Season starts with a couple practices to get out on the ice, get the rust off and figure things out. Some teams in the league are forced to play before they practice. Fortunate to coach in a good organization, that works to get ice early for its teams.

First game was an eye opener for many of the first year players at this level. This is High School Hockey. It is speed and strength. This is the first year that there is more than 2 ages playing together. Usually Youth Hockey is structured in two year groupings. This is a four year grouping, so first year players are on the ice with players 4 years older than they are, and a lot more experienced.

How do you analyze a 4-1 start to the young season?
5 games played out of a 13 game season.
12 teams in the division. So, we get to play one team twice.
Greatfully, the team that mopped the ice with us 6-1 in the first game, is also the 13th opponent. Let’s use that to see how much we’ve learned over the season!

Fortunately, there are still no Stanley Cups given out at this level, so it’s not all about winning!

Now, the analytics of 4-1…..
First level - 4W, 1L.
Second level â€" 2.6GAA, down from 6.0 first game. League average is 3.08. (Ranked 7th/12 for GAA, others have .75, 1.0, 1.75….) GAA is a measure of good hockey!
Third level â€" Differential. +2, 15GF, 13GA. OK considering -5 after first game. Look for balance here!

Now, to dig a little deeper…..
Early in the season can be deceiving….
Look at the records of the teams we’ve played…..

Thru the first 4 games played, the opponents we have beat have only won 3 games. Their combined winning percentage is 25%. While that may change as we add in their 5th game, when you include our latest opponent, the winning percentage of the 4 teams we have beat is 20%. The only team we’ve played with a winning percentage (thru 4) is 75%, and we lost to them.

What’s it all mean? Look at the strength of your opponents. While you need to beat the weak ones, don’t be overly excited about it. Use the easier teams to build confidence!!!! Work on the fundamentals. Work harder then you thought possible knowing the tough opponents are still yet to come. And, as always, don’t forget to “Enjoy the game!”

Saw a lot of hockey this weekend!
We can talk about the start of the season later.

Often overlooked, information has great value, even/especially in hockey.
There's a long list of information that can be gathered, and how it can be used to help.

Saw something this weekend that was curious and proves the point.

A single player scored 4 goals to beat a team 4-2.

At the end of that game, still close, no one was consciously aware that the player was there, and on the ice.

We've mentioned this before..... If there's a significant player that changes a game, put a player on it.
If a player gets two goals along the way, maybe there's a trend there. (especially when those are BOTH the goals in the game)
Gee, at third goal (commonly referred to as a "hat trick".). Key indicator that the player is a player......

It's not right to let this player skate and not have your team picking up on this.
Greater awareness. Put a player out there to check it.

So, how do you know as a coach?
Couple ways to figure it out.
A. Ask the ref, who scored. They will tell you.
B. Ask the players coming off the ice. This is good, cause they will internalize that they got scored on. Especially good if the coach can point out why they got scored on. (It's not just that the superstar put the puck in the net, there's usually a breakdown before then.)
C. My favorite......If you have 2 goalies, have the goalie not playing, track shots.
It's very simple and provides a huge amount of valuable data for a coach!
Hate to see a goalie just sitting there sleeping during the game waiting for it's turn to play or waiting for the buzzer to leave.

Track who shot the shot, and the position on the ice.
Clipboard, paper and pencil, that's all that's needed.

During a game, a coach gets to instruct players and continue their development real time.
A good coach is always looking to provide the team with the opportunity to win a game.

It's not all about winning or losing. However, getting and keeping a team motivated to do the hard work
necessary to continue their development is a bit easier if the team sees that hard work paying off.

I'm a big fan of momentum, and the small things can make a big difference.

Track shots and use that information to make your players and team better.
Don't let the opponent goal shooters/scorers get too many!

Evening,

Playing and coaching. Good combination, so when I figure something out on one side, I bring it to the other.

Played pickup Friday night. Spent a couple shifts covering an unbelievable player on the other team.
Stuck with him, cut down the passes to him. Handled him when he got the puck, prevented him from getting rebounds/goals.
One player on my team noticed and commended me for the simple yet effective approach to changing the game that night.

Went to a prep school game Saturday afternoon. Great team against good team.
Great team had one really great player who scored some/most of their goals.
Great team won 5-0.

