Reply To: A little help with my power play

[hockeygod]

Iceman,

You can't shortcut the process and work on systems, expecting great improvements if you first don't spend time on the foundation (individual skills, tactics, team tactics); your systems will never cover up your weaknesses! As coaches, we have a tendency to rush towards the ultimate goal and not spend enough time building our foundation – I know from experience!

You are only as good as the weakest link; so identify the individual skill areas where you are weakest and work to correct them. Then tactically, do the same thing – individually and team. In your case, you say scoring is the weak aspect. What individual skills, individual tactics, and team tactics contribute to one's ability to score? I will leave this as your homework…

Remember, there are 4 principles of play on O and D:

Offense —– Defense

Puck Control —– Stall / Contain
Support —– Support
Pressure —– Pressure
Transition —– Transition

Here are some game-based ideas to help develop the skills and tactics needed, once the foundation is in place:

Play keep-a-way. You can do a 2 v 1, 3 v 2, 4 v 3, 5 v 4, 5 v 3 and control the 'rules', including the playing parameters (forehand passes / saucer passes / indirect passes to space or off the boards, etc.) the time limit for each 'rep' and the size of the area allowed. (Smaller ice means closer support / quicker passes. It might be somewhat dependent on how many players are active too. You can use the circle outlines / crease lines / ringette lines, whole zones, etc.) After a while, you can add 'nets' on which to score – use areas of the ice / marks on the boards, pylons, etc. and play cross ice. Can you come up with any more ways to play keep-a-way… that will emphasize your goals?

Keep track of how many passes are made in a row in a defined space when playing with two teams (while having possession… 0-1-2-3-4 turnover 0-1-2 turnover 0-1-2-3, etc.) Groups compete against other groups – which group strings together the most passes is the winner. This starts to promote anitcipation and support, while working on skills and tactics.

Play British Bulldog. Everybody has pucks when they start. This helps promote heads up skills (puck control, puck protection, deception, change of pace, creativity) through traffic on an individual level. Keep track of those final 5 players who end up surviving the longest with the puck. You can also play keep-a-way in small space (continuous) in a zone; it can be every man for himself (when you steal a puck, you try to keep it for as long as you can) or with two teams in a zone or everyone starts with a puck and trues to knock pucks off the stick out of the zone while amintaining control of their puck – again, who typically keeps possession of the puck the longest? What other ways can you think of to modify British Bulldog – and emphasize your needs?

Once the requisite technical skills are there (in your mind… they can always improve!), try playing some more game-like situations.

Create activities that allow you to measure scoring and put each player into the same situation (score while under pressure). Pressure can take many forms – time, accuracy, checking, accountability (mental), etc. Do this daily and keep records of who can score under pressure! At the PeeWee age, let all players particpate. Track the goalies records too… they can compete against each other. Use your imagination…

Play lots of 1 v 1's (keep track of who scores the most!) and then graduate to 2 v 1 / 1 v 2; 2 v 2; 3 v 2 / 2 v 3; 3 v 3. These mirror what happens in a 'real game' (not just on a PP) so you should consider this a key building block when determining your practice time allotment (a large proportion of the game is 1 v 1 (45%); 2 v 1 (35 %) and 1 v 2 (10%) = 90%!) Tom has several game-like situation activities within his book / jump drive that will be of help here…

Set a time limit (1 minute) and have one of your 5-man units try to score vs. three players. You can use (a) an empty net with scoring conditions; (b) shooter tutors; (c) a real goalie. If you are having trouble scoring, set the bar a little easier so your players gain confidence, then make it harder until it mirrors a game. The 5-man units should compete against each other (as should the PK'ers and goalies).

Finally, remember to include breaking out v pressure and through the NZ, just like in a game. Ultimately, you would 'play a special teams game' vs another team as the best form of practice (You play 5 v 4 for a predetermined time; then switch and defend for the same time. Play 5 v 3 / 3 v 5. Try your goalie out play – 6 v 5 / 6 v 4, etc. Game time clock and score are used; as are officials.)

The ultimate way to prepare for a game is to play a game!

Notice I haven't defined a system. Who can say "This is the best system…!"? I can't. I have tried numerous systems throughout my career; I even did my Master's on the PP; yet I have come to realize it is an impossible task. Every situation / year is different.

You can show them some video options, but by insiting on a pattern, they become predictable. Patterns limit creativity. So let your players figure it out: "move the puck away from pressure yet try to maintain supported possession long enough to get a shot from the prime scoring area" by either skating or passing it as the situation warrants. They need to have support options around the puck carrier – don't forget your goalie can support the puck! Supported puck possession is king; ultimately, they want to get the puck into the prime scoring area as often as possible and get shots / rebound chances.

Will they make mistakes? Yup. Help them learn from them. Ask them what they saw… what they 'should have done'… what they will do next time when in the same situation.

The best team I ever coached against (a Midget AAA team) was coached by Dan MacDonald (Red Deer, AB in the mid 1990's) and they didn't learn ANY systems. They learned "Principles of Play" (the 4 O & D ones I listed at the start). They skated, passed and received the puck, faked, deked and shot the puck very well – they used the 4 principles to play keep-a-way while on the PP and it worked very well. I believe Dan coached them for 3 years between 1994-1996 and they won the provincials each year; 2 silver medals and a 4th place finish at Nationals. Yeah, he never won Nationals, but all the same, for the 3 years he was in charge, his teams were pretty consistently high performing, if you ask me…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Midget_Hockey_League#League_champions

Not only did I scout them, numerous others did too (coaches, scouts, etc.) and nobody could come to a consensus and say with certainty, "This is Red Deer's system" – for anything (forecheck, special teams, etc.)! They just worked on the fundamental technical skills and played smart, principled hockey… and they worked hard! I haven't seen anybody else, at any level, play such smart hockey, ever since!

This is my future goal… to get to 'this consistent level of athlete-independent play' where the coach teaches principles of play and lets the players do the rest…

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."