Game Intelligence / Decision Training

[Tom Molloy]

Dean, I agree that the NHL practices could be a lot better. They are very command style and lack game situation; especially transition games where the play continues naturally and no whistle is needed to go from one 2-1 to the next 2-1 (or any situation you want)

The Red Bull pro teams had 45 trainings a month which included team practices, games, skill practices, recovery sessions and off ice training including skating treadmill. They monitored the players energy level by taking blood samples from their ear lobe as they road the exercise bike and had a machine righ there to measure lactic acid levels. So Page has periodization built into the yearly plan and many other European teams do as well.

I don't know what Pittsburg does but the video clips I see of Crosby working on his skills and the quick pace of their practices makes it appear that they practice at a higher pace and with more purpose than other teams.

Middlebury has been winning the Div. 3 NCAA for years and Bill Beaney uses game situations almost exclusively. (I think he is still there)

The whole purpose of this site is to change coaches mindset on how to run effective and productive practices that are Game Centred and follow the ABC's. Everything starts with the Game and goes back to the Game.

A-skating and individual skills.
B-partner skills.
C-Game situations
D-Games for skill and game situation with competition.
DT-Transition games that isolate varying game situations.
E-Shootouts and contests.
F-skating and skills done at full speed.
G-goalie skills

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

[Filip Petrovic]

Thank you for the positive feedback!

Just a brief info on Serbian hockey. We have a lots of talented kids, who actually love hockey. The problem is the lack of infrastructue, only 3 rinks in Serbia, plus there is only 1 professional team in the country. I could say that the situation with U10 kids is the best part of the hockey story in our country.

As for your comments and suggestions, I do use the majority of these SAGs and drills, 1vs.1, 2vs2, 3vs3, 2vs1 (coach included as a pass option only), 1vs2, etc… games with pucks, balls, outdoor hockey ball…the problem is that I have no assist coach for the majority of the practices. In the last couple of weeks I have one new guy, former player, very young and willing to provide assistance, so life is now much easier. He mainly works with goalies for the start, but he also helps me when we do individual skills and any other drill that includes shooting, since it keeps the goalie occupied.

We only have one month left before the season ends so this is the last week when my team will practice using schedule I already described to you (monday – skating, tuesday-puck skills, thursday – this thursday, edge control (without/with puck) + 4 zone SAGs, friday – passing + game-like drills + 3vs3)

This Monday we had power skating session for 55', plus some relay race at the end of the practice. I mainly use the same pattern every time (A2 formation, 4 lines) + plus I tend to add some new move every time. The problem with majority of older hockey players in Serbia is actually skating so we now tend to change the approach to ice skating, and I will try to bring one very good figure skating female coach to our team next season, at least once in a month.

On Tuesday we had puck control drills, nervous system overload with two pucks first (skates only, skates and stick, stick only), then Russian big moves for almost 30', including Yursinov's fake shot move drill. These are 9 year old kids, but 2-3 out of 15 actually managed to adopt entire move. The rest of them had fun trying to get there, and they did, each of them according to his talent. After we practiced 1-0 down the entire ice length, using pillons as obstacles to practice this move, and finally cross-ice 3vs3 scrimmage .

As I already said, Thursday will be 4 Zones practice, mainly edge control without puck (using sticks to practice it) and with puck + shooting, and SAGs in these 4 Zones (each zone different game) + 3vs3 scrimmage in the end.

Friday we gonna have passing drills, stationary + in the move (2vsgoalie) and game like-drills 1vs1, 1vs2,1vs2 + coach as a pass option + 3vs3 with coach as a pass option

I apologize for the length of the post, but I find your comments very helpfull, so looking forward for new ones.

Filip

[Tom Molloy]

Filip, your practices sound good. I will give you a few ideas you could add.

You already play SAG's but now include skill rules for how many passes, how long with the puck, type of passes (only forehand, only backhand), 3 hard strides before passing, only give and go, you must make an escape move, etc. You can also play games with skating rules, i.e. only backward, only slalom, one leg etc.

Incorporate transition games in the SAG's (lots in the video section here). Include Jokers in the games (seach Dukla and there are many examples of games with Jokers that I used there with similar ages in SAG's.

I started about 60% of our practices this season with A2 (no puck) or A200 balance and edge control (video examples in the video section) and my players really improved to the point they all could god forward and backward on one lege while carrying the puck.

Do the skills but always follow with competition in keepaway, SAG, full ice game, etc. and have tournaments in practice as well.

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

[hockeygod]

Meaningful meeting

Ian Mendes, Sportsnet.ca, April 2, 2012

When they clinched a playoff spot on Sunday afternoon in Long Island, most experts were quick to highlight the Senators’ players-only meeting back in October as a significant turning point of the season.

After losing a 7-2 game on home ice to the Philadelphia Flyers on October 18, the Senators were dead last in the NHL, having picked up just one victory in six games. The players had an extended meeting and turned things around, reeling off a six-game winning streak immediately thereafter.