Can't help but to think this would have been a different game if good put someone on great's player.
Take that player out of the flow, out of the play.
Make the other four beat your four.
(Fine, you may not be as deep as your opponent, but by taking their best player out of the play,
you have made your chances better)

Make the other four play!
And, it can give your team an emotional lift.

It's an effective counter measure to your opponent's strategy.
Your opponent wants the good player to have an impact in the game.
Likely passing and shooting/scoring.
(If the good player is a defenseman, good defensively, keep away!
How effective is a defenseman if the play isn't on their side. Also, coaches generally pair their weakest defenseman
with their strongest, so you'll be playing on the easy side by keeping it away.)

Your strategy should be not just what you want your team to do,
but what you DON'T want your opponent to do. That can be equally as important!

Coaches, when you play this weekend, if there's an opposing player who's just that much better than the rest,
put someone on that player. Take that player (properly) out of the flow/action of the game.
Will make your team that much better and change the game.

Good Luck this weekend!
Coach

Wow!
Olympic hockey has been great.
Hope everyone's got a chance to catch some of it.
The coverage is very good. The commentating varies.

Couple points:
A. US Men's better than the 5th or 6th they were thought to be.
Brian Burke, team GM knows how to pick a team.
Many of these players have played for the US in the past 3-6 years,
and the international style of competition is different than the NHL style.
(What the penalty kill, they play the box aggressively close to the competitor,
and they use active sticks to discourage the passing lanes. You don't see that in the NHL!)

B. Women's hockey is so pure a game without the checking. Very highly skilled.
People who are new to hockey should watch the women's games, much better to learn by!

C. US/Canada women's programs are way beyond the rest of the world.
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Rogge-Women-s-hockey-cannot-continue-without-i;_ylt=ApFyOaQq_EOtaG2AdnofuRF9sbV_?urn=oly,224531

One comment I heard was they may lose Olympic status if other teams don't catch up.
Someone also said that US/Canada should help other nations train.
That's laughable. Training isn't just the months before the Olympics.
Training for these athletes starts 10-15 years before the games. Skating as young kids.
I watch the Russia/China game and was shocked at how poor the skating was.
These countries need to build rinks and build coaches.
Both USA and Canada have great national coaching programs, unknown to most hockey fans.

D. Sportsmanship.
Team Canada didn't look real good after their gold medal game/celebration.
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/IOC-to-investigate-Canadian-women-s-hockey-team-;_ylt=ArtQGYNbZOqpjulJT8Fs.xRotLV_?urn=oly,224338

What happens in the locker room, stays in the locker room.
Don't bring it out onto the ice.
Personally, I think these type celebrations are uncalled for, and should be banned from all sports.
When you see a locker room with plastic wrap setup and athletes (not skiers) wearing ski goggles
and cases of beer/champagne, be ready for sports stupidity. It's not sports.

E. High school hockey is in it's playoffs! Good games. Sometimes the regular season gets watered down.
These teams worked hard all year to get this far. Good games!

Watch the US/Canada Men's game. Should be a great way to close out this Olympics!

Coach

An amazing video.

Many youth players don't yet know how to "load the stick".

http://nbclearn.com/olympics/cuecard/47278

Or: (the hard way... but there are other cool videos)

http://www.nbclearn.com

Click on "Original Video"

Click on "Science of the Olympic Winter Games"

Third Row down, last video clip on the end.

"Slapshot Physics: Hockey"

Julie Chu is a great, great player.
Watch where the puck hits the stick on the middle of the blade.
Watch the puck spin. (Notice they have stripes on the puck, so you can see it spin, via the wrist flick)


Julie talks about the flex of the stick.
The narrator and film points out the weight transfer.

Watch the loading of the stick (and the flex.)

Players can work this on a wrist shot first, to see how it works,
bringing the stick back, loading it, and shooting.

Then move to the slapshot. (More moving parts and pieces)

Coach

Hey!

Got to attend a couple college hockey games over the past week.

One women's D1 game, one men's D1 game.

Couple common threads....

Keep your feet moving. There times when players/teams look like they are standing around,
and often times bad things happen to them then. Keep your feet moving. You can defend better,
and you can make things happen easier.

Confidence. The players and teams with the most confidence push their performance.
They skate faster. They skate w/the puck better. They make plays other teams don't make.
I suspect much of this comes from practice. I haven't had that access for these teams.
Build confidence. Know you can do it. Go do it.

