The Missing Element

Shaun Goodsell, MA

It is probably safe to say that every person has something they want that they do not currently have. For some it boils down to more success. Still others want less stress and heartache. So the question is, what is the critical factor that leads to accomplishment?

The most popular ideas include setting goals, hard work and having confidence in yourself. Although these are important, accomplishment requires that you are ACCOUNTABLE. In other words, you have a commitment to someone else to follow through on your word. Research shows that when you make a statement to someone else and are asked to “ACCOUNT” for what you have done or are doing to move towards that goal an element of “pressure” is present that is crucial for those that are serious about accomplishing their goals. In business it is often stated that what is expected gets inspected. In our day and age we have moved so far from this. Most people have stopped dreaming, and even more problematic, wouldn’t consider sharing their hopes and dreams with a person that would hold them to what they have said. Actually, in some circles if a person would provide accountability they would be chastised and told to mind their own business. The fact is that there is no accomplishment without discipline and follow through on necessary elements of success. The law of cause and effect dictates that effect is the by-product of cause. The concept of cause is what we do and effect is what we get. Mustering up the capacity to DO the things necessary is enhanced in a culture of accountability and a kind of “Peer Pressure” is formed. When this plays out in the right manner success is elevated at high rates.

If you are one that has a goal you want to accomplish here are three simple, but vital, tips in being able to realize your potential and accomplish your goal. First, write your goal down with clarity. Most important here is that you have to be able to measure it. Second, establish the actions and commitment required to accomplish your goal. Third, become part of a group of people that will “inspect” your daily actions to determine whether or not you deserve to accomplish your goal.

The Mental Edge has a new service launching in February to provide you with your own private web page that includes a place to record your goals, track your actions and have a Mental Edge coach overseeing your daily record of your actions and providing immediate feedback. All this can be done on your smart phone or home computer by registering for our Mental Edge Goal Achievement Program.

The Mental Edge is committed to training kids through these types of experiences. For more information and to begin your life training process give us a call today 763-439-5246.

A Hockey Center’s Defensive Role

I’d like you to know that this series was inspired by a number of members.  Actually, I thought it was going to be an easy job — following different positional players around the game ice.  But, for a reason I’ll save for the final installment, it’s been a whole lot more difficult.

Anyway, for the time being, let’s follow a centerman around the ice.

– Dennis Chighisola

A Hockey Center’s Defensive Role

Beginning with a game-opening draw, I ask my centermen to move nearly all face-offs back towards their rear.  There’s a far better chance of gaining control of the puck if it’s pulled back amid teammates.

Immediately after the draw, a centerman should tie-up his counterpart, at least for a few seconds.  (I can’t tell you how many ways that guy can hurt you.  But, to name just a few:   a free center can steal the puck and head straight towards our net; or he could break through to pounce on one of our players with the puck.)

Thereafter our centerman will likely defend in all three zones as I’ve shown in the following video…

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Okay, as you should have noticed, I couldn’t be specific about the way a given forward should move in the offensive zone, mainly because it would depend on the forecheck that forward’s team is using, as well as the player’s specific role within that forecheck.  I have two great videos within these pages when it comes to forechecks, so you might refer to the 2-1-2 or my “L” forecheck for some good ideas.  All forwards are interchangeable in both of those schemes, while I only use one forecheck — the “wing on wing” (or a 1-2-2) — that designates specific roles for each winger and the centerman.)

All players — including our centers — must help by backchecking an enemy rush through the neutral zone and into our own end.  And it’s important for all of our players to know the rules our team follows for covering the various numerical rush situations.

Then, in my usual way of covering in our defensive zone, I ask a defenseman to deal with a puck-toting opponent in a corner, while my centerman backs-up that teammate.  If need be, he can help his mate in the corner.  However, I especially want my center to be the last line of defense to our net, in the event the enemy puckcarrier is able to walk out of the corner.  And, as shown in the video, our centerman has to move from side to side in our end, backing-up a defenseman in either corner.

I want to remind members that there’s an awesome series of videos covering all aspects of the defensive game, and it begins with “Checking — the REAL Definition“.

Finally, the centerman comes to mind when I think about something I always take into consideration as I put together any playing system (and I have to encourage other coaches to do the same)…   What I’m getting at is the need to share the workload fairly evenly among players.  What I’m thinking about right now is the possibility that someone like a center might be asked to be the first guy down the ice applying the forecheck in a corner, and then require that same player to hustle back to work deep in his defensive zone.  It’s not fair, of course, and it surely is going to wear-out a player in short order.

Special Hockey Announcement!

My friends here at CoachChic.com might be interested to know that I had a plan concerning members going into this venture.

I’d set a certain number of early sign-ups that I would refer to as “Charter Members”, and I’d reward them with a special, reduced membership fee.

Having reached that magic number a few weeks back, I then set January 31, 2011 as the closing date for Charter Memberships (yes, the monthly fee goes up as of February 1).

Those currently enrolled at CoachChic.com will remain at the lowest rate as long as they remain members.

Then, always looking to give back to the game I love — and to my favorite people on the planet, members should expect even more within the CoachChic.com website over coming months (and years).

Thanks so much for your support;
I love you folks!

– Dennis Chighisola

Teamwork and a Winning Attitude

I’ve often mentioned here about spending a good deal of time digging for new ideas.  What members might not know is the variety of that research.

I hope you appreciate that this really isn’t the time for me to look too much into new drill ideas (unless I’m asked a specific question, or unless my own players need help with a certain problem that might require a fresh approach).  No, the spring is when I head into my “bunker” to investigate new training methods, the very latest in science, as well as some new drill ideas.

Still, I am constantly on the lookout for things that will help us — hockey players, parents and coaches.  And, while I’ll soon announce here why I was off on the following tangent early today, I thought the following would be pretty interesting for you to see.  And, it also gives me the chance to share some advice I’d like ALL of my hockey friends to appreciate.

– Dennis Chighisola

Teamwork and a Winning Attitude

Now, I have a feeling you’ll be surprised when you discover where I’m ultimately going to go with the meat of the following video.  So, at least as you go into it, I ask that you listen from several angles…

I mean, I know there will be some business types who will get a lot out of this.  And so will we players and coaches.  However, I’d really later like to talk about this video as it applies to each parent’s young player.  So, with that in mind, have a watch (and listen)…

Now, grown-ups who have played their fair share of team sports should surely appreciate all that gentleman said — about you, about me.  Ya, for sure, as young athletes we learned so much about teamwork.

From there, however, let’s switch to looking at this line of discussion from a parent’s or coach’s viewpoint.  And, in so doing, let’s see how we might help the hockey players in our charge strive for the right things…

Of course, teamwork means getting along — but not always necessarily with just those mates we like or know well.  And, hockey — probably more than most other team sport — requires giving-up one’s own body in order to make a given play, sharing the puck with a mate who is in a more advantageous position, etc.  Yes, there’s a lot of selflessness required to be a truly effective hockey player.

The speaker said athletes “have stamina”, although I’ll twist that a bit to suggest that they learn “staying power”, or the ability to keep going under some pretty difficult circumstances.  Personally, I’ve seen a lot of none athletes who accepted defeat far to early, or far too easily, while former athletes just wouldn’t quit.

I found it interesting that the video highlighted an athlete’s desire to learn “the game” (not just the job).  Actually, I’ve often put that into my own words, suggesting that one get into “the spirit of what we’re trying to really accomplish” — in a given drill, or within the context of our playing system.