But just ten days ago, there was another meeting that was equally important to the team making the playoffs this spring.

The Senators team bus pulled back into Scotiabank Place around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday March 24, after a humiliating 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens the night before. The players exited the bus as a mentally fragile and defeated group, having lost three consecutive games and culminating with a lackluster performance at the Bell Centre.

About nine hours later, the club's three captains – Daniel Alfredsson and alternates Jason Spezza and Chris Phillips – were huddled inside the coach's office for an extended meeting with Paul MacLean. The leadership group was trying to break the team out of an extended malaise, which had seen them score only three goals in three games. Qualifying for the post-season – which seemed like a foregone conclusion in early March – was now in serious jeopardy.

"That was one of those moments where we just wanted to discuss what was going on with Mac. Not hitting the panic button was the big message," said Spezza.

While the players and coach were frustrated, the meeting was characterized as calm, productive and extremely positive. The coaching staff did not prepare a video tape highlighting the club's miscues during the losing streak. Instead, it was an open discussion between the club's leadership and the head coach.

"There was no video at all; it was just us talking straight. What he sees, what we see and what we need to do better," said Spezza.

"That's pretty accurate – it wasn't a meeting to blow things up. It was more about confidence," added Phillips. "At that point, we had seven games left and we said we'd look at that like a playoff series. If we could win four of those seven, we could put ourselves in a really good position."

The team's captains have met with MacLean on a semi-regular basis this season, with about a half-dozen meetings sprinkled throughout the past seven months. But this meeting had a different tone, considering the Senators were on the verge of imploding and falling out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. There was a sense of urgency to this gathering, yet the Senators had to figure out how to avoid falling into a mindset where panic was a dominant force.

"Coach mentioned that we were playing a little bit too cautious – like we were happy to just be hanging around games instead of going out and initiating. Stay positive and be more aggressive – I think that was the message," said Alfredsson. "It's do or die right now. We can't wait for anything to happen."

After wrapping up the meeting with his leadership group, MacLean addressed the whole team prior to the game that night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. According to Alfredsson, the club "rallied" around MacLean's pre-game speech and it was the catalyst for a convincing 8-4 victory over the Penguins.

It's interesting to note that the three players who attended the morning meeting – Alfredsson, Spezza and Phillips – all scored goals that night against the Penguins. The trio tried to dismiss the connection between the meeting and their subsequent production that night, but it's clear that the Senators veterans took a stranglehold on the team that day.

"I think we all took on added responsibility, especially after what happened the night before. We just knew had to bring our best effort," said Alfredsson, who scored five goals in the three games after the meeting.

Jason Spezza has responded with some of his best offensive work in the past week, also picking up five points in the three games after the meeting. In addition to scoring goals against the Penguins and Flyers, he added three assists – including a highlight reel helper on a Kyle Turris goal – in Winnipeg on Monday night. Ironically, both Spezza and Alfredsson missed Sunday's playoff-clinching victory at Long Island, but at that point, the club was back on the rails. The feeling of confidence had returned to the entire group, including goaltender Craig Anderson, who has been brilliant since a tough return at the Bell Centre.

As Phillips pointed out, the club tried to look at the final seven games of the regular season as a playoff series. If that was the case, the Senators would have pulled off a clean sweep, winning in four straight games. Even more impressive is the fact that the offence produced 23 goals in those four games and the tentative play that MacLean talked about is now a distant memory.

While the Senators were pegged at the start of the season as a young team in rebuild mode, it's clear that their success rests in the hands of the veteran players Bryan Murray decided to keep after last season's house cleaning.

"We all wanted to step up," said Phillips, who scored a power play goal that night against the Penguins. "We've said this all year long: You can talk all you want and say all the right things – but for us – it's about going out and leading by example."

—–

Part of Game Intelligence Training is to make the players independent of the coach – train them to recognize the situation and make sound decisions on their own (on and off ice). This Captain's Group seems to have strong leadership and a head coach willing to communicate with them. In a strong team, the Core Covenants (values / actions) are determined by the players (guided by the coach) and then the coach helps hold the players accountable to their commitments. It is a partnership. Knowing this, it will be interesting to follow Ottawa to see how they do moving forward.

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

[hockeygod]

Just found this program for those who might be interested in learning more about the TGfU approach… much of this methodology has been adapted by John and I into our Game Intelligence Training pedagogy!

