How Indoor Rink Ice Is Made

Okay, so you figure this topic isn’t quite up to the kind of stuff we normally deal with here at CoachChic.com?  Well, I’m personally an inquisitive rascal, and I want to know absolutely everything about my sport — from how things are made to how they’re best maintained.  Only then can I make “educated” decisions when it comes to the seemingly more important stuff.

Of course, you can explore the Internet on your own to find information like the following.  At the same time, you should know that I’m always looking for you, and attempting to locate information I feel you’d gain from.

That said, although I’ve watched countless new ice surfaces being put down, I actually learned a couple of interesting things about ice making from the following video.  So, thanks to YouTube.com and the Discovery / Science Channel, I hope you enjoy…

– Dennis Chighisola

How Indoor Rink Ice Is Made

Coaching A Losing Team

This question came-in just recently from the coach of an Atom team.  Hmmmm…

Thankfully it does involve a young team, because it’s a whole lot easier to deal with such a situation when the kids are young.  (Frankly, I don’t know how I’d answer if I had to pull this off with a Midget or high school team.)

– Dennis Chighisola

Coaching A Losing Team

First, I’d have to suggest that the coach of a young team do a little soul searching.  I mean, it’s one thing to deal with a team that isn’t quite skilled enough to compete with their typical opponents, and quite another if the coach just hasn’t done his or her job well enough to help the kids compete.  (Sorry to have to say that, guys, but it surely has to be considered.)

Next — with that out of the way, I think it’s necessary to arrive at a few acceptable substitutes for winning.

Communication is key here — with the players, as well as with the parents.

As far as those substitutions go, I think the coach is going to have to do some serious “selling”, again with both players and parents.

When dealing with young ones, I don’t think it would be right to criticize them too much IF a coach knows they’re just not up to their opponents.

As for those “substitutions” (for winning), what I’m suggesting is that it might be a good idea for the coach to give his or her young team some other ways to measure their success.  Maybe it could be for the team to collectively allow fewer than x-number of goals against a given opponent.  Or, perhaps it could be that the kids are asked to execute a given part of their team play to a certain degree of satisfaction.

This aside…  Years ago I had a young goaltender who was playing for my team and for his local hometown squad.  He was getting awfully frustrated and wanted to quit the other team, because they were frequently getting blasted — like 10-0.  So, I convinced him to play a separate game for himself…  What I suggested was that he imagine that his own team started each game with something like a 10-goal lead, and that it was his job to take it from there, and hopefully preserve the imaginary win.  And, son of a gun, my goalie and his parents told me it worked!

As I offered earlier, it’s also a good idea to present a different way for a losing team’s parents to look at things…

This can put an awful lot of pressure on a coach.  Because, what I’m going to suggest is that he or she promise the parents that their kids are going to make slow but sure gains with each passing practice and game.

I know, easier said than done.

If you think about it, however, what parents usually want for their kids is 1) that they feel good about their rink experiences, and 2) that they have a chance of continuing to play after the current season is completed.

So, the main chore — at least to me — is for the coach to keep parents focused on those two things, while also being absolutely sure he or she keeps his or her side of the bargain.

Ya, admitting one has a losing team doesn’t take the coach off the hot seat.  In fact there’s going to be plenty of pressure on him or her to keep the promises he or she makes — to the players and to the parents.  But, the above approach might at least help everyone get along — and keep smiling — during some very difficult times.

Replacing a Tired or Injured Player

Always trying to respond quickly to member questions, the following one just came-in moments ago.  Actually, the real question (that wouldn’t fit in the title area) is whether an injured or tired player who is stuck behind the play should come-off the ice.

– Dennis Chighisola

Replacing a Tired or Injured Player

First, it would probably be helpful that I describe my “basic rule” for changing on the fly…

A player looking to come-off the ice should always make sure the puck is safe before doing so.  Or, in general, he or she would want to be absolutely sure there isn’t going to be a threat to his or her net within the few seconds it’ll take to make the player exchange.

Now, under normal conditions, a player who is very far behind the play should still really hustle back.  It’s pretty likely that the only opponent left uncovered will be an enemy point-man, and those guys (or gals) oftentimes DO — left uncovered — get their chances at walking to our net for a rebound or pass.

That said, I guess every rule is meant to be broken.  Or, in this case — with a player overly tired or injured, I think we have to use a little common sense…

- Frankly, that sort of player is probably no immediate use to us.

- For safety purposes, we probably won’t want an injured player to stay on the ice, anyway.

- As for the guy or gal who is really dragging, it probably would be a good idea that he or she get to the bench.

Of course, there’s always a gray area in all of these types of situations.  And, within the few seconds it usually takes for a player to limp back towards his or her end, I’ve often been able to communicate with him or her.  In other words, it’s quite likely I would call or wave for that player to get to the bench as a fresh player speeds onto the ice and towards our zone.