Of course, athletes DO learn to play by the rules, which to me makes them all the easier to deal with in later life than those who never learned such.

And, the good ones are always looking to better themselves, or always raising their own personal standards.  Ya, even within a team game like hockey, it rests on the shoulders of every individual member to make himself or herself better and better.

Then, I purposely moved one of the speaker’s earliest ideas to last, mainly because it’s the one I’d like to expand upon just a bit more…  What the speaker said was that athletes tend to make victory a habit.  They know what winning feels like, and they have a sense of how to repeat it.  Yup, true enough.

As true as the premise of that last paragraph is, however, I feel the need to point-out that athletes early-on also learn to experience losing, disappointment, failure.  And, while that surely isn’t our aim as we enter any game, it surely is one of the most important things we’ll ever, ever experience.  If you think about it, they’ll never truly appreciate the excitement of winning unless they’ve been through just the opposite.

Still, there’s yet another point I want to make — especially with parents…  For, you see, while none of us want to see our youngsters hurting, I think we do them an even greater disservice by overly protecting them.  Every kid is at some point going to feel he was the game’s goat, and every player is likely to at some point be benched, be short-shifted, or told not to dress for a game.  So, those things being somewhat inevitable, it seems to me our job – as a parents or coach — is to teach them how to deal with such occurrences…

Hey, did you know that Michael Jordan ended his NBA playing career as the leader in only one category — that of missed shots?  (Yes, he is high in many others, but that’s the only category where he’s Number One!)  And, did you know that Babe Ruth (at least last I knew) holds the record for the most strikeouts in Major League Baseball history?  Hmmmmmm…

I’ve actually heard it said that Jordan’s record is the one he’s most proud of.  But, then again, he often speaks about being cut from his high school basketball team, as well.  Ya, Michael Jordan, I believe, is proudest of overcoming setbacks — learning how to bounce back from missing a key shot, whatever.  And so must Babe Ruth have learned to blot-out his latest failed at bat, once more strutting to the plate with supreme confidence.

Yes, great players learn to deal with setbacks.  And, my message to those overseeing their youngster’s development is to at least not overly protect them.  Instead, see if you might help them put recent disappointments into perspective,  share stories with them like those of Jordan or Ruth, and suggest to them that it’s what they do after a setback that determines what sort of athlete (and person) they really are.

Finally, even if a youngster ultimately makes it to hockey’s highest rung, he’ll likely be retiring long before the age of 35.  Ya, even NHL-ers eventually have to go out and get a job.  So, of course, are the rest of us — the mere mortals.  My point:  that we’re likely to help our young guys and gals be all the better suited for any sort of life after hockey IF they gain along the way all the things our game truly offers.

Having Hockey Dreams

There might be a visitor or two who doesn’t think the following videos belong on a hockey website.  Oh, man, I beg to differ!

I don’t care what line of work we’re in, or our favorite pastime, I don’t believe we should be limited — by others — when it comes to dreaming, and when it comes to striving.  (Like the baseball pitcher mentioned in the first video, no one has the right to tell us that we can’t ultimately make our dreams come true.)

– Dennis Chighisola

Having Hockey Dreams

Okay, so why did I really introduce this video — or this subject?  Well, for one thing, I’ll bet I take at least one telephone call or email per week from a parent who begins with, “I’m not looking for my kid to make it to the NHL, but…”

I guess I understand why they feel the need to say that — or, perhaps I don’t.

Ya know, I think it ironic that it’s okay if a kid says, “Daddy, I want to grow-up to be president!”  And they’ll get plenty of support if they tell a grown-up they want to be an astronaut, a doctor, whatever.  However, just let a kid outwardly dream about being something like a major league pitcher, and a nearby adult is too often going to grimace and suggest otherwise.

Now, I’m not saying that every youngster has a chance to become a pro athlete.  For sure, the odds are against him or her.  But, so are the odds against becoming president, becoming the CEO of General Motors, the head of the United Nations, and we could probably list a kzillion other hard-to-land jobs.  My only point — at least in this paragraph — is that becoming a pro athlete is probably no more difficult than a lot of other special lines of work.

Then, having suggested there’s more to this, I can only suggest that lowering a youngster’s expectations IN ANY GIVEN AREA is most likely going to affect other aspects of his or her life.  I mean, I don’t think it’s possible to tell him or her they CAN’T attain one goal, but they CAN another, equally difficult one.  It seems to me that success is a mindset, and one is either encouraged or discouraged from having a positive outlook.

PS:  Reason one last thing with me, if you would…

Isn’t it likely that a kid’s dreams will change quite a bit through the years?  (Countless kids seem to want to be firemen when they’re very young.)   So, what the heck…  Why not let ‘em dream, and let them get a few of those out of their system on their own?

Actually, in my youth, TV programming was filled with westerns, which had all of us young boys of that generation at least initially wanting to be cowboys…

My point, of course (hoping you at least endured my humor):

Lou and Marie Chighisola let me dream all I ever wanted, probably realizing full-well that Dennis never was going to grow-up to be a cowboy. 

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Okay, once again I’ve probably struck a chord with some of my hockey friends.  I encourage your (opposing?) views on this subject, though — honestly.  So, just leave a Comment below, and let’s talk this out further.

A Pro Hockey Player’s Shooting Accuracy

This post should have really been titled “The Chicken or Egg Question”.  That said, you’ll have to read further to find out why.  Along the way, you ought to get a kick out of the great Ovechkin’s shooting accuracy.

– Dennis Chighisola

A Pro Hockey Player’s Shooting Accuracy

I think it best that you first be entertained by this ESPN video featuring the guy I call “The Great 8″.  On the other side I’ll have a question for you, then what I believe is the answer…

Okay, about that chicken versus the egg suggestion…

I mean, which do you think comes first — that a guy achieves pro status because he can shoot pinpoint lasers, or does a pro have more free time than us amateurs and thusly gets to practice more than the rest of us?

Well, my guess is that a lot of folks were thinking the latter as they were watching that exhibition, figuring Ovechkin has had plenty of time to practice during a his so many years in elite level hockey.  And, I’d tend to agree — to a point.

Really, I believe great players practiced and practiced their basic skills countless times on their way up the hockey ladder.  So, I’d be willing to bet that OV could shoot better than most mortals long before he arrived on the international scene.  Thereafter, my guess is that he’s kept at it, firing thousands more pucks in order to keep himself near the top of the hockey heap.

Okay, so why did I even bring-up this subject?  It’s because I’d truly like to see young players practice this kind of skill as often as they can.  There’s nothing wrong (and everything right) about a 7- or 8-year old attempting to hit targets in the basement or driveway, and it’s surely a great idea that Squirts/Atoms, Pee Wees and Bantams keep getting better and better.  Then, who knows…  Maybe someone reading this entry will make the big-time, and from then on have plenty of time to improve all the more.

(Oh, by the way…  I’d like everyone — and especially young players — to notice where Ovechkin looks as he shoots.  Ya, he may look down to grab a puck, but his eyes are up and on his target every single time he pulls the trigger.  I raise this point because a lot of young players — and even older ones — think they’re looking up as they shoot.  But, when I’m watching, I catch far too many of ‘em looking downward.)

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Then, just so the other half of my friends don’t get upset — …  Here’s a great video featuring Sid The Kid more than matching Ovechkin’s shooting demonstration…

Hockey Parent:Coach Relationships

Let me begin this entry with the suggestion that I was less than the ideal 20-something hockey parent.  Frankly, I think I was a bit too much — over the top even, and I probably should have taken “the pill” I sometimes recommend to current day parents.

