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[hockeygod]

Thanks for this article.

Milbury has changed his public tune somewhat during this 2010-2011 season he has been on Hockey Night in Canada. He is a smart person who comes from a time where hockey players were considered Neanderthals. I suspect his change in tune has something to do with his kids (who play hockey) getting to the age of checking and now the 'dad' hat hits closer to home. I always thought Mike was different than the rest of the old-school culture and respect what he has to say. This is a good article and I continue to hope more people speak up to improve the game.

My friend Dan MacDonald emailed me earlier this week and suggested we practice 'contact confidence' weekly for at least 20 minutes / week on and / or off-ice from a younger age to get the kids more familiar with body contact – what is 'right' and what 'isn't' from both technique and ethical angles – so it isn't as big of a shock when body checking is implemented (at whatever age.) Right now in Canada, we attend a one-day coaching clinic, then that's it. Most coaches (in my experience teaching, mentoring and evaluating coaches) aren't comfortable teaching this (expecting others to teach it!) so they only give it a quick overview. Dan also calls for more regular teaching of angling, steering, influencing and playing the opponent's hands as methods to regain the puck – not just a big body check (which lately seems to be to separate the head from the man; not the man from the puck!)

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