Teaching Games for Understanding 2012 Summer Institute

The TGfU Summer Institute has been designed to provide teachers with an integrated approach toward curriculum planning and instruction by utilizing principles of kinesthetic learning and concepts of movement education. We will deal with a wide range of curriculum-related topics and issues including:

Examining research in the development of physical literacy and a developmental approach
Analyzing the social, economic, and political forces affecting the physical education curriculum
Exploring the historical roots of the PETE curriculum field
Examining current issues in physical education and curriculum studies
Investigating curriculum constructs and their impact on learner ability

Program Description

This 5-day institute will include the examination and implementation of instructional models such as Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU), Sport Education, and Personal and Social Responsibility. We will also explore links to the National Canadian Sports Centre, which has recently adopted a new long term Athlete Development Plan (LTAD). The LTAD encourages the development of skills across a number of different sports and games and, much like TGfU, encourages a developmental approach (rather than chronological age) to fostering skill development and tactical awareness. This course will also provide an opportunity to debate how physical education might be interpreted from critical perspectives, and raises questions about what forms of discourse have been dominant and have influenced practice in PE for the last fifty years. This will raise some of the complex, interrelated, social, political and environmental perspectives that influence the field of physical education today.

It is an assumption in this course that as an educator you must play a role in making decisions that best facilitate optimal educational experiences and growth for your students. To do this, an educator must be committed to a process of researching and discovering what knowledge is, debating what knowledge is valuable and determining why it is valuable, and sharing our own wealth of experiences and practices.

-Instructors

Dr. Joy ButlerDr. Joy Butler, UBC Faculty of Education

Dr. Joy Butler is an associate professor and Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) Coordinator in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British Columbia and just completed a 3-year term as the department undergraduate coordinator. Her research interests include curriculum innovations, teacher education, TGfU, democracy in action and ethics in sport. Born in the United Kingdom, Dr. Butler taught secondary school Physical Education there for ten years, as well as well coaching basketball teams to national finals level.

Dr. Jamie MandigoDr. Jamie Mandigo, Brock University

Associate Professor, Dept. of Physical Education & Kinesiology. Jamie's research interests include children's motivation in physical activity; developmentally appropriate physical activities; Active Schools, Teaching Games for Understanding.

Location

UBC Vancouver
Forest Sciences Centre – Room 1003 (FSC1003)
2424 Main Mall (map)

-Registration

EDCP 530/96A – Curriculum Innovations in Physical Education (3)

Contact Tracey Pappas to register in this section

EDCP 467D/96A – Special Topics in Curriculum and Pedagogy (3)

Register through the Student Service Centre in this section

Apply to UBC

All non-UBC students wishing to take the course must first be admitted to the UBC Faculty of Education. For admission, visit the Teacher Education Office or contact Maureen Shepherd. Download the application form here.

http://teach.educ.ubc.ca/admissions/forms/Dipl-ProDev-Uncl-Visitor-Application-2012.pdf

-Tuition & Fees

Unclassified Students – $460.83
Visiting Graduate Students – $1,085.55

The Western Deans' agreement does not apply to this institute program.

Tuition fees are subject to review by The University of British Columbia.

Tuition Fee Certificate – please note that you can use your Tuition Fee Certificate for this program, contact our office for more information (604-822-2013, eplt.educ@ubc.ca).

http://eplt.educ.ubc.ca/events/teaching-games-understanding

Program Summary

Start Date: Jul 3, 2012
End Date: Jul 7, 2012
Time: 8:30am-4:30pm
Registration Deadline: Jun 1, 2012
Department: Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP)

Contacts

Dr. Joy Butler, Program Advisor
Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy
604-822-4974
joy.butler@ubc.ca

Jo-Anne Chilton, Senior Program Assistant
External Programs & Learning Technologies (EPLT)
604-822-3999 or toll-free 1-888-492-1122
joanne.chilton@ubc.ca

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

[hockeygod]

Islanders plunge into minor-pro hockey post-season

CLEVE DHEENSAW, Victoria Times Colonist.com, April 7, 2012

As the minor-pro hockey season turns the page to the final chapter, several Islanders are either readying for or already playing in the post-season. Others are contemplating why their team couldn't get there…

But the story of the year was Aces forward Wes Goldie becoming the minor-pro Guyle Fielder of his generation as the all-time leading goal-scorer in ECHL history. He notched his 369th goal on March 23 in Ontario, California, surpassing Rod Taylor's record of 368.

Of Goldie's golden goal glory, 175 came during four blazing seasons with the ECHL's Victoria Salmon Kings.

"It's an unbelievable accomplishment, and we're all happy for him," said Nunn, a graduate of the Racquet Club of Victoria and the junior Vancouver Giants and Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL.

"Wes is not necessarily a fast player, but he has this uncanny ability to score goals. He finds those holes on the ice where the defencemen aren't. You can't teach that sense. Not many players have it. And anywhere around or below the face-off circle, Wes has that knack with his lethal shot of finding where the goalie isn't."

—–

I used to think the same thing this player thought about 12 years ago, but I have since changed my tune. YOU CAN TEACH / LEARN HOCKEY SENSE / GAME AWARENESS THROUGH THE PROPER TRAINING!