That said, I’ve coached the game now for 40+ years, and I’ve seen lots and lots over several generations.  In other words, I’ve lived, I’ve learned, and I’ve accumulated plenty to share with those who are willing to at least consider what I’m about to say.

– Dennis Chighisola

Hockey Parent:Coach Relationships

Okay, so a fresh season got underway a few months back, with a whole bunch of players reporting to their new teams and their new coaches.

Personally, I like to see each of my new players — or my new team — as a blank canvas on which to paint a new masterpiece (okay, so I think I’m a pretty dawgoned good teacher/coach).  In the case of older players, their canvases may already be painted upon, but I can at least hope that I might touch-up things where needed.

Hockey parents, on the other hand, are all new to me, whether they’ve been around the game for years or not.  Going into the season they’re all great people, as far as I’m concerned (while a few of them are at least innocent until proven guilty — ).

Joking aside, I have to state right now that players and parents are a package deal — at least at the youth hockey levels.  In other words, if a kid is a pain but the parents are nice, the coach is still going to have headaches.  And, of course, turning that around isn’t going to change the aggravation factor any — as in the kid being great but the parent/s driving the coach crazy.

I hope that makes sense to you, ’cause it’s a fact, like it or not.  Each hockey family IS a package deal.

Man, do I have a story for you…  I’m aware of an awful relationship that existed between a long ago high school coach and a hockey family.  Actually, the story was famous around these parts.  The coach was a legend.  Evidently the player was also really, really good, and this was on one of the better teams in Massachusetts.  The sad part is that the boy’s dad was an alcoholic, and he could get pretty loud and terribly abusive around the arenas.  So, as I understand it, the deal the coach had with the dad was that, anytime he knew the guy was in the rink, his boy sat.  Was it unfair to the kid?  Ya, I’d have to say so.  But, who caused the problem in the first place?  Frankly, I’d have a hard time hurting a kid just because his or her parent was a jerk.  Still, I’ve never quite been in that old coach’s shoes.  (Ugh…)

So again, let me establish that it’s hard to separate parents and their kids when a coach has a team load of players and grown-ups to deal with.

The above story is of course a drastic example of what I’m getting at.  That story in mind, though, I have to suggest that there’s a far subtler danger hockey parents must consider for the sake of their kids.

And, on my way to explaining that, let me repeat:

that most kids and parents kick-off their new season with something like a clean slate (I’m presuming that every single kid wants to learn, and that every parent is there to support their young player towards that end).  Ya, I’m assuming…

Okay, so what happens to make it all go wrong?

Well, I’m going to share something with hockey parents (and other coaches) that should ultimately make sense.  Furthermore, I’m going to suggest that it’s purely human nature that makes the following possible, actually inevitable…

First, picture that a parent (or two or three) appears to not follow the coach’s lead.  In one instance, maybe a parent outwardly rebels against the coach’s handling of his or her youngster.  In yet another case, appreciate that a coach can sometimes just sense that a parent isn’t supportive or on the same page.  In either type scenario, the coach will likely get the feeling that there’s going to be a problem down the road, at least with certain players or parents.

Why so — or why is the coach likely to keep that relationship in mind?

Is it not human nature for most of us to be wary of negative situations?  And, once he or she is burned, is it possible that leaves at least a slight scar?  You can almost bet on that; it’s only human nature.

Secondly — and here’s the most dangerous part of all this…  Although it may or may not be intentional, a coach just might start treating certain kids differently.

Ya, and it’s that last one I’m here to warn all youth hockey parents about.  For, you see, no human being is into pain — including your youngster’s ice hockey coach, either consciously or subconsciously.  The way this might manifest itself is that the coach might do some extras for most players, while there is the distinct possibility he or she is going to avoid extra interactions with the perceived “trouble family”.

Now, you might at first think a coach is being mean if the latter occurs.  But, I don’t think it’s always done intentionally,  No, again, I have to suggest that it’s often subconscious.

Think about your own circumstances — whether at work, within your neighborhood, or among family or friends…  I’m sure you can immediately identify a handful of folks you’d go out of your way to help.  At the same time, there’s probably that one person in each circumstance who always seems to bring-on problems, and you probably quite often do your best to avoid him or her.  Hey, you may have already been burned once — or you’ve seen them burn someone else, so why go out of your way to get torched again?

And that’s why I’m saying this parent:coach relationship thing is really a matter of human nature, and I’ll also suggest that it should make all the sense in the world to any rational adult.  Moreover, the way I’ve explained it, I hope hockey parents will also see how this same thing can occur away from the rinks — at school, and in a whole bunch of other group settings.

In closing, I’m not saying that parents and coaches shouldn’t communicate.  They absolutely should.  The frequency of those communications might be considered, however — as in How much extra attention do you (or your youngster) really need?  And, by all means, the tone of those communications ought to be seriously pondered.  Like it a not, a hockey coach is human, and he or she is going to ultimately steer clear of problems (as are future coaches when tryouts come around).

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PS:  None of the above absolves a lousy hockey coach.  I deal with that subject, as you’ve probably discovered, in numerous other entries within this site.  That out of the way, the above is the best advice an old and experienced hockey coach can offer parents, whether their youngster’s coach is good, bad or ugly.

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I welcome youth hockey administrators, coaches, parents, and even older players to distribute the link to this page to others who might benefit from my advice.  And, of course, you can express your opinions in the Comments box below.

Hockey’s Plus/Minus Stat

One of my assistant coaches raised this subject just recently, suggesting we use the plus/minus stat with our players.

Hmmmmm…

Actually, I told him I’d always used it with my college, high school and junior high school hockey teams, that I’d thought to introduce it to our younger team, but then “something” got in the way.

My main concern, however, is that I firmly believe our team’s players and parents have to have a firm understanding of that +/- statistic before we ever put it into effect.

So, since I’m going to do that shortly — try to explain it to our AAA Mite Major parents and players, I thought I’d also share those thoughts with my friends here at CoachChic.com.

– Dennis Chighisola

Hockey’s Plus/Minus Stat

To begin, this stat has been used for ages within professional hockey circles.  However, I believe it was kept rather quiet for a long time in the NHL, and only in more recent years have you been able to see team plus/minus ratings listed in publications like The Hockey News.

And, while I can’t swear to this, I’ve heard that such a stat was (or still is?) used on occasion during player-club contract discussions.  (Sure, if a guy ended his last season with a lousy rating, you can be sure a team is going to use it as a bargaining tool!)

Okay, so here’s how the Plus/Minus works; it’s simple enough…

To begin, it’s only in effect when teams are playing at even strength (but a shorthanded team does get a +1 for scoring, while the scored upon team with a man advantage gets a minus <= we can thank Ravi for reminding us of this in his Comment below).

With that, when a team scores a goal, every skater on the ice for the goal-scoring team is awarded a plus.

At the same time, every player who was on the ice with the team that gave-up that goal would be charged with a minus.

(Occasionally a little luck comes into play, which sometimes distorts the +/- stat — as in a player just stepping onto the ice as a goal is scored and still being assessed either a plus or a minus!  Oh, well…  I guess these things even-out over the course of a very long season.)

As even strength goals mount-up, individual players will be found to have accumulated quite a few pluses and quite a few minuses.  And, of course, the most desirable situation is for a player to be way over on the plus-side, or to have a really high plus-rating.

