Tag Archives: minor hockey

Nurturing Leadership with Letters

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The Devil’s/my team has a big game coming up later today. Truth be told they are all big in what is a relatively short regular season.  But this one has some special meaning, at least for yours truly, because we are up against a squad with a couple of players who, for whatever reason, decided to accept and then 24 hours later reject spots on my team during tryouts back in May.  At the time they claimed they had a better opportunity, albeit an hour away, to play for a higher calibre team. However, the team did not turn out to be as advanced as they expected it would be.  Coincidentally, they find themselves on lower level team in the same division as us. In fact, we will have several opportunities to face them this season, including at a tournament we are attending next weekend.  It will be an odd situation as many of my players consider these young ladies their friends whom they have played with in previous years.  I have purposely not shared all of the details of their questionable departure with my players, but some, like the Devil are well aware of the circumstances that left me scrambling to un-cut some players to fill the holes they had left behind.  Nothing like a little added incentive to win even if it’s primarily mine.  In my pre-game talk I intend to treat this as any other game, but being honest with myself it’s one I really, reeeeally want to win.  I will do my best to not let that cloud my judgment or demeanor behind the bench this afternoon.

With the gravity of this game in mind, I thought it might be an appropriate juncture to name my team captain and assistant captains as a means to injecting a sense of leadership and importance to the competitive proceedings from this point forward.  Selecting and naming who should receive these symbolic letters is easier said than done. As I told the players during the mock coronation ceremony after what was one of our best practices two nights ago, every player has attributes and accomplishments worthy placing a leadership-based badge on their jersey. And I do truly believe this.  I am fortunate to have selected a great group of players who have all contributed in their own way so far this season. But there are only four such badges and only one C, which does carry a certain cachet with it. There is a responsibility associated with each of these letters.  I wanted to be sure I chose players who could fill the roles of “team leaders” whether in their words or their actions on and off the ice.  I do place some significance on the C in particular because I know the players do likewise.  These were not decisions to be taken lightly.  I conferred with my staff who were generally in agreement with the choices I made.  These badges would be handed to four players who would presumably be elated and subsequently not handed to 13 others each of whom may have felt they were worthy or entitled.  I did not want anyone to feel they had been slighted or overlooked.  But being human, there is always some level of politics and certainly emotion that comes into play.

All of that being said the three A’s and the C were distributed with an explanation given for each assignment. Each recipient received an enthusiastic cheer from her mates and the mood felt very positive. Later today my staff and I will hope the good mood, solid last practice and renewed focus will translate into on-ice success to buoy our charges moving forward through the season which has only just begun.  Against this team in particular it will be nice to set a tone and reaaaaly nice to come away victorious.  If I’ve made good decisions, those who have been newly anointed will play an important role in leading us there.

#imahockeydad

More on the Benefits of Coaching Kids’ Hockey

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Great article from Deborah Francisco on NHL.com about the rewards that come with coaching youth hockey. I couldn’t agree more as coaching has provided me with a wealth of memories, friendships and a pride in hopefully enriching the lives of the players I’ve been given the opportunity to interact with.  However, my life has also been enriched.  My favourite part of this article is about getting to know your players and taking the time to learn from them.  Coaches need to be good students along with being good teachers; equally-invested teammates as well as leaders.  Everyone has an opportunity to grow.

Coaching youth hockey life-altering experience 

Follow Deborah Francisco on Twitter @nhlgirl

#imahockeydad

Trying Tryouts

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I’ve held off writing this one so as not to jinx the Boy who spent the past couple of weeks (minus a few days) in Midget rep tryouts.  While some kids his age have given up hockey in favour of jobs, girls, etc. and not necessarily in that order; the Boy’s still got the competitive itch.  Though he didn’t say it I believe he was still hopeful of moving up a level to AA this year. He’s been an A player on the cusp of playing AA for the last six years.  Or maybe that’s just a hockey dad talking. Perhaps all he really wants to do is have fun playing with his buddies, which is really just as, if not more important, in the grand scheme of things.

Putting bias as far off to the side as I can, I believe he looked good relative to all the others trying out starting with the preliminary tryouts/mini-camp back in the Fall.   But the AA tryouts presented two challenges – lots of players/competition and players from two different age groups; 16 and 17 year olds with the Boy in the former, younger group. The first set of evaluations were broken down into two scrimmages of about 30 players per skate including a whopping 13 goalies competing for five goalie spots on three rep teams.  The Boy could at least count himself lucky for not being a keeper. The first skate went well with only a few standouts from my perspective.  The Boy held his own as he generally does.  In a scrimmage situation, there are few who will question his determination.