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

[RedWingFan]

I really enjoy following the paths of players in the CHL and USHL. One of the things that fascinates me most about following the next up and coming players (16 to 22), are the differences in progression that each player makes. (ie. A player considered the 5th or 6th (or even lower) best defensemen in the bantam draft, turns into a top 3 overall prospect for the NHL draft, a short 2 to 3 years later.
A couple months ago, while watching college hockey, one of the players highlighted during intermission was a young 18 year old forward. The thing that stuck out to me was that the head coach, team captain and the assistant coach all three talked about how quickly he improved from the first game to the current games.
What are everyone’s thoughts on the reasoning behind a kid who seems to improve in leaps and bounds every week and a same aged kid who’s improvement isn’t close to being as quick nor impactful?
(Some of my thoughts… I think kids who have sporting backgrounds that are many layers thick are at an advantage with quick/deep improvements. But I know a couple kids who only play hockey who improve in huge leaps every time I see them. Also, it seems in my experience, that more cerebral players do these huge leaps in development more so than non. Just my observation but seems to be.)

[hockeygod]

RWF,

Great topics for discussion!

Personally, I feel it comes down to individual differences and the opportunities the various programs provide.

Just like the LTAD model suggests, if a 'motivated' person gets the 'right' coaching at the 'best' time, maximal changes will occur. Change can still occur if all these factors aren't aligned, but to a lesser extent.

Your bantam draft comment: I have seen many top picks get dropped out of the league and have middling careers. I have seen kids NOT drafted become NHL all-stars. Does one become complacent and as Tom Renney once told me, "If you rest on your laurels, soon you will find yourself on the seat of your pants." Or does one who is overlooked, use this as fuel to train even harder?

Your comment about the 18 year old college player: makes me recall some statements from my undergrad psychology days. I think it might have been related to 'The Ceiling / Floor Effect.' Essentially, if one is weak at the start, one can make rapid gains up to a point where the gains start to level off, then even out as there is only 'so high' one may score. Conversely, if one is really skilled from the start, they don't make such rapid improvements as they are already near the ceiling.

"A ceiling effect occurs when test items aren't challenging enough for a group of individuals. Thus, the test score will not increase for a subsample of people who may have clinically improved because they have already reached the highest score that can be achieved on that test. In other words, because the test has a limited number of difficult items, the most highly functioning individuals will score at the highest possible score. This becomes a measurement problem when you are trying to identify changes – the person may continue to improve but the test does not capture that improvement."

http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/strokengine-assess/definitions-en.html

In statistics, the term floor effect refers to when data cannot take on a value lower than some particular number, called the floor.

An example of this is when an IQ test is given to young children who have either (a) been given training or (b) have been given no training. If the test is too difficult (so difficult that no amount of training will affect the ability to carry out the test), both group (a) and group (b) will perform particularly badly. This does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that the training has no effect on the ability to complete the IQ test. In fact, this may lead to a Type II error. The IQ test is too difficult, and by making the questions less difficult, training may have an effect on the ability to complete the IQ score.

Here, the floor effect is the data all hitting the bottom end of the distribution due to the extreme difficulty of the task. A ceiling effect is precisely the opposite – all participants reaching the high end of the distribution (e.g. the test was too easy).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floor_effect

The difference between two 18 year old kids in the same setting – one improves rapidly while one doesn't – might come down to individual differences. Maybe one comes from a broken, abusive home and moving away, he sees this as a Godsend and a way 'out' of poverty and his situation, he is given some ice time, he grabs it and runs with it, has some success, so he earns more ice time and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe the other kid comes from privilege and has always been a 'big fish in a small pond'. Now he is away from home for the first time, is homesick, can't focus on the school or hockey, doesn't commit his mind and body like kid #1, loses confidence, gets less ice time and this snowballs.

Now I am not presuming that I know the situation of the kids in your real example, but I am just trying to illustrate 'life' could also contribute factors as to why one excels and another doesn't in a similar situation.

Who knows?

I like your thinking about the kid who is 'an overall athlete' – many layers thick. I believe and have seen first hand these kids make large improvements as time goes on. They are generalists at the start and then start to specialize in various sports at the tight time. One Pee Wee aged kid I have been working with the last year jumped from a Div 5 to a Div 1 team in one year. He does a variety of sports and DOES NOT play hockey in the spring and summer. He does soccer, skiing, lacrosse and a variety of other things (biking, etc.) You wouldn't believe the strides he has made in 2 years! His sister (11 years old) has only skated for two years (and played hockey both years.) She is really 'game smart' – similarly playing lots of different sports – and has also improved tremendously. I am going to watch them play their 'other sports' this spring and summer so I can gain an overall comparison of how their development.

Kids who only play one sport (and / or specialize too early) may show early gains in their skill set, but ultimately, they will be passed later by those well-rounded kids who play lots of different things (if both kids continue to play those sports). I have also seen many of of the early specializers tend to burn out and drop out. I suspect they have 'pushy' parents who have the best of intentions at heart – for their kids to be the best – but in the long run, end up 'pushing' those kids right out.