A Drill To Help Hockey Players Be Aggressive

Ironically, a request just came-in for a drill to help hockey players be more aggressive.  I say ironically, because one of the dads from my AAA Mite team also asked the same thing a few weeks back.

The dad was concerned that his son wasn’t battling enough for loose pucks.  So, since helping one boy usually also helps everyone else on the team, I created the following — very simple drill — to accomplish just that.

– Dennis Chighisola

A Drill To Help Hockey Players Be Aggressive

Well, I said the drill was simple.  So…

All I do is form two lines of players out near a blueline, with the first player in each line laying prone (just to get a fair start between competitors).

I then call, “Go!” and send a puck towards a corner, at which time two players race towards the puck.

The objective is for the players to do a little battle, with the winner eventually gaining possession of the puck and firing a nice pass to my stick.

The drill only lasts a few seconds.  And, with two coaches and lines working on opposite sides of the ice, a lot of players could stay involved in a fairly short period of time.

Anyway, take a look at a few of my kids giving this drill a try during one of my ADM segments…

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I did make a few adjustments after running this drill once or twice…

I’m not crazy about the dangers of having two players going full-tilt towards the boards, so I now more often slide the loose pucks so they sit a ways away from the boards.

I also started changing my position on the ice — after I’d dumped the puck, just so the kids have to find me with their passes.

Two Hands or One on the Hockey Stick

This just happens to be another of those frequently asked questions — about when or IF a player should hold his or her hockey stick in one or two hands.  So, always aiming to please, here’s my recommendation…

– Dennis Chighisola

Two Hands or One on the Hockey Stick

The short answer to part of that question is that, a player absolutely has to control his or her stick in two hands at certain times, and then in one hand at certain other times!

Given that, I always separate the rest of this question into two parts — as in when a player is on offense, and when he or she is on defense.

Stick Grips While On Defense

When our opponents control the puck and we’re away from the opposition puckhandler, there are generally two things we can do…

In one instance we may be matched with an open opponent, which calls for us to control his or her body and stick to prevent a pass from connecting.

At yet other times we may be positioned to intercept a pass between the opposition puckhandler and his or her open teammate.

In both instances, it’s obviously necessary for the defender to have both hands on the hockey stick.

When our opponents control the puck and we’re responsible for dealing with the puckcarrier, I feel it can be hugely beneficial to use one hand on the stick for a period of time…

Whether we’re in a body-checking or non-checking game, it’s necessary for a defensive player to veer the puckcarrier in a given direction (usually towards the outside, towards the boards, or generally towards an area where he or she is easier to trap).  This steering is best down while approaching from an angle and also holding the stick in one hand — using it sort of like a steering tool.  Nowadays, however, with the new checking rules, I recommend that the defender switch to two hands as he or she closes-in on the puckcarrier.

By the way…  The use of one hand on the stick is also necessary as a backward skating defenseman plays an attacker in a 1 on 1 situation.

Stick Grips While On Offense

Any time an offensive player wants to be available for a pass, it’s obviously important for him or her to give a stick-target and to ultimately try to receive a pass while holding the stick in two hands.

That said, the rules change drastically for a puckhandler as he or she tries to deke an enemy defender.  Oh, for sure, an attacker can make some decent fakes with the stick held in two hands.  However, his or her reach — or the extent of his or her deke — is extremely limited with this sort of stick grip.  For that reason, you’ll see our game’s most dangerous attackers “dangle” the puck far outward with the stick held only in the top hand.  Then — if the defender takes the bait, the puck can be quickly pulled back a pretty long distance in the opposite direction.

In yet another 1 against 1 situation, it is often easier for a player to protect the puck by holding it far out and away from a nearby defender (as in the above photo).

So, as I hope you’ll appreciate, there are different times during the game action when it’s advantageous for a hockey player to hold his or her stick in either one hand or two.

Mario Lemieux Attacks the Open Triangle

Thanks to YouTube and a Facebook friend, the following video shows a great example of attacking one of the defender’s open triangles.

Especially helpful in this video is the fact that so many views are provided, as well as some nice slow-motion replay.  In other words, it gives us the chance to really study the way Lemieux beat the backward skating defenseman.

– Dennis Chighisola

Mario Lemieux Attacks the Open Triangle

Given the chance to watch that a number of times, I noticed that Lemieux does something we ought to study again…

I mean, I am forever suggesting that the set-up of a move is as important as the move itself.

In this case, notice the huge fake Lemieux makes towards his left, dangling the puck far out that way, and making the defender believe he really is heading to the left.

Yes, only with that exaggerated deke is a slip of the puck through the defenseman’s legs going to work.

Also, if young players are watching this, I’d to point-out that Lemieux makes a beautiful pass to himself, angling the puck so that it arrives just where he needs to pick it up a split-second later.

Aaaah, man, I love the opportunities we have today to study and study some of hockey’s all-time greats.

Ropponen (Goalie) Recovery Drill

Hey, despite there already being thousands of great tidbits of hockey advice here, I’m not opposed to going outside CoachChic.com when it comes to finding help for you.  In other words, I hope to save you tons of time by doing the research for you.