Now, I’m not sure the plus/minus stat is always fair, or always an indication of a player’s true worth.  (At some levels, certain players are asked to play on “checking lines” where their job is to always cover the opponents’ top scorers.  Actually, I find it amazing that some “checkers” still manage to have decent plus/minus stats.)

More than anything, though, I believe this stat can quite often provide the hockey coach with a pretty good idea of what’s going on — with an individual player, with a line of forwards, with a defense pair, etc.

Here’s a story about how it gave me an indication one night long ago…

My college hockey team had just lost a hard fought battle to a pretty good team up in New Hampshire.

In a rush to call the local media back home — so they could have something to write-up for the next day’s newspapers, I asked our stats girl to give me a list of our scorers for the night.  She hastily scribbled them for me, which allowed me to then focus on one forward who’d had 2-goals and an assist.  Pretty good, huh?

Well, on the long bus ride home, our staff of stats people ultimately provided me everything they had, including our plus/minus totals for the night.  And, guess what…  The guy who had those three points in our game?  The guy I made such a big deal out of to the press?  Well, he was actually a -2 for the game!  In other words, while he may have been out there helping us score three goals, he was also on the ice as our opponents scored a whopping five!

Now, I suggested earlier that the plus/minus stat can be helpful in providing us coaches an “indication” of a player’s effectiveness.  And, knowing the above player pretty well, I can tell you that his +/- numbers said a lot about him.  I mean, he thought a whole lot more about scoring goals than he did about helping on defense.

On a personal level, I introduced my son and then my grandson to that stat fairly early in their playing days — maybe when my son was a Pee Wees, and far earlier when my grandson came along.  I knew they were both ultimately going to be scoring wizards, but I also wanted them to play “with balance” (see my article on “Playing With Balance“).  In other words, while they might have their hand in numerous team goals, I wanted them to be honest players, and to be mindful of their defensive responsibilities.  (Thankfully, both would almost always be way over on the plus-side in their stats.)

In contrast to the latter, envision a little guy who initially gets it into his head that his only on function in the game is to score goals.  Hmmmmm…  That might be good in the beginning, ’cause I’d rather have a hungry player than any other sort.  Still — that established, his next step has to be towards playing smarter, and playing by hockey’s well worn principles.

Again, envisioning that little guy (or gal)…  He grabs the puck in his own end and attempts to barrel through or around the entire enemy line-up.  Ugh…  Sometimes he’s going to succeed, but more often than not — under those circumstances — he’s going to cough-up the puck and allow his opponents to get quality scoring chances.  (This kind of player also tends to put his or her linemates to sleep — or turns them into spectators, because they soon realize they’ll seldom get the puck.)

Quite obviously, the player I just described is more than likely going to end-up on the minus side of the ledger.  And that’s where I like to make use of the plus/minus stat — as a teaching tool (not a punishment tool, mind you, but something relatively concrete that the coach and player can work together with).

Okay, so you’re a hockey coach, and you’re now thinking of employing +/- stats…

- This can be a nightmare to administer or record.  In other words, someone in the stands is going to really have to be on his or her toes to quickly record the five players on the ice as a goal is scored (be it for a plus or a minus).

- I have eased that burden quite a bit, but not for that specific reason…  What I’ve done over many years is to skate my players in 5-man units.  So — as an example, my three units of AAA Mite Majors practice in red, yellow and blue jerseys, and they skate together in shifts throughout the games, with few exceptions.  This, of course, makes it easy for us to keep pluses and minuses, because we can usually immediately give one or the other to an entire unit when a goal is scored.  (By the way…  One of the reasons I like to use this stat with my units is so that they’ll gain more pride as a unit.  There’s some peer pressure involved in this — hey, keep-up your side of the bargain with our unit.  But, it probably also eases the burden on one player, at least a tad.)

Finally, I don’t think it a bad idea for individual parents to at some point introduce their own youngster to this way of evaluating his or her worth to a team.  I think it really does keep him or her honest, or encourage him or her to play with some balance.  At the same time, I implore youth coaches to use the plus/minus rating with a degree of fairness (or kindness).  As I suggested in the beginning, it might not always be a true indicator of a player’s worth, but it can be a pretty useful tool.

Land Paddling for Hockey Core Strength?

Ha…  Over my 40-years in our game, I’ve gotten used to people calling me a little sick.  Or, when they want to put it a little nicer, they dub this old coach “The Nutty Professor”. 

If anything, though, I take those as compliments.  Actually, I don’t think you’d appreciate either me or CoachChic.com if you didn’t know I was frequently thinking outside the proverbial box — for myself, and for you.  In fact, that outside-the-box kind of attitude is one reason this site’s content will always be different than any other.

Oh, and there surely IS something odd about my eyesight.  I mean, the weirdest things catch my attention, whether it’s browsing on-line or walking through the local Home Depot.  I can even spot an object in a pile of junk and say to myself, “Wow, I could make an awesome ______ out of that!”

Okay, having established that I’m a little “different”, and that the oddest things give me ideas for new ways to train (or kill) hockey players, I want you to get a load of my latest off-ice training idea.

– Dennis Chighisola

Land Paddling for Hockey Core Strength?

Spending some time on Facebook recently, I caught a smaller version of that picture (to the left) out of the corner of my eye.  Hey, an active guy in pretty good shape will get my attention, especially if he has some sort of different looking training device in his hands!  Hmmmmm…  A “Big Stick”?

Take a look at that thing, and it should be easy enough to figure what’s going on.  The guy in the pic is paddling, and it also appears as if he’s REALLY taxing his midsection.

I salted that idea away for awhile, thinking it would be easiest to use such a device during the summer months here in New England.  And I also thought that I’d be more apt to use it with older guys — like my high school and college hockey students.

Okay, that ad caught my eye again tonight over on Facebook, so I thought I’d share my thinking on the Big Stick with you.

I figured finding a video showing that device in action might help as a start. If there was a tricky thing to that, it was the fact that most Big Stick videos have evidently been produced for the surfing crowd, and heavily flavored by that sort of music and lingo.)  Interestingly, I noticed that there were a few folks from other, non-surfing or non-skating sports using the Big Stick as a means of cross-training.  Still — and again, pardon the surfing flavor, I think the following will give you a good fairly sense of how this device is used…

Now, right up front, I want you to know that most of the moves depicted in that video aren’t included in the ones I’ve been pondering.  No, the folks featured in that video are obvious surfers, and it seems to me that their primary concern is balancing on their boards, and they’re just using their Big Sticks to keep themselves going.  Or, I might suggest that they’re working on their surfing techniques while also getting a little torso and upper body work in.

Of course, it’s a long time until summer hits around these parts, so I still have plenty of time to think further on this new idea.  However, here are a couple of my immediate impressions:

- I just might use a slightly more stable “board” for my guys to travel upon.  I have 5 or 6 such devices in The MOTION Lab right now — they’re square, have four caster-like wheels under the corners, and they’re built fairly low to the ground.  And if those don’t work, I just might make my own — again, with the aim of having these be a little more stable, and not quite so much like surfing.  (Not that typical surfing movements would be bad for hockey players; it’s just that those kinds of movements wouldn’t be my main aim in using something like the Big Stick.)

- Ya, “something like the Big Stick”…  In other words, right now I can’t see that very long pole being what I’d want to use to cross-train a hockey player.  Nope.  What I’m envisioning right now is making something that’s a lot closer to a kayak paddle…

Of course, I’d have to arrive at the proper length to accommodate a player being able to paddle to both sides, I’d have to work on making a decent grip-area in the middle, and I’d also have to construct the ends in a way that would provide grip against a pavement (or whatever) and wear fairly well.

