Reply To: Developing a Season Plan

[Kevin Capie]

It's a little outdated now, but Fred Shero's book had a nice macro look at season planning. I've sort built off of that for my needs with the college team I coached. I have the following in my coaching portfolio.

Pre-season
Practices during the preseason will be rigorous and set the tone for the season at hand. As with practices during the season, the tempo for drills will be high for a maximum amount of conditioning and skill development. We practice as we play.
For the most part the practice schedule, down to the drills, for the preseason practices are set before camp even begins. If we have 10 practices before our first game, I'll have all 10 practice plans drawn up. There is some flexibility based on what we see at practice, but by planning the full practices out it ensures that every skill is covered in a logical progression. That also is why I liked to have the week's practice/drill schedule done in advance.

Early Season
During the early season, the system continues to be installed and individual skill development is stressed during this time. The objectives early in the season exist to continue to set the tone for the remainder of the year. A good start is essential. For the most part, the individual objectives are to develop team unity, pinpoint the strength and weaknesses of the team, and work on the system down to the most basic aspects (line changes, 6-of-5, etc.). With a college team the balance I feel should be about 60-40 team systems vs. individual skills. The younger you go, and competitive level, that balance obviously shifts towards more player development from team development.

Mid-season
This often seems to be the longest stretch of the season. The newness has worn off and the payoff of the playoffs are still months away. This is the most challenging time for the coaching staff, so things should be done to try and eliminate the boredom. The objectives during this time are to juggle the talent to maximize performance, focus on the team and individual weaknesses, and continue to develop the team. More 70-30 team vs. individual.

Late season
At long last the goal is in sight, so now everything must be geared to the playoffs and entering the postseason with momentum. Therefore the primary objective is to get ready mentally and physically for the playoffs. When practices are held the goal is to reinforce the system and check on individual players to insure they are reaching maximum potential. By this point, I prefer it to be about 75-25 or even 80-20 simply because the structured part of practices aren't as long. Instead of the full hour, I'll cut it down to 45 minutes with 15 minutes for 1-on-1 instruction with a few players at one end of the ice with optional SAGs at the other.
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Kevin I agree that you spend a lot more time on system play as the season progresses. In college I liked to spend the first half hour of each practice on individual or partner offensive skills and then rotate the days to focus on the 4 Game Playing Roles. Monday – individual offensive skills and 30 minutes with a skating coach followed by dryland after which rotated between spin and plyo's, Tuesday we did individual deffensive technique, Wednesday was the Team Offense, Thursday the focus was Team defense and Battling our games were Friday-Saturday with Sunday off. The drills, games and transition games followed these themes.