As for this post, Jukka Ropponen is a noted Finnish goalie coach with plenty of great ideas when it comes to goaltender training.  And, a popular drill used by Ropponen to help a netminder move across his or her crease — or to recover from one side to the other — is the following…

– Dennis Chighisola

Ropponen (Goalie) Recovery Drill

Just click on the YouTube.com logo to see more drills by Ropponen.

Hockey Fights!

Well, I suppose I should ask you to watch the following video before I really get into what I feel compelled to say.  Sooooo, please do…

– Dennis Chighisola

Hockey Fights!

Ouch!  Ouch!  And ouch!

Okay, so trust me:  that I can appreciate how countless 20-something fans can really get into hockey fights like the one you’ve just watched.  Frankly, so did I when I was much younger.  In fact, I can totally understand how hockey fans love to see a lot of rough and tumble things as they watch a game and cheer for their favorite team — including the big, bone-crushing body-checks, especially when these come at the expense of a not-so-well-liked foe.  Ya, I can appreciate all of that.

Oh, I’m not about to tell you that I’ve grown-up, and that’s the reason I’m not so enthralled anymore with the likes of fighting or even those big hits.  Naw, it has nothing to do with me turning 30, 40, 50 or the 105-years old am right now. 

No, what happened to me is that I got deeper and deeper into coaching as I got older, and I especially got more into helping players at the developmental levels of our game.

This aside, however…  A lot of years ago I had three minor pro coaching interviews.  And, let me tell you, I’d have turned a pro team loose back then, IF it meant changing a game’s momentum or exciting our hometown fans.  (Make no mistake about it:  the pro game — especially in some smaller minor league markets — is all about putting fannies in the seats and bringing the fans to their feet on a regular basis. And I could have gone along with that way back when, as much as I go for the more stylish flow of an international game nowadays.)

But, as I said moments ago, I’m not coaching the pros.  Instead, my job is to guide young players towards their maximum potential.  And, that means I have to help them be successful through a number of levels before they have the chance to even think about the pros.

I mean, young players have to move through all the youth hockey levels, they have to play high school and/or juniors, and many of them will have to show their stuff at the collegiate level before they get a pro sniff.  And, a player is NOT going to ever get that sniff — frankly, he’s never going to get ice-time at any of the lower levels — if he plays for himself, if he plays without discipline, and if he kills his team with needless penalties.  (Actually, the penalties are so severe at the lower levels that an undisciplined player is going to be suspended or booted from his league in pretty short order.)

Again, this is NOT me being a bleeding heart or anything.  I’ve already stated that I’d have gone for the rough stuff if I was coaching elsewhere.  But, since I coach where I coach, the best thing I can do is to conscientiously guide the guys in my charge, and help them make their ways up the hockey ladder without incident.

I mentioned earlier about the big, sensational body-checks…  Not that I’m against these.  However, as one pro player famous for such told me once, “You can’t run around looking to make the big hit, or you’ll look foolish.  Instead you just take them when they come.”  In further talking on the subject, he mentioned that, “The highlight videos you see weren’t taken from one game.”

Personally, I think that some supposedly big hits can be risky.  In other words, they can be too much of a gamble, whereby a player might win big by completing the check, but he might also lose big-time if he misses.

Oh, and another thing…  I hope players (and parents) appreciate that coaches — at all levels — want control.  Ya, sure, I personally might have an ego that requires my players to toe the mark.  More importantly, however, I and every other amateur coach on the planet has his neck in a noose — as in having to answer to program heads, athletic directors and league authorities.  And, make no mistake about it — and like it or not, every player on a team is representing his coach, his mates, his league and the sport.  Said yet another way:  I (and my program) ain’t going to look idiotic because of a single, loose cannon player.  Ya, if it’s him or me, you can just guess who is going down the river first.

All that said, let me put the amateur level of our game in a slightly different perspective…  You see, I usually look for a “teaching moment” whereby some player (and hopefully one that isn’t mine) does something to disgrace himself.  (It happens often enough.)  With that, I’ll talk to my kids about their love of the game — or, more specifically, their respect for the game they supposedly love.  It’ll be a “shooting the bull” kind of talk, within which I try to draw from them a true feeling for their game, and a sense of how they almost always show their respect — or disrespect — anytime they’re at a rink.

Finally, I’m sure that not everyone will go along with me on the above.  However, it all is stuff I really felt needed saying.

*

Do you have similar or different feelings?  I’d truly like to hear them.  And, don’t be shy if you don’t agree.  I’d really like to know the other side of this issue.

New Poll – About How You Hold a Hockey Stick

You wouldn’t believe how many people arrive here at CoachChic.com having searched Google and elsewhere for help on how to hold a hockey stick!  So, besides having provided some serious answers to this question already, I thought I’d also host a poll on how experienced hockey players HOLD and CONTROL their sticks.