- Then, if I did use the above kayak paddle kind of design, I might have my players occasionally work from a squat (or something fairly close to that).

- Come to think of it, the midsection muscles might be taxed all the more if a player sat or knelt at times.

Can you envision a hockey player working at intervals similar to a typical shift — wrenching away, twisting and turning that midsection, and making those arms and shoulders bulge?  (Come to think of it, a guy’s hockey shot should be enhanced from those resisted twisting movements as well!)

Finally, while I know I’ve joked a little in the early going, I’m pretty serious about you and me looking at all sorts of gear options when we want some new cross-training effects.  And, like the Big Stick, a given device might be close to what we want, but not exactly.  If there’s any concern at all (other than safety), it’s that we should study the real challenges hockey players face, and then come as close as possible to matching the exercises to those hockey-specific movements.

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PLEASE be sure to leave a Comment.  I love interacting with you guys (and gals)!

A Great Hockey Skater Is Suddenly Falling?

Aaaaah, I love it when folks toss their hockey problems my way (even if I’m not sure I can answer them)! 

Okay, so I just received the following question (which might just be a huge challenge for me).  Please take a read…

– Dennis Chighisola

A Great Hockey Skater Is Suddenly Falling(?)

This actually came by way of a Comment, but I thought it worthy enough to address in its own post.  Here’s the question verbatim:

“my son plays in a novice select team is 8yrs old…a great skater..but is falling alot of late…..Why ??“

Hmmmmmm…  Why, indeed.

Quite obviously this is a difficult one to answer without being able to see the boy.  (I surely wouldn’t mind receiving a short video clip of the youngster, just so I might do a lot better than I’m going to right now.)

That said, the best I have to go on are the following assumptions:

1) dad says he’s a pretty good skater;

2) it sounds like the level the boy is playing is pretty decent;

3) it also sounds as if the youngster’s frequent falling is something that’s just started happening very recently.

The reason I wanted to state all that is because it probably at least makes it possible for us to discount the kid being an awful skater who ought to fall plenty anyway.

That established (I hope), my educated guess is that we have to look in two separate areas for an answer…

1) Equipment-wise, I’d look at the skates.  Has there been a change in these important pieces of gear — either in a switch to new or different blades, or is there something wrong with a recent skate sharpening?  (To be honest, I don’t think new boots would make a player fall, but something being drastically different about the blades or sharpening surely could.)  And, of course, it would be nice if it was that easy to resolve the boy’s problems — by just fixing a piece of gear, I mean.

2) After that, we obviously have to consider a physical problem of some sort, and this I’ll question on several fronts:

- if recent skating problems happened about the same time the boy joined the current (select?) team, it could be that many pretty talented opponents are causing him to have difficulties keeping-up (having to change directions quickly, etc);

- I don’t usually associate growth spurts with kids far younger than puberty, but a sudden change in one’s body can surely bring about some difficulties with fine motor skills;

- God forbid, but I very long ago had a really talented student of mine start having some similar problems, and this was later diagnosed as a very serious health issue.

Okay, that’s where I am right now — suggesting that the dad work his way through that short checklist, first starting with the possibility that the whole thing has to do with an equipment (or mainly a skate) issue.

I’d also invite him to work with me on this, so that we could go back and forth to troubleshoot things.  So, if you would, dad, let me know what you discover from going through that list, and even send me a short video clip if you can (I’ll provide advice if you don’t know how to do it).

Finally, I’m sure the dad won’t mind that I open this discussion to others.  Ya, I think it would be helpful if anyone else has an idea they think ought to be included in the checklist I’ve plotted so far.

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Oh, did I say I love questions?  You know I do!  And, I also love feedback or Comments from members, so please join-in!

How Hockey REALLY Began for Coach Chic

I’ll begin this by saying that hockey actually began for me when I was about 9- or 10-years old.  Up to that point I’d been mostly a baseball and football enthusiast, mainly because those were the sports my dad was most interested in.  But then, my mom’s youngest sister married a guy who was all hockey, and he soon got me hooked on that game too.

This entry isn’t about those earliest playing days, though.  No, what I’d like to share with members are my earliest days in coaching, when hockey REALLY began for me.

– Dennis Chighisola

How Hockey REALLY Began for Coach Chic

I’m guessing that those currently into hockey will find this kind of interesting, but when I was very young, most of the really good hockey in these parts could only be found in the big city of Boston, Massachusetts.  And it trickled only slightly outside the major city to close by smaller burgs like Weymouth, Hingham and Arlington (to only name a few).  My point:  that there were no indoor rinks where I grew-up, some 30-miles outside Boston.  So, any of us who really wanted to play would have to do out best at honing skills on the rural ponds and cranberry bogs the bulk of the time, and then commute closer to the big city to get some formal training and perhaps play a weekly game.  A now long-gone rink in Weymouth, MA is where we Whitman boys would go to get the best youth hockey we could.  Ya, so current day kids and their parents ought to appreciate the fact that there is now a rink just around the corner for you.

Thank God, that the Viet Nam Conflict affected me far less than it did some of my childhood buddies, and so many guys in my generation.  Still, a military commitment did cause me — again, a lot less than many others — to alter my schooling and work, and to give-up some semi-pro level play in baseball, football and hockey.

When the chaos of those times did subside a little, I found myself coaching in all three of those sports, which brings me to something else current day sports enthusiasts might find interesting.  For, there weren’t anything like baseball or football camps back in the 1960s, no clinics or AAA-type teams, nor any paid coaching positions outside school or professional programs.  Hockey was different back then, though — probably owing to the local rinks’ needs to fill hours with the likes of summer hockey schools or camps and weekly skill-oriented clinics.  And, fortunate as I’ve so often been, I found myself being hired by several local arenas to run a lot of those kinds of programs.

Now, did I just insinuate that I’ve frequently been lucky?  Ya, and I’m going to suggest that I couldn’t have been more fortunate in my earliest coaching experiences.

You see, I’ve always been inquisitive.  I mean, I like to know how things work, how pieces fit together, what makes things tick, and so forth.  And, if I’m going to get into something, it almost always has to be all or nothing.

Is that good?  Maybe not for my health — , but most surely for my future career in hockey coaching.

I started studying far and wide (and I’ve actually been through the old AHA/USA Hockey coaching certification program three — yes, I said three — times).  And I also started collecting and devouring every hockey (and other related) manual I could find.

I also wrote to a few big-time hockey coaches, asking for their help.  Ha, talk about future influences…  Actually, several pro guys were unbelievably helpful, while a couple of the Division One college guys never even responded (which suggests — at least in my book — who is and isn’t really big-time).   So, you might now appreciate why I answer every email and CoachChic.com question that ever comes my way.  Yes, partly because of those long ago experiences, but also, I think, because I was brought-up dawgoned right.

Anyway, what this piece is really about is my feeling fortunate to be AN EMPTY sponge as I began my hockey coaching career.  I mean, I’d had modest coaching in an equally modest playing career, so my mind was w-i-d-e open to anything and everything I thought could help me, my students and my players.

As an aside here…  If there are some guys I feel a little badly for, they’re the ones who can’t get themselves out of the 1970s.  In other words, they think that’s the way hockey is still played — ’70s style, and they think the kind of training they received way back then is how it should be done today.  Yes, I feel very, very badly for them, and I’m also often frustrated by those types when I try to convince them there are better — more scientific — ways to improve hockey playing qualities nowadays.  Ugh.