For the next evaluation, the younger hopefuls were off to an exhibition game against a nearby town running tryouts of their own.  It seemed the coach was trying to see which of the younger players might step to the fore in a game situation.  Because it was a game, mom decided to accompany me for her first glimpse at the process.  Of course, only a few minutes into this game, on the Boy’s fourth or fifth shift, he was pushed from behind in open ice and fell awkwardly on his left shoulder.  He was able to get up and skate to the bench, but you could tell some damage had been done – the left arm hung low.  The old adage, the bigger they are the harder they fell rang true.  At the end of the period he was ushered off the ice with mom, the certified trainer, in close pursuit. He laboured to take off his gear while we wondered if his collar bone or some other part of that general area was broken.  He was definitely in some discomfort.   4 1/2 hours and an x-ray later an ER doc was able to report that in fact nothing was broken.  However a sprain of the acromioclavicular (AC) joint would put a damper on tryouts for the next 5-7 days. The Boy’s chances of making the AA team were certainly compromised and the A evaluations were slotted to start in only four days leaving little time for a full recovery.  A quick conversation with the AA coach revealed that he would be hard pressed to crack the AA lineup, which would likely be dominated by older players, in any case.

Now hopeful to make the A team, we took the Boy to a sports medicine clinic for an evaluation and opinion on when he may be ok to go back on the ice.  His first skate was to be only six days after the night of the injury. The physio exam revealed a loss of strength and some lingering tenderness, however some treatment and mandated exercises showed promise. It was decided after a conversation with the A coach that he would miss his first skate, but make every effort to make an appearance for the last two tryouts. While the A coach would take his past performance into account, optics still required him to compete for a position.

As luck would have it, the third skate would not include any contact with more of a focus being placed on skills and goalies. And yet the Boy found a way, during a three on one drill, to fall and land on his wonky left shoulder.  I may have chuckled out loud at the irony of the situation, which raised the ire of some hockey moms sitting in front of me. The Boy took a quick rest at the direction of the coach. I was happy to see him return to the ice shortly thereafter.  The moms still let me have it for my momentary indiscretion.

The fourth and final session for those competing for spots on the A squad was to be a full-contact scrimmage. I told the Boy to play smart; keep your head up. As the Boy and his scrimmage side hit the ice, it appeared he was with the stronger and perhaps already chosen group; meaning the other was comprised of players battling for a couple of final spots. This situation was not lost on the players who’ve been trying out like this for several years. The Boy said after the tryout that one player who inadvertently walked into the wrong dressing room with the “chosen players” quickly looked around and quipped “Uh oh, we’re f%$#ed!”  The Boy, for his part, played smart and was decidedly cautious with good reason. On one particular occasion he had an opportunity to deliver a hit – he thought better of it; later claiming he would have “crushed that kid.”

And so, in the end, the lad returns for a seventh consecutive season of A hockey. He’s pleased that a few of his teammates from last year and other friends he hasn’t played on a team with for a while will be teammates this season. In all he figures they have a pretty strong squad with a mix of younger and a few older players.  The first practice is tomorrow night…the first game a few days later.  We hope the shoulder will be close to 100 percent for that opening tilt.  The already completed schedule shows several familiar late night games both at home and away.  With me on the Devil’s bench, mom is fretting some of the games she will no doubt have drive to after the snow falls.  We’ll split the duties whenever we can.  I will want to get to as many games as possible, knowing his minor hockey days are fleeting.

That being said, I can tell you that none of us will miss the stress of tryouts any time soon.

#imahockeydad

One down and many to go

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A little over a week has passed for the Sharks and I.  We now have three practices and a game under our combined belt. Things have progressed well following our first questionable on-ice experience.  There’s lots of work to do as there always is, but early indications are quite positive.  In fact, game one was a very pleasant surprise.