As to your comment about the more cerebral players – on the surface, it makes sense that this is the case, perhaps because they have developed the critical thinking skills / mental maturity to apply their 'academic' work ethic to other areas in their life, but I also know lots of stereotypically 'dumb jock' types whose passion is clearly the sport and they pay little attention to the books; while excelling in sport. Would they also excel academically if pushed? Are they just 'book lazy' and relying on their athleticism to move forward? Or are they truly less capable in academics?

Again… who knows? That is the million dollar question. If you or I had 'THE ANSWER', we would be retired… counting our money!
——————————-
Good post Dean.
Tom

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

[hockeygod]

The rules of Predators coach Barry Trotz

ERIC DUHATSCHEK, Globe and Mail, Apr. 13, 2012

In his early days as an NHL coach, the Nashville Predators' Barry Trotz mirrored actor Edward G. Robinson, who played gangster tough-guy roles. Trotz could be that way too when he was just starting out – gruff, hard, a demanding in-your-face taskmaster who wanted to control everything, who kept pushing and wouldn't let up.

Trotz had an epiphany in his first year, the expansion year, when the Predators inherited a handful of castoffs from their NHL brethren and were badly overmatched virtually every night.

“At first, I'd be barking at guys and losing my mind when things weren't going real well, and I noticed, when I did that, they got worse and worse,” Trotz said. “I hadn't figured out, these were all fringe players from all the other teams. What I've learned is if you're like that, it gets old in a hurry.

“I really think that coaching now is like being a business leader; you've got to create an environment where people feel they have a voice. It's not the old days, where it was ‘my way or the highway.' Players are owners in the clubs now … and my job is to get these 23 or 24 individual businesses to work together.”

Further proof of how uncertain a profession NHL coaching can be occurred this week, when the Calgary Flames became the 14th team in the past 12 months to make a change behind the bench. This is the prevailing NHL wisdom, where the majority of teams apply a turnstile approach to their coaching hires and fires, believing that when things go badly, it is easier to change one coach than 20 players.

Then there are the Predators, swimming against the tide. Trotz is in his 14th season with the team, and is the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL after the Buffalo Sabres' Lindy Ruff.

Originally from Winnipeg, the 49-year-old Trotz has seen the Predators through the lean expansion years; through the middle improving years, and now, with the 2012 playoffs under way, through a whole new chapter, the competitive years – a year in which Nashville is considered a legitimate threat to make a playoff splash.

The Predators have been surprisingly competitive for a while now – Nashville, San Jose and Detroit are the only teams in the league with 40 or more wins for seven years in a row.

And how they do it, with one of the smallest budgets in the league, in an organization perennially turning personnel over in order to keep the payroll balanced, is a juggling act, orchestrated by general manager David Poile and Trotz.

In July of 1997, when Poile was hired to be the first GM of the Predators, he called some of his peers who’ve previously run expansion teams, looking for advice.

“Everybody had the exact same thing to say,” Poile said. “They said: ‘Your team is going to be terrible and so you should probably get the most experienced coach you can, because he’ll cover up a lot of the sins of an expansion team.’

“I just thought no, ‘this is a time to give everybody a chance, not just the players, but the scouts, the office staff, everybody.’ I hired some really inexperienced scouts. I hired some new people to the industry. I said, ‘Barry’s done his thing, I can grow and work with Barry. We’ll go for a couple of years and we’ll improve as a team, he’ll improve as a coach, and we’ll get there together.’

“And that’s what happened.”

On many levels, Trotz sounds a lot like Bob Johnson, the legendary Calgary Flames’ coach, who coined the term ‘it’s a great day for hockey’ and never had a bad day in his life. With Johnson, as with Trotz, once you turn on the conversational tap, it just keeps flowing.

Johnson joined Calgary in 1982, soon after Poile left the Flames to run the Washington Capitals. There he found Trotz, a Regina Pats grad, at training camp on a tryout basis, but with no real chance of cracking the NHL lineup. However, Jack Button – father of Craig, then one of the Caps’ most trusted birddogs – saw something in Trotz that he liked and advised him that he had a future in the industry.

So Trotz returned home to Winnipeg and started at the University of Manitoba as an assistant on Wayne Fleming’s staff. Trotz then spent two seasons as head coach and GM of the Dauphin Kings juniors, before returning to the University of Manitoba as their head coach in 1987. The next year, Trotz began to scout Western Canada for the Caps, and who eventually brought him to their AHL affiliate in Baltimore as an assistant coach. From there, the team’s AHL franchise was shifted to Portland, and Trotz was elevated to the head coaching position, which is when Poile recruited him for Nashville.

Trotz remembers when he first received the job, going back to his hotel room to ponder the challenges that lay ahead.

