Game Intelligence / Decision Training

[hockeygod]

Kai,

Thanks for posting! I was wondering if everybody else was 'frozen out' by the site? Or just busy before Christmas, so not replying to these posts?

1) "What did you (teacher) do when you quit worrying about controlling the drill with your whistle?"

I think I would stop focusing on when to whistle and on what the kids were doing?

YES! My teacher friend Rob said he quit worrying about 'managing' the 'drill' and instead, he focused on the specifics as to what / how the kids were doing. He interacted more with the kids; talking to them in line while they waited. He provided feedback and opened up the lines of communication. (Knowing Rob, it was explicit feedback / direction… I still have more work to do with him!… but nonetheless, this shows the kids he cares and helps build more rapport.)

As mentioned, before I told Rob to put away his whistle, I told the kids they would be starting the drill on their own; they needed to watch when the person ahead of them hit a certain point – then they themselves left. So they were responsible for managing their own drill.

2) "What did the kids do when you quit blowing your whistle? How did it affect the kids?"

Kids also would stop to focusing on the whistle, they would observe more what's going on when there is some visual mark to start?

YES! As mentioned, the kids now took responsibility as to when to start… by NOT having to listen to the Pavlovian whistle, this increased focus / intensity and forced the kids to keep their heads up… watching and waiting. They had to make the decision when to go! We remove the auditory cue so the kids had to rely on the visual! This is the foundation of creating heads-up play.

Kai, I am encouraged to hear you do less drills and more games. I agree – sometimes one does rely on the whistle, but if one can change their coaching so that this is minimized, the 'drills' / activities become inherently more valuable for the players (more focus, intensity, heads-up play, decision-making, etc) thus improving Game Intelligence!

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

[hockeygod]

The task / question over Christmas: As a coach, how do you deliver feedback to your players? What 'technique' do you employ?

Can you provide an example of what you see and how you follow up with your players?

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

[Tom Molloy]

I like the players to start drills on their own and only use the whistle to end an activity or to stop everyone if there seems to be confusion. I also like to have routines that the players know such as an edges and balance sequence we do at the start of most practices. The exercises are the same but sometimes with a puc and sometimes ending with a shot. I also have some passing sequences that run themselves and create lots of passing situations.

Games and transition games can also be learned as routines. The players use the same area of the ice with similar rules but the coach adds variations to work on details.

All of these routines free the coach to observe and interact with the players instead of being a traffic cop with a whistle.

It is important for coaches to stand in places where they can talk with players. i.e. at the end of the lineup on the boards in transiton games to make it easy to talk with the player when they are recovering and waiting for the next rep.

Questioning in the Guided Discovery style of teaching is a good method but not the only effective method. Sometimes Command Style when you show efficient technique is the best. Other times you just leave the players alone and allow the Game to Teach the Game through 'Tacit Learning.'

We all learn differently and coaches have to use many teaching styles to reach the maximum number of players.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'

[KevinC]

Since we're not at Christmas just yet and I wanted to weigh in on the philosophy question, I'd like to share something I put together for my coaching portfolio.

Some background first, I only coached as an assistant for one season for a first-year ACHA program, but have been around the game and sports most of my life first playing them growing up and now as a sportswriter covering pro and college sports although I really want to get back to coaching.. I like to say "The game doesn't need me, but I need the game." Going to the rink or the ballpark everyday is nice and all, but I still feel so removed from the emotions of being a part of the team and making a difference to the players. Even with college kids it was great seeing the confidence and development from September to the end of the season.

So without further adieu…

My coaching philosophy begins with people. Marc Crawford once said that a coach coaches in one of two ways: The way that he was coached, or the way that he wanted to be coached. I’ve played and worked with enough coaches to realize that my style is based on a little bit of both.

I want to create a “family” atmosphere within the team. In creating this atmosphere it gives the players and staff a stake in the success. It is through communication and empowerment that everyone feels like a part of the team. By “keeping them out of the loop” they start to feel alienated and stop seeking to achieve the goals of the team.

This also creates trust within in the team. The players trust the coach; the coach trusts the players; the players trust each other. This to me is the fundamental part of bringing a team together. So much so, that I believe the term team building is a bit of a misnomer, I prefer the term trust building.