You never really know what level your team is at until you face some competition against which to compare yourself. This is why we have exhibition games; as live measuring sticks if you will.  Our first game on the weekend was on the road against a town that perennially ices strong sides.  There was a little trepidation on my part with it being the “first” game,  not knowing exactly what to expect from my collection of players from different backgrounds or the likewise relatively unknown opposition.  I did wishfully note that players entering the home team’s dressing were comparably small in relation to our competitors. The opposite would have been duly and more severely noted as a harbinger of a tougher challenge.  My pre-game speech to my charges was pretty straightforward.  This is our first game. Our first opportunity to play together and familiarize ourselves with one another.  My primary request in this game as a pre-cursor to the season in general was a full and honest effort.  Mistakes would undoubtedly be made, which were expected…which were actually welcomed as a learning/teaching opportunity.  I told them everyone makes mistakes. The best teams are the one who learn from them.  So again, the key message was effort.  Set a tone for the season against a team we are likely to face several times during the regular season and beyond.  Let them know a game against the Sharks will always be a hard fought one.

I’m happy to report that my message seemed to resonate from the very first puck drop.  Our first line of forwards pushed ahead into the offensive zone and stayed there for nearly a full minute. The next line picked up where they left off, pinning our backpedalling opponents in their own end.  Much of the first period was spent there as line after line fore-checked with vigour as they’d been instructed.  Perhaps more surprising was how well the girls played together…looking for each other and making some passes. A fine tic-tac-toe passing play from defence to forward to forward at the beginning of the second period resulted in our first goal. Many more scoring opportunities would present themselves, which would in turn reveal one of the only negatives from our side of the contest as none would be converted.  There would also be a defensive zone lapse in the middle of the second period, which would be addressed at the end.   As we entered the third of three 15 minute periods we all noticed some decidedly sluggish skating; no doubt a product the Summer break.  The tenacity did not leave, just the breath behind it. As unluck would have it, the home team would pick up an equalizer with about 4 1/2 minutes left on a scramble in front of our net.  The game would end 1-1, but was a decided victory in my mind.

I told the team post-game that they set their bar pretty high in their first contest.  Now the coaching staff knows how hard they can play and will expect the same from here on in.  I also told them similar efforts would ensure the opportunity to win each and every game. Time will, of course and as always, tell the full story in that regard.

#imahockeydad

The Maiden Voyage Is Not Without Waves

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Tonight the rookie coach (yup that’s me) took to the ice with my young group of players and a couple of assistant coaches for our first official practice. They say you are your own worst critic.  I can confidently say some criticism was deserved. Or perhaps I am particularly sensitive to the critical eye; including my own.  Being under the spotlight with expectant parents looking on and having been a parent on the other side making my own judgments on occasion didn’t help. With any misstep, I could imagine rolled eyeballs…mutterings of “what was that?”  Perhaps I entered with higher expectations than I should have.  Maybe I should cut myself a little more slack.  I certainly forgot how quickly the clock ticks when things aren’t going exactly to plan. I do understand that I have to remember and keep in perspective that we’re working with 13 and 14 year old girls with limited attention spans at best.

I believe, to my initial credit, that I spent a few minutes before practice proactively talking about expectations – those of both the players and the coaching staff.  Chief among these expectations being commitment, respect, effort and fun.  Mere moments later, I would find that I should have emphasized focus as well.

To my surprise, I felt the venture going sideways right off the hop. The seemingly basic instruction I gave my players for the warm-up skate before we all took that first fresh step onto the ice was “When you hear one whistle – accelerate, when you hear two whistles – change direction and when you hear three whistles – pivot and skate backwards”  Whether it was a lack of focus or a poorly delivered message, the first whistle had the players accelerating, but the double and triple whistle combinations caused all manner of confusion. Some players skated backwards, some went in the opposite direction and some simply looked around to see if they could figure out what everyone else was doing. One assistant coach glided by me and quipped “You didn’t think this was going to be easy did you?” To which I replied, “Ummm no, but I thought we could get through this first one.”  So I gathered the players together quickly to reiterate the signals, only to note another general state of confusion.  After the next triple whistle I watched one player back into and fall headlong over another traveling in the opposite direction – a move The Three Stooges themselves would have tipped a hat to.  In an effort to set a good cop/bad cop tone early, one of my assistants corralled the team and told them a lack of focus this early was not acceptable.  A little line skating was in order.  We will hopefully not have to employ the suicide skate tactics on too many occasions, but I’m sure there will be a few as there are with every team.