“I thought, ‘I’m a rookie coach in a non-traditional market with an expansion team. Maybe I bit off more than I could chew,’” Trotz said. “That first year, we went into every game and I’d look at the lineup and I’d think, ‘how are we going to win this game?’ I think we won 28. And afterward, I was thinking, ‘how in the world did we ever win 28 games?’ It was a real fun group, and we worked really hard.”

Hard work has been a trademark of the Predators’ organization ever since. Trotz usually gets the most out of the players at his disposal, but he will dispute the widely held notion that his team perennially overachieves. His view is that there is no such thing as overachieving (“other than me marrying my wife,” he quips, sheepishly) because if you ultimately succeed at something, then the goal was always within your grasp.

“I just ask players to play to their potential, and that’s all,” Trotz said. “You want to put people in positions to succeed. What we’ve been able to do is look at a player and say, ‘what is your talent? What is your real talent?’

“Sometimes, there are certain guys that can’t do some things, so you accept them for what they can do and you try to push them closer to what you want them to do and then you try to put them with people that will help them do it.”

According to Poile, what separates Trotz from others caught in the revolving, hired-to-be-fired coaching door is his self-awareness and the fact that “there are no airs about him. There is no vanity. He’s self-deprecating. He’ll poke fun at himself if the situation is there.

“For me, more than anything else, I seized on how good a person he is. That trumps everything.

“Barry’s got a saying and I use it all the time too. He says, ‘always do the right thing.’ That’s what Barry’s always about. He always does the right thing.

“I’m not saying that, like a lot of married couples, there haven’t been highs and lows, on and off the ice, but I’ve never lost belief in Barry and I’ve always trusted in his judgment.”

According to Trotz, Poile deserves credit for not taking the easy way out when those rough patches occurred.

“There’s been times, in the past, when I thought, ‘gawd, I know I’m out of here, I’ve gotta be gone.’ Things were not going good and I knew there were pressures on David, but he’d come in and say, ‘fix it’ and we’d be able to turn it around. David showing just a little extra patience proved to be what we needed, because instead of giving a player or a group an out, he’d allow us to fix it and be stronger on the other end, because you’ve gone through hell a little bit together.

“It’s not about tearing it apart when you lose some games. It’s about bringing it together. When things aren’t going well, it’s easy to jump off the ship. The harder thing is to hold on to the ship in difficult waters – and keeping it on course.”

One of the challenges over the years in Nashville was the need to constantly change personnel to keep the team on budget. There have been ownership issues – for a time, it looked as though they were headed to southern Ontario in one of Jim Balsillie’s multiple attempts to crack the NHL ownership code. Sometimes a player would be lost simply because the Preds couldn’t meet his salary demands. Other times, changes were made deliberately to filter out players that didn’t fit the Predators’ culture.

Now, finally, the Predators fall into the ranks of genuine contender. The combination of the moves they’ve made to add Hal Gill, Andrei Kostitsyn, Paul Gaustad and Alexander Radulov; the maturing of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter; and the exceptional goaltending they get from Pekka Rinne makes them an interesting wild card – and in the unlikely position of being slight favourites in their opening-round series against the Detroit Red Wings, which stood 1-0 in Nashville’s favour going into Friday night’s second game of their Western Conference quarter-final series.

Gill – the former Montreal Canadiens’ player – has already formed a positive first impression of Trotz.

“In the time I’ve known him, he’s kind, he’s fair, he’s open, but he demands a lot,” Gill said. “He has systems that he wants you to be a part of – and he demands that from his players. He’s a guy you can go and talk to – not just about hockey, but about anything. He’s open. It’s been enjoyable so far.”

Weber, the team captain, says one of Trotz’s strengths in that he handles the preparation and then permits the leadership group to be “responsible for the work ethic and the chemistry.

“He’s a players’ coach too. He’s got an open door. You can go in there and talk to him; and he’ll come out and talk to you.”

Trotz says the strategy to empower the players is deliberate: “We give the players ownership. We don’t micromanage them. We ask them for their input and listen to their input and make it work. That’s part of the culture.

“Coaching is not about equality, it’s about inequality, but the one thing that should be equal is respect. Coaching, at this level, is not about X’s and O’s. The people at this level all know the X’s and O’s of the game.

“It’s about getting people to buy in to what you’re doing as a group. I have one simple rule. ‘I want you to get better because that makes us better. I want you to have a good career. I want you to have an understanding of what your potential is.’”

Ultimately, Poile knows the only way to get the Predators on the map is to make a longer run through the playoffs than they have in the past.

“We’ve been the underdog a long time,” he said. “We talk about that all the time in our organization – how to take our franchise to another level. We’ve had 20 sellouts this year. We’re doing well on the business side. On the hockey side, we’re making progress. It’s all tracking real well, but to use a poker expression, we’re all in right now. We were as aggressive as any team at the trading deadline. We’re as deep as we’ve ever been.