What I’ve done is made it a two-part question, asking where they (YOU) place the dominant hand, and then which hand — dominant or non-dominant — is used to actually control the stick’s actions.

So, if you’ll just look up above for the page link — or click here…  POLL, it only takes a second or two to register your vote.

And, won’t it be interesting to follow the results?  (I’ll say!)

– Dennis Chighisola

Oh, by the way…  Anyone can vote (either as members or non-members).

Beating the First Checker on the Breakout

Most coaches agree:  that just beating the opponents’ first checker is going to greatly help the success of a team’s breakout.  That being the case, why not make a drill out it?

– Dennis Chighisola

Beating the First Checker on the Breakout

Whether coaching my high school team or my current Mite AAA’s, my assistant coaches and I take turns dumping a puck and then pressuring a 5-man unit on their breakout.

We coaches frequently wear similar colors — or similar warm-up suits.  So, as in the videos you’ll soon see, I tell my kids to just spot the coach “in black”, and move the puck away from him.

I intentionally have a unit execute the breakout three times in succession.  I don’t know if I can explain myself well enough about this, but let me try…  I’ve always figured that a group has the luxury of “thinking” on their first attempt at a given challenge.  However, each subsequent repetition has to be done rather quickly, which forces the player to “react” a whole lot more.

Okay, in the following video you’re also going to notice a coach purposely doing a few things…  Sometimes we’ll move quickly right down the back of a player who is picking-up the puck, this forcing him to move the puck to his partner (for example).  At yet other times we’ll go directly towards an open man — like the near winger or the defenseman’s partner, which signals the puckhandler’s need to move the puck away from that area…

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Now that you’ve seen the drill, I’d like to point-out a couple of things…

One of our D misfired on a pass, and it almost cost him a clean breakout.  You have to understand that I truly appreciate a kid’s efforts on such a play, since I care more about his intentions than his success — at least right now.  Hey, this is practice, he knows the right thing to do, and more practice is only going to help him get better.

God bless my little guys, but…  Not long ago I introduced one-touch passing.  So, I thought it was unbelievable that our young winger in the second video several times taps his pass right to the centerman coming by.  Awesome, huh? 

Circle Keepaway

This hockey drill is an old standby many members might already recognize.

I’ve actually used it for years with my older players.  However, having seen the need to help my young Mite AAA’s with their passing game, I thought I’d give it a try with them (if only as a test).

As you’re going to see, though, I am sticking with this drill with my young kids — for a long time to come.

– Dennis Chighisola

Circle Keepaway

The drill is simple enough to assemble…  Just place a small group of players around a circle, and then place one player in the middle.  The objective is for the kids on the circle to move the puck around while not allowing the player in the middle to steal the puck.  A player who makes a poor pass or loses the puck because he mishandles the reception has to swap places with the one in the middle.

As an aside…  I prefaced the real drill by having my Mites initially just pass the puck around the circle.  Once they understood that part, I then introduced the player in the middle, and explained the consequences of not executing their passes correctly.

Now, before showing you a brief clip of the action, let me tell you that I especially love drills that force players to do some problem-solving.  And, in this regard, I was actually totally surprised at how well my group of fairly young kids did just that.

I mean, within a few minutes I saw kids attempting flip (or saucer) passes, and I even noticed a bunch of them realizing they shouldn’t telegraph their passes.  In other words, they ultimately started to look or fake one way, then they shuttled the puck in an opposite direction.  Unbelievable! 

Okay, have a look at a brief video clip, and I’ll make another suggestion right after…

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Now, I said at the start that I use this drill with older hockey players — and I’ve used it with my high school guys and my old college team.  So, it certainly seems a good drill to use for enhancing the passing and receiving skills of all the levels between Mites and Bantams.

Actually, I will quite often introduce one-touch passing skills to my older guys, long prior to using the above drill.  Then, with that, I can eventually ask those more advanced players to use their tap-passes skills during the Circle Keepaway drill.

State of Mind

State of Mind

If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you do not
If you like to win but think you can’t
It’s almost certain you won’t

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost
For out in the world you find
Success begins with a fellow’s will,
It’s all in a state of mind

Full many a race is lost
Before a step is run
And many a coward falls
Before the works begun

Think big and your dreams will grow
Think small and you’ll fall behind
Think that you can and you will,
It’s all in a state of mind

If you think you are out-classed, you are
You’ve got to think high to rise
You’ve got to be sure of yourself
Before you can win a prize

Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man
But, sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can,
It’s all in the state of mind.

-Anonymous

Compliments of…

WWW.ATHLETESEQUATION.COM

Thanks to Jason Price and his Athletes Equation team, you may download and print a more attractive copy of this message:

State of Mind

Recent Hockey Game Notes

If there’s a difference between my coaching schedule and those of most members, it’s that my high school guys started way back in June only to leave me shortly, while my youngest teams are just getting underway now-ish.

However, the slightly different timing of our programs aside, I’m hoping the following observations will still help a lot of you.