My next minor error I can attribute to a now obvious lack of on-ice help, which I will most certainly address before the next session.  As we three coaches directed forwards and defence through a basic passing drill, I was approached by one of our two goalies who rightly questioned “What should we be doing coach?”  Oh yeah, we need to make sure we don’t forget about the goalies who are not participating in a passing drill.  Kudos to them for asking the question. And again, I’m sure at least two sets of parents were looking on and asking themselves the same.  I owned up to my mistake to one of the keeper’s fathers after the practice. I was pleased when he bailed me out by saying his daughter has plenty of skating drills she can work on if she’s not been given specific instructions.  Granted, though my and our job is to provide the expected guidance.

The third and final shaky moment came in the form of an assistant coach miscue, which I will shoulder some of the burden for.  I assume I did not provide clear enough direction to my helpers who were active participants in a drill.  In what should have again been a fairly straightforward passing/skating/shooting exercise, the assistant coaches, who were responsible for delivering a pass to a skater moving by them on the opposite side of where they received a previous pass, fired pucks to other players heading in other directions.  At least a couple of players were contending with two passed pucks at once.  We successfully made a simple exercise look quite difficult. However, on this occasion a quick reset, coupled with some instruction to the pass recipients, saw the drill smooth itself out.  A practice component we will revisit in a future practice and no doubt master with all involved parties on the same page.

Fifty minutes for a practice is not a long time – time management is key. Though you can quickly lose track of said time, when plans go askew. Before I knew it the zamboni driver was frantically ushering us off the pad, while the next team waited for their fresh sheet of ice.  In thinking back to my time as an assistant coach, I am certain this happens to all coaches on a fairly frequent basis.  And yet, this flew in the face of my desired plan.

Post-practice I chatted again with the players who commented that the practice seemed to go “very quickly”, which I suppose I can take as a sign of engagement and maybe even enjoyment.  I confessed to some rookie mistakes as I’ve detailed here. I hope, nay anticipate, those will be fewer and far between as we move through this season together and become more comfortable with each other. I further hope, yet anticipate less, that the muttering from above will be abated.  I suppose I shouldn’t be concerned with the opinions of others, yet I’ve already admitted I’m my own worst critic. Still my chief concern should and will be the enjoyment of the game and the experience by my players. With an honest effort, which is likewise what I’ve asked of them, I am confident I can steer this ship in a positive direction

#imahockeydad

Back on Ice

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Alright…..so it’s still August and the Devil’s been on the ice a couple of times over the last two weeks.  Some would and have argued a couple of times too many.  An opportunity arose for some ice time with another team, which was offered to all of the members of her and my team.  A few, including the aforementioned Devil, who weren’t occupied with other Summer activities, signed on to get some early practice in.  Having not had her blades touch a frozen surface since mid-May,the Devil out-loud wondered if she may have forgotten how to navigate a sheet of ice.  While her conditioning was questionable and some rust was obvious, she took to it as she has every other season following the mid-year break with renewed enthusiasm for a game she’d come to miss even after only a couple of months. Though I know catching an edge in a drill and landing firmly on her ass did not sit well with her (pun wholly intended).  I likewise marked myself appreciating the sights, sounds and even the smells of the abruptly sprayed snow, the well-struck goalpost and the ripe dressing room – familiar indeed.

In a week’s time, my new team will take to the ice for our first official practice. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some nervous energy guiding my new role.  Everything to this point has been administration.  Next week the proverbial rubber hits the rink.  I’ve already mapped out two full sessions, replaying instructions in my mind both before I hit the pillow and upon waking at least a full hour before I need to the last couple of mornings.  I’ve always said of delivering presentations that if you’re not nervous, it doesn’t matter enough to you. This does matter to me.  I have expectations around building a team, imparting a few hockey skills to propel these young athletes forward and hopefully instilling some positive life lessons along the way.   I assume my players have expectations of me; varied as they will surely be.  And I know many parents have already fashioned a set of desired outcomes, as they’ve every right to do. While I will have a staff to support me, I will still be the focal point in good times and bad.  I’ve accepted this role. I expect to look back six months from now to see my fretting was worth it.  I’ll measure success on the hopefully enlightened faces of players after a solid practice or hard fought game – win, lose or draw.  I want my players to realize it is just a kid’s game, the rink is an unbeatable place to be on a frigid Winter morning and they are fortunate to have the opportunity to just play.