Speed. It kills. You need to develop it as a player. You need to order it up as a coach.
One player specifically last night in the men's game, when he had the puck and could take the corner
around a D, would hit the jets and end up at the net with a good opportunity. Every time.
Another time, same game, the puck gets sent down ice. Use your team speed to send a players to put pressure
on the defense getting it. Make them go faster, make them make plays. If you don't, bad results can happen.

Get the puck out. Amazingly, the closer the puck gets to Not Getting Out, the quicker it gets back to the net.
Saw it time and time again. Get the puck out. If you struggle to get it out, send it far out, so that you have time
to regroup defensively, and ideally put pressure on the puck down ice.
Simple principle: The further the puck is from your net (200 foot long ice surface) the less likely it is to be in YOUR net.

Coaching. Of the four coaches in these two games, one was more senior having been a D1 head coach for over 10 years.
His team executed the best. He controlled the game the best. He got the most out of his team and players.
The others had been D1 assistants, recently (last 4 years or less) getting the top spot, likely for the first time.
Head coaches are head coaches. The talent and duties are more rigorous at the D1 level, but much of the responsibilities,
demands are similar, and the game is still the game. Interesting to watch how they have coached their teams.
(Still passive bench coaching at this level)

So many different things to watch during the same game.
It's such a great game! (Off to go see a prep-varsity game!)

Coach

Hockey Greetings!
Yes, there's been a lag in the blogs.  Way too long.  April 2008?
Sure, that was the end of that season.  But, we missed a WHOLE season.
Now we're deep into the next season.

Here's what we missed.....

Took a good 2008/2009 boys Bantam team from a horrific first game in August/September 2008, and a 2-2 start to the league Championship game.  Great group of players.  Learned a lot.  Grew a lot. Had some good fun along the way too.  (Winning allows that.) 

Watched some  private-prep JV hockey.   This is girls hockey.  Saw a lot of interesting things there.

Worked with a 2009 boys Midget team.  Tough age.  Seems the know more than anyone else at that age.
Midget season is interesting in that it's only 13 weeks, pre-high school season. 
The program has only half as many practices as it does at the Bantam level.  I completely understand the scheduling issues with players this age.  But that is the absolutely wrong direction to go.  They need to maintain the 2-1 practice to game ratio at a minimum. 
Dropping their skills program is another move in the wrong direction too.   Many times this year we ran a combined practice between two teams, that was more skating and shooting.  If I coach Midgets again, I'll try to stay away from this, and push for more specific skills and practice items, like I have done in the past.  (Note the "if" in that.  May move in another direction).
Players still need to have more attention in their development at this level.

With my Midget season over, I have more time to enjoy hockey!

1. Watching some of the NEGHL club level teams and games.
2. Watching more of the private prep JV games.
3. Watching some of the private prep Varsity games
4. Just starting to help a little with one of the private prep Varsity team.  (just starting and just a little...)
5. Awaiting the town high school varsity and JV teams to start, so I can watch/monitor some of my former players.
6. Haven't been to a college game yet.  Have two sets of schedules I'm trying to get to there, to watch players and coaches.  Will get to some of that in January!!! 

Blogs will be shorter, and have some quick points/observations.

Hope to get some feedback and comments.
Happy Hockey!
Coach RIck

Morning!

Got the chance to watch some of the NHL playoffs last night.  Not much.  Not with any intent.
Just the tail end of the Bruin's game 4 1-0 loss to Montreal and what turned out to be the Avalanche's 3-0 win over the Wild.

Interested perspective.  Due to where I was, I wasn't sitting at home on the couch flipping channels.

The screen I was watching was a 25x25 enormous screen.  (Not HD clear either....)
I was probably 200-300 feet away from it, maybe a bit more.
It was hard to distinguish which teams were playing, let alone with players and who had the puck.
(Step way back from the TV some time and try.)

However, it was a great perspective to watch and appreciate the speed and the flow of the game.
"Watching the dots move" was about all I could think about.  Remember, those are two very different games, and teams with very different styles.

The dots didn't move or flow much in the Boston/Montreal game.  It was stop and go.
The dots really moved for the Avalanche. (At the time, I didn't know the teams nor the score.)
As I watched, I could start to determine which dot had the puck, and the flow around it.
I started to route for the Av's, based upon the speed and flow they created. 

I didn't get to watch for long, but it was great fun.
From now on, I think I'm always going to route for the dots who move and flow the best!

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Coach Rick