– Dennis Chighisola

Recent Hockey Game Notes

My HS Prep Team
We had a nightmarish problem with our high school league this fall…  We’d been set for nearly a decade in the very same, very convenient game schedule, when all of a sudden the league folded.  That made it necessary for me to at least try to piece together some games, mostly as a means of checking a few things.  (If you’ve come to know me by now, you know that our numerous practices are far more important to me than the games.)

Going back to last spring, I’ve chronicled our conditioning and speed work for you, with a lot of the sample videos especially showing my guys working off-ice.  As I so often suggest, a lot more can usually be accomplished away from the ice, partly because of the equipment we can only use in that venue.

That’s not to say that these qualities aren’t being enhanced on the ice — far from it.  But, rather than doing very much of the traditional sprinting up and down the rink’s length, I look to work my kids’ conditioning over the course of a long practice.  In other words, the accumulation of fast paced drills over an hour can really do the trick.  Then, at practice’s end, I’ll usually do something I refer to as “The Finisher”.  And by that, I mean a drill that tends to finish the kids off, or deplete their energy pretty much to the max.

Anyway, what I really want to share with you today has to do with my players’ abilities to bounce back after a pretty tough workout…  You see, we had a game the other night, this played with a rather short roster.  So, when my guys reported to The MOTION Lab the next night — for one of their weekly off-ice workouts, I asked each how they felt that morning (or that “morning after”).  If you can appreciate it, the out-of-shape guy is going to be really, really sore.  But, my guys — to the young man — said they felt fine.  Aaaaah…  I just love it when a plan works.

I might also mention here about my teaching plan for a given night…  Oh, I surely DO stick to an overall plan — this I’ve mentioned countless times within these pages.  At the same time, I want the luxury of reacting to the kids’ needs on any given night.  So, in this regard, I really adjusted the Lab training to go along with the fact that this was the day after a tough game, as well as the fact that we had another game scheduled for two nights later.  What I did then, was mainly aimed at getting my guys to sweat some — to stay active, and to work a little on some skills.  Again, keeping them active was going to be a huge benefit, while beating on them would have been hugely counterproductive.

Finally, our game schedule is complete now, while my guys still have a little more than a week to go before their respective high school tryouts.  Ironically, I know players in this particular age group — soon facing those high school tryouts — have at least three options:

- I discovered recently that the teams we’d placed over the past few weeks are now done.  In other words, with still at least 10-days to go until tryouts, there is nothing for them.  Hmmmmmm…

- Next week — the week before high school tryouts — is a time when the unsuspecting public is going to be fleeced by a number of local high school coaches.  Ya, I’m sorry to have to say that, but…  What will be offered at nearly every local rink will be something called a “high school conditioning camp” (or something close to that).  Now, I have to ask you:  Can a player actually get into top condition in a single week?  Hardly.  In fact, I’d fear that a player attending such a program might just leave his or her best right there on the week-before practice ice.

- My guys are going to stay with me until it’s time for them to head-off to their school teams.  My main aim during our last week together is to keep the kids sharp, to keep-up with their conditioning (somewhat), to protect them from potential bumps or bruises, and to generally send them off feeling rather loosey-goosey.  Ya, in contrast to the previous method, I want to send my kids to their tryouts feeling as healthy as they can be.

My AAA Mite Major Team
Although my young guys have been together since last spring, our schedule has been a little fragmented.  We had some random off-season practice (both on-ice and off-ice, these detailed in some previous posts).  My kids have skated three times per week as part of an ADM program, and we’ve gotten an odd extra full-ice practice together on occasion.

That said, I had no doubt my kids would match well (or better than) most opponents when it came to individual skills.  And this proved so, as we won the fall 3 versus 3 league.  How we’d do in a full-ice game — owing to our limited full-ice practice time — was still to be seen.

Ugh…  We had our first full-ice game last weekend, and the results weren’t anything near our 3 on 3 play.  No, we lost, 6-3, to a team we had beaten (usually handily) over the fall months.

Was it the change in format that made the difference?  Oh, I’m not the type who jumps to those kinds of conclusions — not after just one game.  However, as I always do, I took the some detailed notes from that first full-ice game…

- First — of all things, our first game in this format was almost highlighted by a number of players being away with older brothers at a distant tournament.  I guess this wasn’t much that could have been done about this, but the conflict surely did come at a wrong time.  Not only was our bench short, but all the lines that had worked together for months were pretty much fragmented.  Oh, well…  I guess it’ll be a long winter, and things will be back to normal for most of the remaining games.

- We do a set warm-up prior to every practice and game, this being two fold — 1) to warm the kids, and 2) to give them hundreds (or probably thousands) of repetitions at some very good skill drills.  In other words, performing those over the entire fall and winter is going to really change the kids.  (As an FYI here…  I gradually change those drills as the kids master certain ones.)  Anyway, while the four things I have the kids do will easily fit into the provided 3-minutes of pre-game time, I will have to help the kids pace the drills a bit better.