“We’re hoping this could be the year.”

—–

Coaching starts with your philosophy. It has to be true to yourself and well-defined. Then you have to walk the talk. I am a firm believer in Transformational Coaching and it sounds as if Barry has learned this along his coaching journey. This is part of the Game Intelligence model.

Barry interviewed me for an A/C position with Nashville before they began, but I didn't get it. I am glad to see his strength of conviction in his philosophy. (I wonder if Lindy Ruff has similar characteristics and if that is a big reason why he and Darcy Regier in Buffalo have worked so well together for such a long time?) I have always been cheering for Barry and Nashville. I wish him continued success!

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

[hockeygod]

John the Colombian delivered a clinic on coaching philosophy and how it shapes GIT yesterday at a Minor Soccer seminar. Rob Cookson, a long-time assistant coach in the NHL, and I attended. Rob was very impressed with how well-read John was and thought he presented a difficult topic very capably and in a thought-provoking manner. It was very well done. Rob took two pages of notes.

John is going to forward me his presentation once he 'polishes it up' and I will post it here.

Everything starts with philosophy…! Are you able to articulate yours? Do you have it written down? How often do you look at it? When times are tough, does your philosophy act as your 'cornerstone' and allow you to move forward in a direction aligned with your philosophy?

After the philosophy presentation, we observed an hour of TRX training instruction and demos on the SAIT soccer field; delivered by John's two sons. They are in great shape and showed how to adapt the TRX to sport specific movements (soccer and hockey). We started using TRX training for our soccer training groups this spring and are looking to incorporate it next fall with our hockey programs. It is a very functional (and tough!) workout that helps improve Fundamental Movement Skills and the ABC's. It really activates your core and stabilizers – even when you are doing upper and lower body exercises. It is very adaptable to different ages, sizes and abilities. It is 'safer' than weights with young kids as it is body weight only.

Rob was inspired to come see today's training session with Grade 7 kids this morning (we played the Time Machine with 21 skaters and 4 goalies for 35 minutes.) Former NHL'er Martin Gelinas also attended this morning as he too was curious with what we do and how, as people are talking about the great results we are having from our Game Intelligence Training methodology. (I coached Martin in 1998 at the World Championships; he also trained with me during the late 1990's / early 2000's as I used to train a group of minor hockey kids, a group of juniors and a group of pros M-F for 5-6 weeks every summer.) Martin is the current director of player development with the Nashville Predators. It sounds like there might be a possibility for some future collaboration…

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

[Tom Molloy]

Dean, I am looking forward to reading John's presentation.

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

[hockeygod]

To Learn Faster, Raise the Stakes

Daniel Coyle, April 16th, 2012

The other day Stephen, my daughter’s violin teacher, pointed out a pattern he’d noticed when he was teaching his students to play difficult passages.

When he instructed students to try to play it perfectly five times, the kids learned slowly. Some kids took thirty tries to get the five perfect ones; others took a hundred; some never got it.

However, when he told the kids to try to play it perfectly five times in a row and if they missed they started again at zero, they learned it far faster. Instead of fifty tries, it took ten. “Much, much faster,” was how Stephen described it.

When you tell someone they need to do a task perfectly, but are vague about how it needs to be done, part of the learner’s brain switches off. The subconscious message is: take as long as you need, buddy. Every try isn’t really that important. Don’t worry, it’s just practice.

The vagueness serves as an escape hatch. (Which is completely natural — remember, our brains are always searching for an excuse not to give effort.)

However, you provide clarity plus urgency — say, when you tell someone that they need to do a task well five times in a row and if they miss they go back to zero — you’re sending a completely different signal. Now the subconscious message is: every single try matters immensely — and if you get one or two in a row, the importance increases even more. This is for keeps.

It reminds me of this great passage in Keith Richards’ autobiography, Life, where he talks about his songwriting technique:

You’d be surprised when you’re put right on the ball and you’ve got to do something and everybody’s looking at you going, OK, what’s going to happen? You put yourself there on the firing line — give me a blindfold and a last cigarette and let’s go. And you’d be surprised by how much comes out of you before you die.

Good practice is designed to create that feeling. You’re on the line. The clock is ticking; every rep is pressurized. Good practice nudges you out onto the knife edge, over and over. Because that’s the place where skills are built.

There are lots of straightforward ways to raise the stakes in practice: limit time, count reps, make it a contest, track progress from day to day and week to week, post results. The real trick is to raise the stakes by the right amount; you want to hit the sweet spot where it’s seriously challenging but still do-able, where each failure teaches a clear lesson, and where each success builds to the next.

How else can you raise the stakes? I’d love to hear your techniques.

—–

John and I have seen this first-hand in our Game Intelligence Training. By holding kids accountable to a higher standard, you set the stage for deep practice and ultimately, accelerate their learning / performance!