I also believe that a coach is nothing more than a teacher. At this level, it is a matter of teaching players how to be successful both in hockey and in life.

On the ice

I believe in a disciplined aggressiveness. Defensively we challenge the opponent all the way up the ice. Make the other team make a mistake in its defensive end so we can capitalize on the offensive end. Offensively, a lot depends on the talent. With a big strong team, the goal should be to get the puck down low and use size to advantage. With a smaller, quicker team, use that to our advantage by using speed and skill to quickly bring the puck up the ice to generate offense. I will go into further detail in Section 3: Systems.

Off the ice
I’m a big believer in communication. Today’s athlete doesn’t do something just because a coach or manager says so. It is important to get the point across on why something must happen, not just that it must. I create an open environment for the players to talk about anything and everything whether it involves hockey or not.

In addition, I believe in extensive use of video however not to the point of overkill. At the professional and college level with practice time limited by the volume of games as well as the travel, I feel that video is one of the best teaching methods available if used judiciously with the players. I also use the video to grade each player after every game.

I break the season up into smaller game segments after which I meet with every player to discuss his play over this stretch. With the grading system and video, it is easy to point to a game or games and point out what was working or not with a particular player or line. If an issue needs to be addressed immediately, it will be whether or not it is the end of a segment.

Also, I maintain an open door policy for the players with myself and the staff. I know some may be reluctant to discuss things with the head coach, which is why it is important for the assistant coach/coaches to also be available to the players. I also subscribe to the theory of having a “leadership group” and try to meet with them at least every other week to go over any concerns they may have and get their input.

It would be foolhardy to think that all players must be treated the same way. But what I have developed is the TEAM=GOAL concept. TEAM=GOAL stands for Trust, Execution, Accountability and Motivation equals a Greater Overall Achievement Level. If the players can put out the four variables it will lead to achieving the goals of the team. It essentially is getting the players to commit to a total team effort.

[Tom Molloy]

Kevin, it sounds like a good template for a season plan. You have a lot of communication and that is always good.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'

[hockeygod]

Kevin,

I am glad you have been doing your homework and posted this! It is good for all of us to revisit our philosophies – at least annually if not more often! I try to re-read mine at least every month – sometimes more often than that. I find in tough times, it helps me re-affirm why I am doing what I do… and it helps get me through challenges.

Regarding video: keep it short – under 10 minutes at most. Kids are wired differently these days. If you only provide a couple of clips in total, that is fine!

Love your acronym: TEAM=GOAL! Well done! Stay principled and honour the spirit of the game!

I will second Tom's comments: communication is a critical link with your players. I have said it before and I will say it again – "They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

Again, well done!

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

[hockeygod]

John and I did a dryland Game Intelligence session for my BVHS today. We were expecting 34 kids, but as it was the last day of school, we ended up with 15 able-bodied and a couple with injuries. So we had to modify our plan. We had 50 minutes to play three games: One End Zone; End to End; Team Scoring Tournament (3 vs 3 with 5 teams). The last two games focus on the successful, strategic application of transition through the use of support. It went well, but we wished we would have had more kids as we wanted to run the Time Machine – but we need at least 18 kids for that!

We had Theresa Maxwell and her husband, Don, out to watch and provide us with feedback. Theresa is a retired U of Calgary Kinesiology professor who heavily promoted Teaching Games for Understanding during her teaching tenure and her husband taught public school, coached football (among other sports) and oversaw the Calgary High School Athletic System for both public and Catholic Boards. Another coach I have evaluated and mentored (now coaching Junior B in BC) came to watch and to gain further insights on our Game Intelligence methodology.

We discussed the session for a couple of hours afterward and learned a lot from Theresa and Don. I took four pages of notes; as did John! We learned a lot of ways to further fine-tune our approach! Theresa and Don have over 50 years of teaching and coaching experience EACH; one can't help but learn from such wonderful mentors! Thanks to both of them for coming out to watch and share their insights… boy was it a privilege!

I will be meeting with my Junior B coach after Christmas as a followup to today's session and to discuss any planning concerns he may have for the last third of his season. Should be fun!