- I’ve worked quite a few times on backchecking with this groups, but I made a note that I should revert to a standard drill that should help the kids further in this regard.  I like to “shut down” opponents, but that wasn’t really a feasible tactic with all our rather chaotic 3 versus 3 games.  Actually, the drill I have in mind is shown in our Drills section as the “Backchecking Drill (1/2 Ice)“.

- Understandably, some of our young defensemen had difficulty keeping pucks inside the offensive zone.  Again, it’s understandable.  So, I’ll make sure I build some drilling in on that, much like I mention in the earliest part of “Following a Defenseman Through His/Her Defensive Duties“.

- Actually, my kids didn’t do badly dealing with the off-sides rule for the first time.  Ironically, a difficulty I spotted last Sunday was something even older guys struggle with — as in a puckcarrier not hurrying to attain the offensive blueline.  (In other words, a rush is far too often going to be whistled for an off-side if the puckcarrier dilly-dallies with the puck prior to reaching the blueline.)  So, about all I can think to do with this is to organize plenty of rushes while also pressing our puckcarriers to hurry to puck on-side.

- Line changes not being the same in our many previous 3 on 3 games, I’ve failed to prepare my kids beyond the basics.  Oh, we have worked on “5 off, 5 on”.  However, I did NOT prepare my kids for getting an extra skater on the ice for a delayed penalty call.  In this regard, I will have my “next center up” be prepared to take the place of our goaltender on this play.  (Understand that there isn’t time for a coach to search the bench for a capable player, so I usually designate a position I feel is fairly strong.)

- Now, I’m going to group a number of our overall problem on one thing I can only surmise…  I mean, some of my defensemen were absent when it came to guarding their net, while far too many of our rushes gained little because puckcarriers took shots from the worst spots possible.  So, what is it I suspect?  Hmmmmm…  If I had to bet, it would be that a lot of the conversation on the way to our game had to do with parents prodding “young Johnny” to score a batch of goals.  Well, what would you think if you saw some D constantly skate the puck up-ice while a host of teammates were far ahead?  And, what would you think if you saw a number of young attackers take shots from a bad angle while a teammate sat in front of the enemy goal?  Oh, you might chock it up to the new game conditions, but we handled those situations unbelievably in all of our 3 on 3 games (where conditions were all the more difficult).  Ya, parents likely put more emphasis on this one game, it being our first on the large surface.  But, we are in for a long season if they teach the game — from home, in the car, wherever.

Okay, as I intimated earlier, I’m not about to change my whole approach based on one game, and especially one loss.  However, since a loss is usually a lot more telling than a win (where it’s harder to notice mistakes), I absolutely WILL make some practice adjustments over coming weeks.

Already I’ve had my kids work on 2-man rushes on-goal, and this is ultimately going to build towards 3-man rushes.  Darn, but we need to ultimately let the best located player take the shot.

Whether real or imagined, I think I do have to communicate with my parents when it comes to coaching their kids behind the scenes.  As Dr LaVoi and I explain in the post (and video) entitled “Up the Boards, Johnny!“, there are some dangers involved in their doing this.

A Different Kind of Hockey Memory

By Dennis DeFrehn

My story might be a little different than the typical hockey player.  Even though I grew up in New England, there were no local leagues around, or at least none I knew of.  Hockey for me was NHL 94 on the Sega Genesis, or a Whalers game at the Civic Center, even though the Bruins were always my team.

I ended up going to school in Boston, right on The Commons.  When winter descended upon the city the Pond in the Public Gardens froze over, and the Four Seasons would shovel it for their guests’ enjoyment.  While that was all good and well, the Park Rangers didn’t take too kindly to college kids showing up with pucks and sticks.  But, after dark, well into the night, the ice would be open. And it would be Ours.

We called it the Midnight Hockey League.  Pure Pond Hockey, at its roots, in the heart of one of the greatest hockey cities around.  We’d usually have about 6 people, all casual players, all fans of the game.  Every player knows how it feels to step out on the ice, and have it to yourself, whether it’s a rink at 6 in the morning, or a local pond.  There, in The Commons, it was an amazing experience. A mix of the chill of the winter air, paired with the fact that we weren’t supposed to be out there, playing in the shadow of the Prudential Tower in the middle of the night.   A bunch of friends together, enjoying the game  in it’s purest form.  No score. Just the sound of the skates carving the murky ice, the puck coming off a stick, or the laughter that would ensue when somebody took a dive into the snowbank.

Those nights out on the ice are some of my fondest memories from college, and it cemented my love of the game.

Following a Defenseman Through His/Her Defensive Duties

As I’ve mentioned numerous times before, I develop a lot of my drill ideas from following either a team’s or an individual player’s movements — from zone to zone, and depending on whether the team or individual is in possession of the puck.

With that, this first post in a series of related ones is going to trace the movements of a defenseman through all three zones while the opposition controls the puck.