As for the Boy, he and some buddies are entered in a pre-season “fun” tune-up tourney this weekend.  “Fun” in midget boys games generally means lots of inappropriate, testosterone-induced trash talking followed by the occasional dust-up in the corner along with a few goals tossed in.  I understand it’s been tough rounding up enough players, but the Boy for his part is raring to go.  I’m pleased to note he still loves playing the game — he comes by his competitive spirit naturally. I get the sense he’s also looking forward to tryouts in a few weeks as he’s been chomping at the bit to get some frozen pond under his restless feet.  As a coach, I’ll likely see fewer of his games this year, but will make a point to cherish each of them more with the clock undoubtedly ticking down.

So, ok…enough with the romantic talk already…gimme a stick, puck and bring on Hockey Season!

#imahockeydad

Changing Face of the Game

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Hockey Canada is considering a few adjustments to minor hockey to curb recent drops in registration.  Enhancing non-contact leagues appears to be at the top of the list in light of recent concerns around concussions and other injuries.  The NHL, for its part, isn’t setting the best example.  Hockey purists will no doubt claim the sport is just fine the way it is, but hockey does need to react to threats from other sports, video games and rising costs to name a few. Every sport, for that matter, has to grow and evolve in the face of challenges to its popularity.  I appreciate a good hockey hit as much as the next guy, yet you need look no further than women’s hockey to see a high level of skill and really entertaining hockey without head hits, hits from behind and the other bad sides of what can be a pretty violent game at times.  Maybe it is time to take a harder look at non-contact options to get more kids playing and staying in hockey.

Team Building Plus

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One of my team building goals for the Devil’s team this season was to get the players involved in some sort of community or charity-based event.  The Boy’s teams have always seemed to do something like this, but the same has been lacking on the girls side.  I had mentioned this to the Devil herself before our first official team meeting. She suggested that we find a charity walk to participate in; which seemed appropriate for a sports team.  In fact, she even did a little research and identified a couple of  local walks including one in support of Juvenile Diabetes – again I thought an appropriate choice. I kept that notion in my back pocket as an option, but wanted to present the entire concept to my parent group to see if they had any other ideas.  Other possibilities that popped to my mind were a Christmas toy drive, which the Boy had done in previous years or a charity hockey game where we would charge an admission fee for one of home regular season matches then invite friends and relatives to attend with the cause in mind and their wallets in hand.

Having proposed the idea to the team, it took only one day to identify a clear and quite coincidental winner.  Unbeknownst to me, one of my chosen goalies with whom I’d had no previous history because she is from out of town, was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes at the age of three.  Her mother asked if we would be interested in participating in the aforementioned walk, which was decided on without hesitation. This walk would serve the multiple purposes of team building, sponsoring a very worthy cause, educating our young ladies about the disease and ultimately supporting a teammate. The importance of the latter was not lost on me or several others, who stepped up in numbers to raise funds and awareness. I was pleased to have all 17 members of the team and several parents make themselves available pretty early on a less-than-sunny, Summer Sunday morning. Only a last minute flu bug got in the way of us having a full squad.  Even our injured player showed up with a wheelchair in tow to be pushed around the relatively short, though occasionally bumpy, 5k course.  There was no shortage of volunteer drivers – a couple of whom thought wheelchair wheelies would be a grand idea. The helpless passenger’s shrieks would indicate otherwise.  Though the shrieks would, of course, only prompt more wheelies.

I was able to procure some jerseys from our hockey association for the walk. We looked great as a group in red, white, blue and yellow with trademark Sharks on our chests if I do say so.  Even an event organizer commented that it was awesome to see a full  team taking part and thanked us for attending. We made our way through the walk without incident, though there were some nervous moments when the entire team decided to jump up and down on a floating dock out on the lake prior to an ideal photo op.

On the team building front, I thought the girls started to gel…at least a little…and as expected.  There are still a few who have or haven’t played together before who tended to either stick together or keep to themselves. In all, it feels like we have a good group.  I think it was a solid start with an excellent cause as a backdrop. The girls did a good thing. They should all be proud of their efforts.  Some smiles and giggles around hot dogs and watermelon at the end proved that they had some fun to boot. For some, like the Devil, that fun included a jumping castle and inflatable slide.  Yup, my kid is 13 going on 7 and I’m just fine with that…thank you very much.

Next up, a little optional dry land training, scheduled for once a week throughout the Summer, where they can commiserate as a group in their expected muscle and mental fatigue.

#imahockeydad #imahockeycoach