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

[hockeygod]

I met with a Junior B coach from BC this morning. We discussed how to get volunteer board members to work well together (leadership through influence) and how to best structure the board. We discussed how it takes time to change the culture of a program at the bottom and how patience and 'keeping the big picture in mind' are important. Educating the board members that winning isn't the only measure of success – even at the Junior B level – it must take into account academics, citizenship, individual player development (graduating to the next level) probably even moreson than winning. If you can achieve high marks in all of these, you have a strong process (a good program) and you will probably 'see' a successful outcome (winning). We talked about how important it is as a coach / GM to carry oneself with high morals and ethics because this will allow one to look in the mirror at the end of each day… keep your personal values intact and do what is right for the team. We didn't have time to get into player development, but I hope I will get the chance to go watch / run a practice in January for him. (We wanted to follow up on the TGfU session last week and will do so in the future.)

Following that, I met with one of the A/C's from Slovakia. I went and watched their practice (and saw the end of the Russian's and the Swedes) but we really talked about the game itself; the challenges surrounding development in both our countries, as well as in other countries.

We also talked about coaching methodologies and how we can improve the education of coaches with mentorship and ongoing clinics – rather than merely providing them with an academic weekend seminar to achieve certification and then 'throw them to the wolves'. We both agreed that we need to do a better job of supporting the coaches AFTER the initial clinics AND we should ensure we provide lots of useful material (delivered in a meaningful / practical way) during the seminar. Right now, we see lots of room for improvement in these areas – all across the globe!

We talked about the concussion issue – how we think fighting will be gome in 5-10 years (due to heavy penalties and suspensions) and perhaps changing the men's / boys body contact rules to mirror that of the women – no head-on or open ice hitting; only angling and finishing along the boards – to allow the "pure skills" to be displayed.

Skill-wise, it was neat to see the Slovaks off-ice warmup prior to and after the practice. (And the Swiss, Russians, etc.!) They all used a soccer ball (or rubber ball) to juggle and pass with their feet and heads. They did lots of individual stick and ball warmups too.

The hand-eye coordination of these young players is amazing. Thanks to the preponderance of online media (YouTube, etc.) and more emphasis on skills in today's game (plus more skill academies), I saw lots of creative stuff! Rob Cookson, longtime NHL coach remarked to me that these are "YouTube Tricks" and not applicable in the game. I respectively disagreed; if a kid can perform stuff like this, he has shown that not only does he have the 'stick-to-it-ness' to work towards a goal and improve his eye-hand coordination, but he shows that he can imitate and or create moves… highly important in the game today where 45% comes down to winning the 1 vs 1 battles (one of the most overlooked components of the game, IMO)!

I saw a Slovak pick up the puck on his forehand, flip the puck AND HIS STICK up into the air, catch the stick so he was "shooting" with the oppoosite hand, then catch the puck with his flat blade… it fell off, but WOW! I also so many kids imitating Ryan Ellis from when he was playing in Windsor (OHL) – a TSN clip prior to the World Junior game showed him keeping the puck balanced ON THE BUTT OF HIS STICK while he whipped it around in the air (also on YouTube)!

I will try to see more international teams practice and play this coming week…

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

[hockeygod]

European vs North American training and player development:

Interesting comment from the Slovak perspective: the handful of kids who left Slovakia to play Major Junior in North America, although the most skilled on the Slovak junior team, their fitness level as a group has decreased since they left. They have lost muscle mass (and weight) and appear to be struggling with nutrition. They are weaker than when they were at home.

Suggestions / possible reasons for this: At home, the Slovaks train intensively on and off-ice with a very taxing (but scientifically periodized) training program. They are on the ice several times per week (sometimes twice per day) as well as doing one to two dryland sessions per day. They typically play two games per week and still manage to schedule rest periods into their training blocks. These kids play against professional men; so strength, size and smarts are taxed to a high level every game!

In NA, they typically practice once per day (sometimes will have an extra session, but it is rare) and the off-ice is only formally done a couple of times per week. They usually play three games per week and have a brutal travel schedule (unlike the Slovak home schedule.) Games are against their age group peers.

In a perfect world, none of the Slovak kids would leave home for Major Junior – they would all stay home and train together (at least till they are 19-20 years old.)

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

[hockeygod]

2011 World Sport School Challenge – Team Finland

I watched two games today – Shattuck St. Mary's beat the Slovak National U17 team; and the Finland National U17 team hammered the hometown Edge Prep AAA team.

