Reply To: Repeat practices

[hockeygod]

Willie helped me get my first real "hockey job", so it is nice to see how he has progressed from his days at U of C, to Med Hat, to the NHL. At the time, I was teaching Neuromotor Psychology at the U of C; I had taken his "Hockey Coaching" course a few years previously, and he knew me as a retired player who was coaching minor hockey. Our lockers were side by side in the staff locker room. One day after working out, he asked if I wanted to meet with Dave King, who was coaching the National Team at the time, as Dave was looking for someone to help create and run a summer conditioning program with Hockey Canada. I said yes, and two days later, I could hardly believe I was being interviewed by Dave! I got the job and got to see how Dave and Wayne Flemming prepared for the season. (I worked with James Gattinger, a physio with the National Team / Flames and as luck would have it, had a chance to get caught up with him three nights ago over a beer!) Later that summer, Dave became the coach of the Flames and Tom Renney was hired to take over the National Team… so I also got to meet Tom and work with him. Tom recommended me for a Jr. B coaching job in BC and away I went. I came back to Hockey Canada a few times after that – the first time to do video and later to coach with Tom and Mike Johnson with the National Team. After a few more years coaching Junior and University, I came back again to work with Andy Murray, Mike Johnson, Glen Hanlon and Pat Quinn at the World Championships. Funny how life comes full circle, as Dave's son Scott, married my wife's cousin, Catherine, about 7 years ago, so now we are sort of related!

Anyways, I too coached with Bothwell at U of C after Tom's time there. Tim structured the week such that we did certain things on certain days. I think that is the norm at the college level. For instance, Mondays were "Competition Days – Red vs White". Everything we did was measured and points were scored for either team. The losers had to do various things – carry the winner's sticks back to the room; untie their skates; pick up their laundry; remove their own skates then walk all the way across campus to buy the winner's Gatorade; etc. It was fun, not demeaning. The competition was intense and everyone looked forward to Monday's! (Tim is now the head coach of the Women's program at Vermont).

Tuesday & Wed started with some skills but as Tom says, there was a large emphasis placed on team play / systems. 95% of our players at U of C at that time were WHL grads (or had played a bit of pro) so they had decent skills. At the Canadian University level in general, recruiting players was imperative to success. Your ability to recruit WHL players (not Tier 2), often determines your performance.Thursday's were always the same… including the aforementioned "Webby D-Zone"! I still remember skating miles in that drill… I got a good workout as a D-man facing the forecheck out of both ends!

When I was head coach of both the men and women in University, I used similar themes for similar days. Day 1 was pure competition. Day 2 and 3 were defensive and offensive (trying to improve our weaknesses and look to exploit our upcoming opponent). Day 4 was specific game prep within a specific structure (same or similar activities each week, with the emphasis on what we needed to do vs the next opponent). Day 5 (game day = Friday) was a Black Ace skate for those not dressing on the weekend – it was mainly skills, competitions, 'disguised fitness' and some skating. The A/C's usually ran these.

As a player in Junior (early 80's), we did very similar practices every day (three years; three different coaches… each coach / year was slightly different, but within each year, it was quite disgustingly similar.) My last year (different team, coach and league), the coach did the same practice EVERY DAY! What a boring grind. I hated it the most out of all four years. For 15 years afterward, I could remember the exact order and timing of the drills, and hear the coach's voice… no games, no competition, no accountability or feedback here! "Same-o Same-o boys!" ARGH! For the last 10 years, I have blocked them out and fortunately, I feel I no longer suffer from Post-Traumatic Same F'in Boring Drill Practice Disorder (P-T SFBDPD).We didn't even need the coach… we could have run those drills in our sleep. It really led me to hate hockey and need to get away from playing after Junior… and I think it has influenced me positively by avoiding "SFBDP's" now! I prefer to let the game be the best teacher!

I started to embraced the 'game mentality' in 2003 and as of 2008, fully made the transition to the 'game intelligence side'. When I coach a team again, I will be ensuring that each of my practices are competitive, accountable, and mainly involve games / situational play. No more SFBDP's for me! I want my players to learn the game implicitly, become coach INDEPENDENT and to have fun! (see my forum topic on Game Intelligence). If it ain't fun, it ain't play… it's work.

Now when I watch the Flames or any other NHL team practice, I bet I could write out 20 drills that are common to all; throw a blanket over the league (with a few minor tweaks here and there) and you see the same stuff all the time. (Isn't that the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing and expecting different results?) I have been watching NHL teams practice since 1998 and it's B-O-R-I-N-G! No scores kept; very little game-like competition, no accountability. I don't go very often to watch anymore, as I don't want to de-train my mind. I still watch a couple every year, so I still get a feel that things haven't evolved much at that level since I first went. (I am waiting to be surprised one day… but not holding my breath!) The hockey culture is so strongly established, especially at that level, that I will be surprised to see anyone with the balls to change it! Change = Fear.

I believe that all things being equal, if a team embraced my 'Game Intelligence' methodology (permanent competition and accountability) and practiced game-like situations, like Tom's games in his ABC's Book, that team would be a perennial playoff performer and become known as a dynasty.

I do agree with Tom that the university and college coaches seem to show more variety now as these people are more educated (products of the leagues they coach in – CIS or NCAA) and seem to be progressive thinkers – always trying to find an edge. College and University are a different bird than the pro game (less profile / pressure) and seem to be more conducive to progressive thinking. One of my friends (who has coached in the NHL for 12+years) told me last month, "My time in the NHL has 'dumbed' me down. My coaching hasn't improved… I have stagnated. I need to see the game through different eyes!"

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