Again, though, the main idea for doing this is to arrive at ways of helping a blueliner perform his or her job well.

– Dennis Chighisola

Following a Defenseman Through His/Her Defensive Duties

The first thing I need to emention is that almost every thing in this section should seem pretty obvious.  The second thing I feel compelled to say is that far too many hockey folks skip the obvious.  Thirdly, if there’s a reason I often get really good results in helping my players, it’s because I make absolutely sure they can execute the very basics perfectly.

Now, don’t worry about the following defenseman’s movements whizzing across your screen rather quickly.  You can watch it a number of times if you’d like.  Besides, I’m going to next cover each of these one by one…

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Now, for whatever reason/s, I personally always begin my studies in the zone furthest from my team’s net.

• Doing so, I suggest that a defenseman’s movements across the offensive blueline are critical.

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I want my D — in this kind of forchecking system — to move quickly from a stick’s length off their own side boards to a spot in-line with the net post on their side of the ice.  Perfection is what I look for here (and everywhere else), with each defenseman being ready to corral any loose puck and any time.

As for developing a drill for this…

- A coach might just call-out key commands — like, “Forecheck left!” and “Forecheck right!” to have the players react.  The coach could also have the defensemen react to a puck being passed from one corner to the other.

- I ultimately make this even more game related by occasionally sending pucks out the D’s way — up the boards, or towards anywhere within their movement patterns.

• A defenseman’s pinch can be executed a little differently, depending on the forechecking system used.  It can be more difficult for the D to pinch straight down the boards as in the above point positioning.  On the other hand (although I messed-up the following video by placing the defenseman too close to mid-ice), D in my 2-1-2 position in-line with the face-off dots, which makes it easier for them to trap the near winger by approaching from about a 45-degree angle.

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- For a drill, I will usually fire pucks around the boards from the far side corner, this signaling to the defenseman to move toward the near winger.

• Sad to say, our opponents are at times going to start carrying the puck out of their zone.  And with that, our defensemen must be very quick getting off the mark.

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- This is a biggie to me, and I especially think this is important to my HS Prep defensemen as they ready to go off for the high school tryouts.  So, the following video shows just one drill I developed to put my D under game-like pressure.  (Actually, as you’ll see, I’m also trying to get my forwards to practice moving the puck as quickly as possible.)

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- FYI…  The idea of that drill wasn’t for my defenseman to really “play” the forward.  All I wanted was for him to concentrate on his speed of execution, or to beat the forward in a race to the rink’s center-line.

• As defensemen retreat through neutral-ice and into their defensive zone, they must be well versed in playing each unique numerical rush.

The photo to the left shows typical match-ups a single defender might face, while the photo to the right shows the situations a pair of D must prepare for.

Not shown here are the situations where a backchecking teammate’s help slightly alters what the defensemen might do.

• Once back in their own end, a pair of defenders usually have to rotate from covering a puckcarrier in their own corner to guarding in the slot area.  So, a lot like the point rotation movements shown at the start, I like to also have my D work on quickly moving between their two main stations (the corner and the slot).

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Is there a silver bullet for perfecting a defenseman’s play?  I think not.  There’s a lot to be perfected from the above, and just doing that — mastering each of the described movements — is going to make a defender pretty valuable to his or her team.

If anything, there is quite a bit of explosive skating and agility required in many of these movements.  And as such, older players should practice them for short durations at maximum intensity.  I mean, like fly across the offensive blueline, and then react back; fly across, react quickly back.

Finally, long ago I described something called my “MP Drill Format“, which is an awesome way to practice all of a team’s movements — from forechecking to backchecking to playing numerical rushes to defensive zone coverage, and then on to the offensive side of the game.  So, I highly recommend members review that system of drilling, and put it to use.

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I was able to gather some new video a few days after I initially posted this article.  So, having shown you an off-ice version of my defensemen working on their quickness off the blueline, I thought I’d add for you some footage of the same guys working on the ice…

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PS:  The timing of this drill is tricky — in order to get a meaningful foot-race going between the forwards and the D.  At the same time, I had to later prod my forwards to work on their speed, since they’re not helping their defensive teammates by going less than all-out.

Just a Few Reasons to Start a Floorball Program

With the help of others, I continue to study this exciting new sport.

I was fortunate to find the following video, which is an interview with an elementary school principal.

As my title suggests, it offers some valid reasons why floorball might be a better choice than floor hockey or street hockey.  However, I like some of the insight offered (between the lines) about equipment options and the way the game is played.

– Dennis Chighisola

Just a Few Reasons to Start a Floorball Program

What It Takes to Make It in Hockey

I didn’t pick the above title with the idea that every member is aiming towards the NHL.  However, I think everyone here is hoping to enjoy the game more, to have some successes — at his or her own level, and to ultimately feel good about his or her hockey experiences.

That in mind, I happened across this series of videos featuring Steven Stamkos, compliments of Nike Training and YouTube.com.