The Finns were AMAZING! I plan to go watch them play Shattuck tommorow for the Gold Medal. They put on an absolute CLINIC! Their essential skillset, combined with their creative, free-wheeling heads up play epitomized intelligent hockey!

You really need to see these Finns play. This was the best display of hockey I have ever seen IN MY LIFE; AT ANY LEVEL. This is the zen moment that I hope to one day achieve; to be behind the bench watching my kids completely dismantle an opponent with amazing heads-up, intelligent, skilled play!

It is 'the perfect model' of what I believe hockey should look like… independent problem-solverss (coaches free to enjoy the best seats in the house!), kids moving into holes, at the right times (multiple options), highly skilled, deceptive skills, change of pace, 1 v 1 confidence and ability… this from a pure 1995 team (with one 1996 – #29!) against a team of primarily 1994's and a few 1995's! WOW! Shattuck has three 1993's and a lot of 1994's; so it will be a size and strength battle… but even though the Finns were small in stature (and weight), their skating ability, balance and acceleration (not too mention vision!) made the "David's" outplay the "Goliath's"!

You might be able to watch it online. Not sure about a fee… but DAMN, if you can somehow buy the DVD from the Fin / Edge game, I recommend it!

http://hockeycanada.fasthockey.com/login.php

Here is the article:

—–

December 30, 2011
NR.177

FINLAND, SHATTUCK-ST. MARY’S TO PLAY FOR GOLD MEDAL AT 2011 WORLD SPORT SCHOOL CHALLENGE

CALGARY, Alta. – After posting semifinal wins Friday, Finland’s national under-17 team and Shattuck-St. Mary’s School will meet in the gold medal game at the inaugural World Sport School Challenge on Saturday night at the WinSport Canada Athletic & Ice Complex.

The game can be seen live via webcast at hockeycanada.fasthockey.com beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

Finland knocked off the Edge School for Athletes (Calgary, Alta.) 13-2 in Friday’s late semifinal, while Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Faribault, Minn.) beat Slovakia’s national under-17 team 7-5 in the early game.

The Finns finished on top of the preliminary round with a perfect 3-0 record, including wins over Pursuit of Excellence (8-1), Okanagan Hockey Academy (11-1) and Shattuck-St. Mary’s (4-3), while Shattuck was fourth at 1-2, with a win over Slovakia (9-3) sandwiched around losses to Okanagan Hockey Academy (7-5) and Finland.

In Friday’s first semifinal, Shattuck-St. Mary’s got goals from seven different players to help earn its second win over Slovakia in as many chances. John Draeger, Jake Montgomery, Zach Stepan, Tyler Vesel, Noah Henry, Hunter Fejes and Carter Lukenda all scored the Sabres, who used four unanswered goals in the second period to open up a 7-3 lead through 40 minutes. Fejes finished with a goal and two assists, while Stepan, Vesel and Henry each had a goal and a helper.

In the late game, Jonatan Tanus, Jusso Ikonen and Jimi Kuronen had four points apiece as the Finns routed the Calgary-based Edge School. Kuronen scored all of his goals in a span of 7:38 of the third period to put the finishing touches on a performance that saw Finland score six times on the power play and outshoot the Edge School 53-19. The Finns had 10 players recorded at least two points in the victory.

The Edge School and Slovakia will meet in Saturday’s bronze medal game at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT. That game can also be seen live via webcast at hockeycanada.fasthockey.com.

Earlier Friday, Matt Saharchuk scored the game-winning goal with 8:11 to go as Pursuit of Excellence (Kelowna, B.C.) beat Okanagan Hockey Academy (Penticton, B.C.) 4-3 to earn fifth place in an all-British Columbia match-up.

The World Sport School Challenge was developed in line with a commitment made by Hockey Canada’s officers and branches, “to service sport schools and create a positive and flexible infrastructure that meets the needs of this Hockey Canada customer.” This is one of six priorities of focus the organization committed to earlier this year.

Across the country, Hockey Canada currently endorses about 10 sport schools, which have formal partnerships with educational institutions with the aim to enhance learning opportunities for students while also developing their hockey skills.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Please contact Kevin Bathurst, manager of school programs for Hockey Canada, at kbathurst@hockeycanada.ca or (403) 710-2203 for any interview requests.