Oh, as I’ve mentioned in a few other posts here at CoachChic.com, I felt fortunate to have played for two of our area’s most innovative coaches.  My dad was a creative genius when it came to devising baseball practice techniques, and so was my high school football coach far, far ahead of his time.  In fact, borrowing from what I’d learned from them, I was probably one of the first coaches in our area who thought to use teaching stations within a practice or hockey school atmosphere.

Okay, so I was a sponge…  And I also suggested earlier that I traveled far and wide to gain any sort of help.  So, Canadian based coaching seminars were often on my summer todo list back in those early years, as were family vacations.  In fact, two getaways to the north country helped to forever change my coaching methods…

Ah, I remember it as if it was yesterday, a camping trip we took to Ontario, Canada.  After a day or so on our site, my family became good friends with an older couple who camped right beside us.  Oh, and it didn’t hurt when we discovered we had a love for hockey in common.

Then, talk about luck…  One night our gentleman neighbor announced that he had a TV set with him, and he was planning on hooking it up somewhere in the campgrounds where everyone could watch the start of the big series between a team of NHL all-stars and the Soviet Union’s so-called “Big Red Machine”.  Yes, this was the summer of 1972, and that series now sits in hockey history as The Showdown at the Summit.

Don’t forget that we were in Canada.  So, there was no shortage of local campers to gather in the campgrounds laundry room for the opening face-off of Game One.  Yup, we were crammed-in like sardines, with most folks licking their chops in anticipation of the NHL pros destroying the “amateur” Russians.

Now, the pros didn’t letdown their faithful following, at least at first.  For, they pumped-in a couple of goals right at the start, and it surely looked like the rout was on.  Ya, it looked like it.  However, the Soviets just kept coming — and coming and coming and coming.  And, in no time, they had overcome the Canadians’ lead, and headed-off to their own rout.

Did I say that we were crammed into that small concrete structure?  Ha…  Little by little, the crowd thinned, and only my neighbor and I remained to see the final game action.

As a backdrop to the following video, let me say that the uniqueness of that famed Showdown at the Summit had to do with an anticipated David versus Goliath match-up.  I mean, the pros were expected to kill the amateurs, but the games should have still proven interesting due to the drastically different playing styles, and the fact that pros and amateurs hadn’t been allowed to play each other in recent Olympic or World Cup tournaments.

I remember reading that legendary NHL goaler, Jacques Plante, felt badly for the young USSR netminder, Vladimir Trechiak.  So he provided him some pre-tournament advice about various NHL snipers.

And there were even some other controversies going on behind the scenes…  The great Bobby Hull (among others) was being excluded from the Canadian roster because he’d jumped from the National Hockey League to the new World Hockey Association.  There was even a controversy among Canadian fans over the selection of the announcers who would broadcast the games.  So, to put it bluntly, this tournament was big, and seemingly everything mattered, at least between the land of the maple leaf and the old Soviet Union.

Oh, one more thing…  I grabbed this first video because it tends to depict some of the things I want to talk about here.  I AM NOT INTO TAKING SIDES ON THE SERIES OUTCOME.  (Actually, this video is obviously slanted with old Soviet bias.)  What I was — and still am — very interested in is the impact this series had on hockey training methods.  So, that said, take a peek, just to get a “feel” of things as they transpired back in the summer of 1972…

As a quick recap, Paul Henderson emerged as a true star in this series — at least in my book, ultimately helping Team Canada win the final and deciding tournament game.

Among some of the clips you might notice in that video…

For sure, there was a cultural exchange — and a mutual admiration — taking place over the length of this series.

Insiders were heard to say after the early games that the Soviets showed the NHL defensemen some moves they hadn’t ever seen before.

It shouldn’t have been difficult to spot the Canadians’ frustrations throughout that video.  Actually, this is important to note, because the Russian players were trained to show no emotions (and this sort of goes along with current day psychological theories — about not getting too high or too low, but just staying on an even keel at all times).

You might also notice the Canadians losing a physical confrontation or two…  Well, long ago thinking — for athletes in almost all skill-related sports — was that strength training was taboo.  However, those on the Big Red Machine demonstrated great upper body strength.

Perhaps most frustrating to the North American skaters was the offensive patience shown by their Soviet counterparts.  I mean, the Russians didn’t hurry plays, and would sometimes even pass on one shot in order to gain an even better scoring opportunity.  No dumping and chasing for the Russians, either, but lots of puck control, and even something new in “regrouping” if they couldn’t immediately penetrate the offensive zone.

One thing common to European sport, I think, was the Russians inclination to play the whole game, and to not get too emotionally rapt in the score at any given time.  And by this, I mean that the Soviets fell behind early on several occasions, but just kept playing — for the entire 60-minutes, and they won those games in the end.  (This might be a hard concept to explain.  But, two teams are provided so many minutes to out-score their opponents.  It really doesn’t matter when the extra goals come, only that they do ultimately come.  Get what I mean?)

One humorous time came during an opening ceremony…  Phil Esposito slipped on a rose petal, and he played that to the amusement of the crowd.

Near the end of the video, that’s a young Bobby Orr shaking his head as he watches from the stands.  Yes, one sad part of the tournament was that Orr was recovering from a knee injury, and unable to participate.

Finally, did I suggest there was a bias in that video’s production?  Of course there was.  And I’m sure we could have collected at least as many great plays made by the NHL stars.  (So, apologies to all my Canadian friends.)  Still, that particular production does provide a feel — or flavor — for the many things I need to point-out here.  Then, before continuing, here’s another video that might give you a bit more background info on this series…

Interesting for me were my many trips to Canada over ensuing summers.  Actually, I sensed I was frequently one of the few US coaches in the audience.  So, I got a true feel for what was going on among those hockey leaders, as they seemed to speak Canadian to Canadian.

In the first few off-seasons I traveled up there, CAHA and Hockey Canada lecturers were almost apologizing for their prior training methods.  Reflecting back, this may have been intentional, just to get their audience’s attention (as in shaking the shoulders of the guys and gals who held the future of Canadian hockey in their hands).

Up front, some in Canada knew ahead of time that their pros would be out of shape entering that series in mid-summer.  The Soviets put an exclamation point on that one, though, skating as hard in their last shifts as they did in their first ones.  (In recent years, I’ve advised my older teams to, “Make them skate with you!”  Yes, if I felt we were in better shape than another team — which we almost always have been, I’d want my players to push their opponents to their limit early, and then have some fun after those opponents wilted.)

Of course, thanks in large part to that series, serious hockey players nowadays train nearly year-round, just as the Soviets always have.

Suddenly, the line-up of instructors also changed at most North American hockey symposiums.  Sure, there were still plenty of high level coaches and NHL types speaking, but so were there physiologists, psychologists, strength coaches and nutritionists.  And so were there as many suggestions for off-ice training as there were on-ice drills and systems advice.  Athletic attributes — like speed, agility and the likes — were also mentioned right along with all the traditional hockey skills.

Okay, so I was loading my arsenal of hockey coaching ideas in those first few years after the Showdown at the Summit.  However, another vacation to Canada — this time to New Brunswick — had an even greater impact on my future approach to the game…

My Canadian friends might not appreciate the difference between their bookstores and the ones down here in the US.  However, every time I ventured up north, I’d load-up on pamphlets and manuals I’d never ever find where I live.