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

[Tom Molloy]

Dean, at the last school I was at the first things the kid's asked was when we would play Mission Impossible. I had never done this game so I asked the teachers 'What is Mission Impossible". (the name is based on a tv series that was popular a long time ago)

Mission Impossible has all of the elements mentioned in the articles. Decision making, student autonomy, fail and start again, deep practice.

This activity was so popular that the ninth grade (14-15 year olds and the first grade 6 yrs. would show up to play it together in the gym. I created the scenerio about them being in a POW camp and we would have the classes of 50-60 or intramurals of over 100 playing all at once in COMPLETE SILENCE. The kid's ate lunch sitting ont he floor and as soon as the 25 min. for lunch was over they would volunteer and clean the floor with dry and wet mops and then move the obstacles etc. for the game. My son was in high school at the time and even him and some friends would come to play after school.

Half were guards and half prisoners and I would give them about 8-10 minutes to get to the end and put the basketball clock on so they all knew. The only sound was BANG (gaurds said it when they failed or made too much noise) Greatest activity EVER.

So of course my question is: How do we simulate this in a hockey practice.
————————————————-
Quote from a posting I did before about Mission Impossible.

Mission Impossible was the most popular activity I ran in schools. The pictures are from a Kindergarten to ninth grade school, 5-14 year olds. All classes did it. We set up an obstacle course with the equipment in the gym. The kid's got 8 minutes to get to the end. Any failure and they have to start again. There was complete silence because the scenario was that they are trying to escape from a prison of war camp. Half the students were guards and half prisoners. If they touched the floor anywhere but safe places, knocked anything over, made a loud noice, were touched by a snake (dangling ropes), fell off the raft and into the acid moat (off the scooter and touch the floor) etc. They had to ring the bell at the top of the rope to finish. I built in areas where cooperation was needed to pass through.

At noon they all played together and there are pics with them in the regular clothes.

This same idea idea can be used at hockey practice by making a progressively more difficult circuit requiring individual or partner work.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=bd6fa116988317e9&resid=BD6FA116988317E9!1117&parid=BD6FA116988317E9!111&authkey=!qGy3MEUv!HE%24

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

[hockeygod]

Tom,

I remember you mentioning this game to me in the past. Looks and sounds like an excellent way to provide focus for deep practice. Engage the students with an athlete-centred decision-training activity / game that is also fun; while providing elements to hold them accountable during a measurable challenge and then watch what happens!

During our time with the U of C women, we had early morning practice four days per week (0630-0800 – off-ice warmup from 0545-0610), then we had two mornings where we trained in the athlete weight room for 60 minutes right after (0815-0915); the two other mornings, we trained in the gymnasium – playing our Reaction Games and / or our Smart Transitional Games for 60 minutes. We often imposed silence upon our gymnasium workouts. It was great… you could hear breathing and the squeak of sneakers on the hard wood. Peaceful. We joked that we could even hear them think and sweat! They were so intense and engaged on the activities / games at hand! We often comment we wish we had the foresight to shoot video from above as we would have captured lots of beautiful footage!

We will invite you out to one or two of our sessions (on ice and off) so you can see what we do. We cover all of these components in our games and methodology of teaching. I think you will see how we have created an exceptional learning culture when we have been granted the ultimate authority to teach in our manner without having to 'work under a teacher' who doesn't understand our methodology / or doesn't teach discipline and life lessons consistently. When we have to 'sell it' to less experienced leaders, and they don't show complete buy-in, you can 'sense' the apprehension in the kids… and we have to spend more time on the discipline as we don't achieve the best 'mental flow' / deep practice we could if it was 'our group.'

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

[hockeygod]

Top Five Reasons Kids Play Sports

ActiveForLife.ca, Jan 2012

http://www.activeforlife.ca/january-2011-enews/top-five-reasons-kids-play-sports

You want your child to be active and to have fun. Research shows that’s exactly what they want, too.

A University of Michigan study asked boys and girls aged 10 to 12 why they played sports. Here are the top five reasons they gave:

1. To have fun.
2. To do something I’m good at.
3. To improve my skills.
4. To stay in shape.
5. To get exercise.

Surprise; “winning” didn’t even make the top ten reasons.

Study after study comes up with the same #1 result. Kids play sports for the fun of it.

And not having fun is one of the major reasons 70 percent of kids quit playing sports by the time they’re 13.

Most often it’s parents and coaches who want to win. Kids hardly care. For them, winning is just icing on the cake. They’re focused on simpler things.

Even at the high school level, most kids would rather play on a losing team than sit on the bench of a winning one. That doesn’t mean that kids don’t value winning, just that they prefer playing.

If you want your children to play sports, all you have to do is make sure they are having fun.

—–

One of the key tenets of our Game Intelligence Training philosophy is to HAVE FUN PLAYING!

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

[Author]

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