For more information about the 2011 World Sport School Challenge, follow along via social media at http://www.Twitter.com/WSSChallenge and http://www.Facebook.com/WSSChallenge, and please visit http://www.HockeyCanada.ca/WSSC.

For more information: Kevin Bathurst Manager, School Programs

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

[Tom Molloy]

Dean, when I was coaching for the Red Bulls U17 team we had 45 trainings a month. This included 4-5 team practices M-F and skill practices t-Th morning. They had 3 off ice sessions M-W-F and a skating treadmill session two games a week; sometimes F-Sat and sometimes Sat-Sun. They usually got Sunday off. The skill sessions were done with the U20 team and the Russian Jursinov came one week per month to work with them. The two pro teams had similar training but the games for the top team were Sun.-T-F, so their skill sessions were M-W morning.

So there is much more emphasis on skill development and core fitness.

When I was in Jihlava, Czech Republic they had a similar training schedule but the biggest difference was that the youth coaches were ALL former players who had great technique and they passed that on to the youth.

When talking with Slava Lener, the head of Czech Hockey, he told me that Czechoslovakia used to have 80 000 players. Now the two countries of Czech Republic and Slovakia only have a total of 32 000 youth hockey players. Compare that to about 500 000 for each of Canada and the USA and you can see that to be competitive they have to do a great job in player development.

Here in Calgary we have the same amount of AA and AAA teams as when the city had 300 000 instead of a million people. They try out for the quadrants at 13 and if they don't make it many quit. Attrition is 80% by the age of 14. In Europe they can't afford to cut players because they are not early maturers of born the first three months of the year. They try to keep everyone playing and train them to be skilled then wait for them to grow.

A school like the Edge should be able to match the skill development because they have two arenas and a field house to train the players.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'

[hockeygod]

Tom,

The Euros do it right! I would love to be a part of an organization, like Red Bull, that understands the correct blend of the art and science of coaching!

After speaking with the Slovaks about their training schedule vs. that which is predominant in North American junior hockey culture, and doing some introspection, it is obvious that we have a long way to go to improve to their level.

I agree that we in Canada and the US are 'getting away with quantity over quality' – based on our respective hockey enrollment numbers – when compared to Europe.

It would be nice to see North American sport schools, where they might have a little more input into steering the curriculum and schedule, shift to a more European-based training style and schedule. I would include the Edge school in that comment.

After seeing the Finns play yesterday (I can hardly wait for the game today!), I want to go to Finland to learn more about their way of training. I want to see it with my own eyes! Tom, if there is a chance to meet your Finnish friends while coaching the World Juniors, I would love to have that opportunity!

Kai – same goes for you. I would love to hear more about your philosophy of coaching / training and how things are done in Finland. Do you know any of the kids or coaches with this World Sport School Championship? I would love to watch them train… their off-ice warmup yesterday was outstanding. Not the typical mindless crap we do over here… lots of nervous system warmup, ABC's, reaction games, etc. I might try to record it today…

Maybe if I can get over to the TGfU conference north of London (UK) the second week in July, I can make a detour to Finland. Don't think I can attend the IIHF conference this year in Sweden / Finland… it is always poor timing for me as we are comitted to visiting relatives in Spokane. Not that I wouldn't want to go as I would always learn a few things, but I really don't want to sort through a ton of the 'usual hockey drivel from the tired old establishment' for only a few nuggets of gold… I don't give two sh1ts about the PP or PK systems or blah blah blah… I have enough binders and 'drills' of all that 'old crap'… I want to learn "more important things" (at least in my mind) about teaching methodologies, interpersonal communication (be the "ignitor of athletes") and the art / science of coaching. I don't need any more X's or O's to be successful. Keep the game simple and fun, relax, teach life lessons – be the best coach I can be and focus on the things that matter (the people in the game!)

Rant over….!

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

[hockeygod]

Kai,

Thanks for the powerpoint "Conditioning training of hockey juniors" by Harri Hakkarainen, MD, MSc ( Sport Science) – delivered at the 2010 World Championships.

Lots of excellent points… speaks to the wonderful off-ice warmup Finland (and several other European countries) were using… A 'must read' for other coaches… hopefully you can see this is a long-term process that starts early!