Your newspapers — even during the summer — also carry articles that wouldn’t be found down here in The States.  And that brings me to a column I read by the campfire one day, this containing Fred Shero’s impressions after a recent visit to Moscow to study the Soviet’s unique training methods.

What?  The Soviets are entertaining coaches from around the world to come study their methods?  Where do I sign-up?

Well, it wasn’t until 1979 that I could pull-off that one.  But I did.  And let me tell you…  I landed in Moscow thinking I kinda knew my stuff when it came to teaching our game.  By the end of the first day of training, however, I realized I didn’t know a dawgoned thing.  I mean that.

Again, we’re talking 1979, and I’m going to suggest that few back home knew anything about plyometrics.  Nor did they know anything about over-speed training.  (Actually, the Soviets weren’t showing us anything about the latter; I just happened to sneak-off from my study group one day and discover it on my own!)

Okay, so back to my title — “How Hockey REALLY Began for Coach Chic”…

What I am suggesting is that I was lucky to be influenced so much by that NHL versus the Big Red Machine series, and my eventual Soviet studies.

Although I’ve never been one to stay stuck on anything, my head was clear enough (or maybe empty enough — ) to really get into what is now considered the “modern way of doing things”.  Yes, I do still have a tiny bit of my earliest hockey experiences to fall back upon, and I’m still influenced quite a bit by the way my dad and my old football coach did things.  But, that first day of studies in Moscow really did it for:  teaching me to keep my mind wide open for the very latest information.

That open mindedness has further influenced my studies of track athletes, tennis and soccer and rugby players, and I’m willing to look anywhere else if I can steal an advantage.  Yes, I consider myself lucky that my attitude hasn’t changed — from my days as a 20-something beginner coach to my white-haired days today.

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For your enjoyment, I found this clip over at YouTube that tells a little about the USSR philosophy, it introduces the great Anatoli Tarasov, and it also shows some pretty interesting Soviet training methods.  Enjoy (and please leave a Comment below, huh?)…

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Folks, our friend, Tim T, left a link in a Comment below for another awesome video.  I couldn’t help adding it here, because it shows Tarasov putting his squad through their paces on the ice, and those guys are doing a lot of the things my high school players still do.  Oh, by the way…  I swear they’re at the Central Red Army rink in Moscow, a place I visited so many years ago.  Again, this is awesome, once you get past a short Russian introduction…

A Hockey Defensive Zone No-no!

Please appreciate that I’m never really knocking a pro (or other) player when I show him making a mistake here.  It’s almost always a great player (and one of the best in the world) we’re looking at.  I think we also have to appreciate that great players make mistakes having to deal with other great players.  In fact, I’ve caught many future Hall of Famers making blunders.

That said, I think we can all learn a little from the following clip.

– Dennis Chighisola

A Hockey Defensive Zone No-no!

Okay, I think the following video shows a borderline sample of something I want all young players and their coaches to appreciate.

The rule that’s broken states that a player should never attempt to pass the puck across his or her own zone, or across in front of his or her own net.  Furthermore, I do not like diagonal passes in our own end, because these take an even longer route, and pass by too many enemy sticks (or gloves).

Again, Marc Savard flubs a pass that I’m guessing he didn’t intend to go up the middle of the ice, and I’m sure he meant to saucer the puck high and over the reach of any opposition checkers.  Things didn’t work out the way he’d hoped, however.

So, have a look, and I’ll comment further right after…

Okay, Number One — and as I mentioned earlier, any diagonal pass across a team’s defensive zone almost always has to go by a number of opponents.  Young players who make this mistake — and aren’t able to get the puck high in the air — are surely passing the puck in front of a lot of enemy stick-blades.

Number Two, notice that the color commentator mentioned the Bruins’ goalie needing to quickly get out on the proper angle.  Ya, that’s almost always the problem when it comes to any turn-over.  I mean, the puckcarrier’s teammates are mostly thinking offense, with most of them leaning forward.  Bang — suddenly the give-away happens, and guys can’t react back to their defensive positions quickly enough.

Since that turn-over resulted in the winning (or losing) goal, I’m sure Savard felt badly about muffing the technical part of the play, or about not being able to loft the puck high enough to avoid interception.  At the same time, even a lower pass would have probably avoided that kind of trouble had Savard not 1) passed the puck diagonally, or 2) passed it (at least somewhat) across his defensive zone.

“Borrowing” from Our Hockey Strengths

As you’ll soon see, there’s a good reason why I’m holding the following from public view.  Ya, this is definitely for members only!

You see, this post is a result of the Comments that came-in after I posted “Hockey Stick Measurement Help” (go see that if you haven’t already).

Yes, two awesome members — Craig and Jon — jumped into the fray with slightly contrasting views on what this old coach had to say.  So, as I replied to Jon, he’s now “… forcing me to share something I cringe to mention in front of young or developing players!” 

– Dennis Chighisola

“Borrowing” from Our Hockey Strengths

Okay, I (and any other conscientious hockey advisers) have to answer questions — at least initially — with the broadest audience in mind.  So, in my case, I’ll most often provide a pretty good “rule of thumb” when I answer your questions.  Said yet another way, the answer I’ll usually provide will help almost anyone in our game.

That would especially be the case when it comes to equipment — either in the various choices we might need to make, or how we might measure or doctor our gear.

Still, there IS the chance for a player to gain in an area of weakness, IF he or she has a certain strength that can be traded in exchange.

Here’s a short story that might best describe what I’m getting at here…

More than a generation ago, my son and future Olympic speed skating medalist Eric Flaim were best friends, and they attended my clinics together, went to my hockey schools for a lot of summers, and even played on my NEHI team together.  Actually, Eric eventually strayed from hockey to the other sport because I added a speed skating instructor to my camp staff who immediately saw some great innate qualities in that boy.

Anyway, that speed skating instructor — Steve — had some pretty good knowledge that could help my players (and I don’t doubt that he learned as much from interacting with us hockey guys).

Actually, at one point, Steve tried to work his magic with my son, owing to the fact that my guy possessed just about every desirable hockey quality EXCEPT FOR STRAIGHT-AHEAD SPEED.  What Steve suggested was that Mike try a different sort of skate sharpening, or a slight variation on the type speed skaters use.

As you ought to know, the hockey skate is ground to make a “hollow” down the length of a blade, which creates an extremely sharp edge on each side of the blade.  And, those sharp edges provide the hockey player his or her ability to make quick cuts or turns on the ice.

Steve and I had to put our heads together on this one, however, because his suggestion might have been considered a little drastic.  I mean, he was recommending that we reduce the edges on Mike’s skates, which would in turn produce less drag or friction as the skates glided on the ice.  (In other words, the blades would be sharpened flatter, or with less hollow.)  Hmmmmmmm…

Okay, so here’s the reasoning that went into all this — or the reason I suspected Steve’s idea would work…  Use see, Mike had unbelievable edge control and cutting ability.  So, we figured that — while he’d lose just a hair in that department, there was the likelihood that he’d gain quite a lot in his forward speed.  And, the overall combination — of slightly less cutting ability but more straight-ahead speed — would actually equal a plus in Mike’s game.

Mission accomplished!  As we’d surmised, Mike’s maneuverability hardly changed, while he gained considerable speed on the straight-aways, again owing to the decreased friction between his skates and the ice.

Now, before everyone reading this runs out and changes their skate sharpening methods, let me say again:  that Mike went into that affair with something to trade-off, or to “borrow” from.  He had elite-type edge control before the new sharpening, and the later adjustment didn’t even put him back in the pack as far as cutting abilities went.

