up less than a goal a game. 24 goals for in 7 games is above our goal of 3 a game and 16 is 2 goals against higher than our goal of 2 or less GA per game.
Now we play a team that we were basically even with in our seasons series and tournament play this year. Starts this weekend. We will have two on ice and one off ice practice.
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I have my manager track the shots and show me at the end of each period. He includes the +/- as well. On each shot he puts the shooters number where they shot from and circles it if it is a goal. I am including the one from our last game. (we scored one of our two goals on a penalty shot)
Great way to document and provide the 'evidence' of how the system is working for you Tom! It is gratifying to have one's decision 'bear fruit' - particularly in the playoffs! I will have to look at your game schedule to see if I can catch a game. I watched the Edge girls play POE last Saturday and it was a terrific game... the Edge won in O/T. Great skills and pace.
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Dean, we are not sure who we play but the series will start Saturday. There was a protest launced and Alberta Hockey may reward the series to the Bruins. I don't know why. The only thing I can think would cause this is if you used an ineligible player or affiliate. Otherwise we play the first two games vs Medicine Hat in their home rink.
We had two one 75 and one 90 minute on ice practice and one off ice session with 30 minutes of spin on the bikes and 30 minutes of core and flexibility.
We really focused on skills in the on ice sessions. Lots of passing, puck handling and shooting. While the goalies worked with Natalie we played variations of keepaway with passing rules. The Luhowy passing sequence facing each other is a good neutral zone drill to get lots of passing with balance exercises like touching both knees added.
We played games like two pass in one zone with rules such as; only one second with the puck and another game was you have to make an escape move before passing.
Three man weave stressing skate to the inside and pass to the outside and the middle drive.
Transition game of 1-1 with a sequence of support, breakout, attack, defnd, rest. Two games went on at the same time at each end. A full ice transition game of 2-2 with the offense getting support at the point. The point players can't go in past the top of the circles and they can only have the puck for one second before a pass or shot. Attackers screen, tip and defenders box out and seal the sticks to the outside.
We worked on some power play options vs high pressure as well.
Pracitce one we ended with a change on the go shootout and tonight we played rebound for 6 minutes.
We play at Medicine Hat Saturday and Sunday afternoons and then two in Calgary on Friday and Saturday and if needed back to Medicine Hat Sunday.
It should be fun. Both teams skate well and work hard.
--------------------------
The picture is of my team with the Turkish National Team Captain Deniz Ince
We travelled 2.5 hours for game one of the southern division best of five final. Medicine Hat won their last series 3-2 in double ovetime. They lost the first two games and won the final three. We lost our first game and won the last three.
Like last series we lost 0-3. 0-0 after one, 0-2 after two and in the third they blocked a point shot on our power play and got a breakaway and scored to win 0-3. They deserved the win and won about 60% of the loose pucks. Basically out competed us.
We bused home and go back tomorrow for game two.
We played really hard and the shot sheet says 31_24 for us in shots but we lost 4_5. We deserved better. My player who is leading in playoff scoring got smoked with three minutes to go and just sent me a text that the x ray shows a sprained and not broken ankle. That was two away games. The next two are home and the fifth on the road.
This week on ice Monday, spin and plyo Tuesday, Wed off, Thurs on ice friday, Saturday, Sundays games.
There was confusion on the date of the Spin Class and no instructor was there. The players took control and instead of going home they warmed up with a few laps around the track, did core exercises with each player leading one and then Kiera, an assistant captain took the leader bike, mike and music and led a 30 minute spin session.
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F - Spin Class on Exercise Bikes – U18 Girl’s – Player Led
Key Points:
Work the various aerobic and anaerobic energy systems and pay attention to the work/rest ratio.
Description:
Players take turns sprinting on the bikes. They are in groups and play Rock – Paper – Scissors to choose which group goes next.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20120314084907424
You have to love leadership!!
Stay healthy and all the best towards the team's Championship.
Iceman
Iceman, I couldn't help it but when I read your comment a tear came to my eye.
All a coach can ask for is players who care.