Attachments

• 2010 IIHF Coaching Symposium – Conditioning Training of Hockey Jrs – Hakkarainen.pdf (530 KB)

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

[hockeygod]

Shattuck beat Finland for the gold medal… but it was a good game…

Shattuck-St. Mary's 5 – Finland 3

RASKOB’S NATURAL HAT TRICK LEADS SHATTUCK TO INAUGURAL WSSC GOLD

CALGARY, Alta. – Willie Raskob’s natural hat trick turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead and Shattuck-St. Mary’s scored three times on the power play as it won the inaugural gold medal at the World Sport School Challenge with a 5-3 win over Finland.

The loss was the first for the Finns, who had entered with a perfect 4-0 record – including a win over Shattuck – and had outscored its opposition 36-7.

After a tight-checking opening half of the first period it was the Finns who hit the scoreboard first just shy of the 13-minute mark, as Jimi Kuronen converted a power play opportunity for the Scandinavians.

But Shattuck pulled even on a power play of its own, with Raskob beating netminder Ville Husso with just 18 seconds to go in the opening 20 minutes.

Raskob continued to wield a hot stick early in the second, giving Shattuck its first lead just 39 seconds into the period, and completed his natural hat trick at 9:56 on another power play.

Zach Stepan made it a three-goal game just 60 seconds later, chasing Husso from the Finnish net.

The Finns got to within two late in the second period thanks to a beautiful individual effort by Artturi Lehkonen, and made it a one-goal game less than four minutes into the third, again off the stick of Lehkonen.

But that would be as close as the Scandinavians would get, as Hunter Fejes scored into an empty net with 58 seconds left to clinch it for Shattuck, which will take the gold medal south of the border to Faribault, Minn.

Goals/Penalties
First Period
Goals:
12:50 FIN 2 Jimi Kuronen (18 Aleksi Ainali, 9 Jonatan Tanus) PP
19:42 SSM 22 Willie Raskob (14 Tyler Vesel, 15 Zach Stepan) PP

Penalties:
11:54 SSM 19 Carter Lukenda (Tripping)
15:02 FIN 9 Jonatan Tanus (Interference)
17:56 FIN 4 Mikke Levo (Checking to the Head)
19:24 FIN 3 Alex Lintuniemi (Checking to the Head)
19:24 SSM 20 Ryan Schwalbe (Slashing)
Second Period
Goals:
00:39 SSM 22 Willie Raskob (14 Tyler Vesel, 15 Zach Stepan) PP
09:56 SSM 22 Willie Raskob (14 Tyler Vesel, 2 John Draeger) PP
10:56 SSM 15 Zach Stepan (17 Max Becker, 2 John Draeger) PP
17:51 FIN 12 Artturi Lehkonen (9 Jonatan Tanus) PP

Penalties:
09:29 FIN 9 Jonatan Tanus (Checking to the Head)
10:30 FIN 4 Mikke Levo (Checking to the Head)
11:09 FIN 4 Mikke Levo (Hooking)
12:58 SSM 4 Noah Henry (Hooking)
17:02 SSM 3 Matt McArdie (Checking to the Head)
18:47 SSM 2 John Draeger (Closing Hand on Puck)
Third Period
Goals:
03:39 FIN 12 Artturi Lehkonen (14 Jusso Ikonen)
19:02 SSM 18 Hunter Fejes EN

Penalties:
10:51 SSM 22 Willie Raskob (Spearing)

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

[hockeygod]

An excerpt from "Defining skill variables between U16 national team and non- national team ice hockey players" by Ilkka Haapea
Bachelor`s Thesis – Degree Programme in Sport and Leisure Management, 2011

Several key points in here…!

I have posted the full study under the "Player Traits – What do you look for when choosing a player?" thread.

—–

"Also Hämäläinen prompts coaches to demand more from the players. If there is a skilled age group in a junior organization, invariably there is also demanding coach behind the players.

If players are guided and developed towards international ice hockey, coach has to place players into situation where they must perform at the limits of his or her skills. According to Hämäläinen (14.03.2011) high level games are the best coach for developing junior.

During high level games player must perform and use the abilities of versatile movements and the player has to use the motoric programs of open motor skills.

Through high level games player will also improve fast decision making skills in game situation that is required by Westerlund (1997, 536).

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

[Author]

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