There’s a story being told here, for sure.  However, what I’d like members to do — besides gaining an appreciation for Stamkos’ dedication — is to make some mental notes about the exercises he’s doing.  Then, just as an FYI…  We actually use most of those training gadgets in The MOTION Lab, outdoors or at our roller hockey facility.

Anyway, enjoy…

– Dennis Chighisola

What It Takes to Make It in Hockey

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

The “Logo Forecheck”

I like to respond quickly to member requests (hey, being here for YOU is what I and CoachChic.com should be all about).

I mention this because Tim T just wrote and asked, “What are some situations where a coach would have players back off from an aggressive forecheck?”

Ah, what an awesome question, and it’s one that I actually wanted to address with my members sometime this month.  So, with that, let’s explore something called…

– Dennis Chighisola

The “Logo Forecheck”

Actually, that title — in reference to the “Logo Forecheck” — is not the way I usually present this line of thinking to my players.  I happen to call it “Facing-up”.  Still, as you’ll soon discover, either name will work for a group of players, mainly because both names are very descriptive of what needs to be done or needs to be considered.

Now, in case you don’t totally appreciate Tim’s question, I think the best way to begin is to share something I witnessed a few years ago while watching one of my grandson’s high school hockey games…

He played in a pretty high caliber league back then, which not only included a lot of great players, but also a lot of pretty sharp coaches.

Anyway, one evening The Good Guys played a very talented and well coached team from Rhode Island.

Every so often I’d hear some fairly loud communications going on down on the ice below me, this usually happening as the RI team dumped the puck and moved into their forecheck.

It only took a few instances for me to understand what the yelling was all about.  You See, if my grandson’s team was able to quickly gather the dumped puck, there was the likelihood that they could begin their breakout before the RI group could move into their aggressive forechecking positions.

Now, think about that a little more if you need to…  In other words, as Tim T has suggested, an aggressive forecheck is going to get stuck — or trapped — any time the opponents are able to start their breakout quicker than the aggressive forecheck can be deployed.

As I recall, the RI team was using a version of the 2-1-2 as their basic aggressive forecheck.  However, what I’d hear one or more of their forwards yelling at times was, “One!  One!”  Yup, upon seeing certain conditions unfolding, at least one lead forward would alert everyone else as to the need to abandon their aggressive 2-1-2, and to instead move into a more conservative scheme that had only one forward pressuring the puck.

Okay, so you’re wondering where the “logo” or “facing-up” designations come in?

Well, as I’ve heard other coaches say, one good read — on whether it is safe to be aggressive or not — is if the earliest forechecker/s can see the logo on the front of the rival puckcarrier’s jersey.  Said yet another way, if an enemy puckcarrier has good control of the puck and he’s already facing-up ice as you’re moving into the offensive zone, it might not be wise to be aggressive.

Again, I think the use of the term “logo” is fine.  However, as I attempted to teach related principles to my high school prep team a few years back, I wanted whatever key word or phrase I’d use to cover a number of things…

As I mentioned just moments ago, an opponent’s good control of the puck is as important in this read as is his posture (like facing-up the ice).  I mean, if you can see that player’s logo but he’s fumbling with a puck in his skates (or whatever), there might still be a chance to check aggressively.

Then, while I’ve never heard this kind of reading and reacting mentioned by color commentators during television broadcasts of games, I can assure you that every high level team employs some form of this decision-making.  They use it as I’ve described above, and they’ll at least use it while in the midst of a line change.

Of course, the first question I expect from member coaches will have to do with the age groups that might be able to deploy this kind of tactic.  So, in my opinion, it should at least be used by teams from Midgets and high schools on up through juniors, colleges and pros.

Could pretty headsy Pee Wees and Bantams use it?  I think so.  The main criteria, as far as I’m concerned, would be that a team be able to understand and effectively apply two drastically different types of forechecks — one being aggressive, the other being conservative.

Oh, and one last thing…  Within this “Thinking the Game” category, you’re going to hear me frequently refer to the need for players to play with balance and to be able to think and skate at the same time.  Ya, as one moves up the hockey ladder, he or she can’t just run around without a purpose.  And ultimately, he or she is going to need to read and react to various situations much like I’ve described here.

Tips for Winning Face-offs

Young hockey players are fortunate in this day and age, what with the likes of YouTube.com and similar sites offering them the chance to learn form some of the best in the world.  And I am always on the lookout for additional videos (beyond my own) any time I feel they will benefit CoachChic.com members.

Now, before you watch the following video, I want to emphasize something that’s said right at the very start, in that all face-off situations are slightly different.  So, a centerman must take into consideration things like how he and his counterpart hold their sticks, as well as where the face-off will take place.

With that, have a look, because this video contains some VERY good advice…

– Dennis Chighisola

Tips for Winning Face-offs

Another Introduction to Floorball

I have our friend Michael Borg to thank for the following video.  And, as you’ll see, there’s some added information offered in this one…

– Dennis Chighisola

Another Introduction to Floorball