Reply To: Transition Games Videos

[hockeygod]

Tom,

Thanks for your kind words. One of the Flames coaching staff called me tonight to share his insights after watching practice today. He too liked the content and tempo of practice as we got lots of reps for many players. We will sit down after the rookie camp in Penticton to go over my drills and games as the staff wants to incorporate some of them into their yearly practice plans.

We had more NHL players today (a total of 25 skaters and 3 goalies – some of these are AHL'ers and a few NHL'ers from other teams), so the pace and skill level was even better. I had to adjust on the fly as they wanted more drills (less games?) and we had more bodies to deal with. I focused on puck control while transition skating – we ran a sequence from the four bluelines as warmup / skill drills, then went to some more full-ice 2 on 0's, 2 on 1's, 3 on 3's which all incorporated transition skating. John Castrillon (a National Level soccer coach who I work with) ran some of our competitive Smart Transitional Games at the end for about 15 minutes; then we ran a 4 on 4 full-ice scrimmage with 45 second shifts. The pace was the highest it has been since we started two weeks ago.

Unfortunately, the players want more "old-school drills" as opposed to the stuff you and I went over after practice yesterday… but I am ready to unleash it on them if I sense an opportunity (realistically at next years Summer Development Camp. I forgot how structured the pro's minds are after not working with them since 2003!) I am hoping to also run our off-ice games for the players to teach them (and the coaching staff) the 'right way' to coach…!!!!

Regards,

Dean

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