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We have three games this weekend to keep going. This team was written off at the start because we have five players who played the level below last year and two who were put on waivers from last year team. We are the only Calgary team still in the playoffs. Last series we won the last three games vs. the first place team. Now we have to do the same vs. the second place team.
Playoffs are great to show character and determination.
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I was looking though some pictures and saw a document with the coaches I was with in Austria; so have attached it.
We had a one hour practice last night to prepare for the second half of our 3 of 5 series. We are behind 0-2; so must win all 3. The goal was to review everything and play at a quick pace.
March 15 Practice – one hour
A200 Balance and Edges with a Shot
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/video.php?n=20111005152108885
D4 Two Pass
With 14 skaters it was 3-3 at one end and 4-4 at the other.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?s=20120313082015545
B600 2-0 with 2 Shots
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/video.php?n=2012030911374190
B600 Double Regroup Options
1- Double regroup and attack 2-0.
2- Double regroup with the second a dump in - breakout - attack 2-0.
3. Doulbe regoup with the second a dump in - breakout - attack 2-1.
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/video.php?n=20120301090901108
TD400 Team Play Review
We used this rotation for 5-5 and specialty teams. On the 5-5 they had to dump in the puck to practice the forecheck and dzone coverage. After attacking the new defending team must come up and touch the red line and then go back.
TD400 Specialty Team Scrimmage
Key Points:
Rotation is Attack-Defend-Rest. Number the players so they know when to not defend. In even numbered situations you can require the defenders to breakout into the neutral zone before passing.
Description:
1. Power play attack vs 2 Fand 2 D.
2. Defenders ice the puck and rest.
3. Group waithing at far blue attack.
4. Original attackers now defend 1 short.
5. Goalies rotate in.
6. Create any situation by changing the number of attackers or defenders.
7. Even strength can also be practiced.
*Option is to have waiting players breakout from behind the goal line and do a pk forecheck.
TD400 Specialty Team Scrimmage.jpg
TD400 Specialty Team Scrimmage.pdf
E1 Game of Rebound
http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/search.php?query=rebound+game&keyType=all&type=mediagallery&mode=search
Losing our top player who was leading the playoffs in scoring was too much for us and the team played hard but they just had too much talent in the end and move on to the Provincial finals vs Edmonton. The winner of that series plays the winner of British Columbia and that winner moves on to the Canadian Championships in Prince Edward Island.
It was a great group of players, coaches and parents to work with and I really enjoyed this season. We went far beyond anyones expectations by beating the first place team in the second round. We didn't have enough top end players to afford to lose our best player who may be the best one in the league.
A motion has been approved by the Calgary association to have one elite team and two development teams in the AAA league next season. They believe that we are losing a lot of top players to sports schools because the talent pool isn't deep enough to have 3 competitive AAA teams. They want on team that can do well in major tournaments and deep enough to go to the Canadian Championships.
It isn't a final decision yet.
Tom,
Tough luck losing your best player and the series. It sounds like your team overachieved though.
Interesting discussion surrounding the number of AAA midget teams. Since I was involved with GHC several years ago, I have thought that the current structure doesn't work. It is not a self-supporting structure. Too many flagship teams at the top and not enough teams below them to support the structure (3 AAA midget teams; only 2 AAA bantam teams; and a handful of A bantam and A midget teams).
The structure needs to built with a larger development foundation and a leaner elite top.
I don't know how many girls are enrolled in Calgary at the various levels so I don't know if they have the numbers, but perhaps a structure similar to this: 4 bantam B and 4 bantam A; 2 bantam AAA; 4 midget B and 4 midget A; 2 midget AAA teams. This would give a good number of development teams (plus house league for any levels not mentioned here) while providing a self-supporting structure.
I know Edmonton only has 1 AAA midget team (with one AAA bantam team in their city) - not sure of A and B midget teams there. What are your thoughts? You are more in touch with GHC than I.
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Dean I think we were 2 F and 2 D away from being a legitimate contender to go to the Canadian Championship.
Competition Anxiety may be the touhgest thing to coach. You get them to a high level of skill and then some players can't perform even close to their skill level because the situation paralyzes them.
It doesn't matter though. It was an honour and a privilege to work with this group of players. A coaches dream.
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