Saying all that again, in a different way:  a player MUST have a strength from which to borrow, if he or she is going to make adjustments that aid in other areas.

All that said, let me now copy and paste something from Jon’s Comment:

“But what I REALLY wanted to mention was the Norwegian Hobbit Wizard that plays for Rangers, Mats Zuccarello.  Youtube him. In his debut game for the Rangers on the 23rd he made Tortorella laugh out loud in amazement when he scored on a shoot out goal. He is what you would call a stick handler.

He is 5ft 7 but his playing style warrants a really long stick. His forte is the corners and he can dangle and bedazzle anyone in there and make some inspired passes. With a really long stick. But he actually had to cut off 2 inches off the stick when he came from the European rinks to the North American rinks. I would assume that to mean that playing style matters when they are playing at that level. At my level I think it matters more that I learn to skate!

* After the fact, Jon was kind enough to email me a link to the Zuccarello shootout goal, so please see that below.

Now, without me really knowing this “Norwegian Hobbit Wizard”, let’s just go a little on what Jon has said…  Does it sound like this guy has a strength he might borrow from?  I’m guessing it’s so, since Jon describes him as “what you would call a stick handler.”  In other words, Zuccarello evidently handles the puck far better than most, and he might just be able to trade-off a hair on that skill for a little of something else.

Hmmmmm, that something else…  Right-off, I can tell you that a longer stick-shaft will give a player more force in his or her shot (yup, the longer lever arm does that).  And, in the case of Zuccarello — because he IS such a great puckhandler, I doubt he’s going to lose much of that skill as he goes to a longer stick.

Once again, however, I fear someone using the latter knowledge without thinking long and hard.  So, beware…

In my estimation, puckcontrol comes before shooting.  And, man, can I give you some examples of that!

Over the years, I’ve had quite a few big, strong high school and college guys who looked like they could be an asset on my powerplay point.  I mean, during tryouts or in practice, they would shoot absolute lasers from the point positions.  If there was a problem, it came in the games, when they could hardly ever get-off a shot.

Why so?  Well, you’ll have to trust me on this one, I guess, but my feeling was that they were awful puckhandlers, and that they could hardly ever deal with the puck and get themselves set to rip a shot.  Just the slight slowness they demonstrated with handling the puck gave opponents the chances to get right in their face.

I got these guys late, of course, and it was a little late for me to change their sticks and teach them to stickhandle the way it would be required to play the way I’d have liked for our powerplay.

As I hope you can see, I fear anyone putting the cart before the horse when it comes to the trade-offs I’ve mentioned above.  In fact, that last example might give you an indication of what might happen to a player if he or she goes with a long stick early-on, and never masters the art of puckhandling.

Then, I want to return to Jon’s mention about Zuccarello being good in the corners, etc…  I’m not sure there’s a connection between that guy’s stick length and his extra abilities in the corners, and I would even think there isn’t (unless I hear it right from the horse’s mouth).  That said, I will leave you with a slightly connected story…

Lots of years ago, I had a certain guest instructor in my hockey school.  He was a member of the most famous line on the “Big Bad Bruins” of the ’70s, and a household name among most hockey fans.  If I had to add one more thing to that, I’d probably be safe in saying that he wasn’t the big scorer on that line.

Anyway, in a classroom session one day at camp, our guest spent quite a bit of time talking about equipment, how the Bruins’ trainers doctored it at times for the players, and so forth.

When the subject of his skates arose, I mentioned that I wasn’t crazy about his plastic molded ones, having analyzed different skaters wearing them.

Surprisingly, he agreed with me, and he went on to explain how his job wasn’t to be stylish (like his two mates).  No, his job included more corner work and controlling the puck with his feet.  So the extra thick plastic boots tended to protect him and to make that part of his job a little easier.

Okay, so why did I mention that story?  It’s because we fans watch the games from long distance, and we really haven’t a clue why some of our heroes do the things they do.  Some of those guys have really good reasons — and they might be right; there are yet others who think they’re gaining from doing something odd with their gear, and they are terribly (and scientifically) wrong.  So again, beware of copying your favorite players.  Many of them are actually stars despite the odd things they do!

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Here’s that Zuccarello shootout goals (enjoy)…

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Oh, boy, I can just imagine the Comments coming in on this one
(although you know I’ll love ‘em)!

The Flex of a Hockey Stick

I got psyched when I saw a replay of Eric Fehr’s second goal in the 2011 Winter Classic.  I mean, I immediately thought to myself, I just have to show my CoachChic.com friends that one!

– Dennis Chighisola

The Flex of a Hockey Stick

Actually, not much can be seen in the first few views of that goal.  However, the very last part of the following video — or the very last slow-motion replay — shows exactly what I’d like you to see.

From the side view, we can see Fehr’s stick bending — like big-time.  But, please take a look for yourself before I get further into this subject…

Now, let me tell you the significance of the flex in a player’s hockey stick…

In so doing, I’d like you to first consider holding a 2″ x 4″ board, and then use it to propel a hockey puck with lots of force.  Not possible you say?

Well, part of the problem might be that the board would be kinda heavy, and it would be pretty difficult to wrist it through a really quick sweeping motion.  (And, that in itself should suggest the need for lightness when we select a hockey stick.)

Yet another problem we’d encounter with the board is that it has no flex.  Ah, yes, the flex…

If you can envision Fehr’s shot again, recall the way he leaned on his stick, causing it to bend considerably.  In a way, he’s “loading” the stick, and he’s going to ultimately gain almost a slingshot effect as the stick uncoils and sends the puck towards its target.  And, it’s that uncoiling of a stick that really gives a shot its force.  (Fehr’s shot in the video is a wrister, or sweepshot.  However, the flexing of the shaft and its later uncoiling is what really helps make a slapshot so forceful.)

As it so happened, I was watching the Winter Classic on my computer last night, just so I could get some other PC work done at the same time.  I was also going back and forth with a few hockey friends on Twitter and Facebook, discussing the aforementioned stick flex.

One good friend asked me for stick selection advice as it would pertain to his 7-year old daughter.  So, confined to just 140 characters at a time (as is necessary on Twitter), I tried to tell him to have his little girl test a bunch of sticks in the local pro shop.  I also mentioned that a lot of kids pick sticks based solely on how they look.  So, my friend would have to be smarter than that, urging his daughter to find a stick that is small enough for her little hands, and whippy enough for her to flex as she shoots.  Then, I reminded him of one more important consideration, in that a stick loses its flexibility as it is shortened.  In other words, take this into account if you find a good stick but you know it’s going to have to be cut after the purchase.

Hockey Stick Measurement Help

Well, I love it that one of our newest members has taken advantage of my offer to help, any time it’s needed.

I’m talking about Sandy N, asking me a question about measuring a hockey stick…

– Dennis Chighisola

Hockey Stick Measurement Help

Sandy began with the following:

Hi Coach Chic,

Sorry to bother you but I’ve been searching your site and have not had any luck on finding the info for sizing a hockey stick.

By now, I hope Sandy knows she wasn’t bothering me at all.  Again, I invite all of my hockey friends to bother me in that way. 

Sandy also gives me the opportunity to point-out the Search box that’s available at the top of each page.  For sure, searches can be tricky.  But I suspect she should have found a lot here within CoachChic.com when it comes to stick measuring.

I found some other web sites say it should come to the players nose but then they conflict by saying it should be when the player has his skates on or off.

No surprise there — that she might find a bunch of conflicting recommendations.  Why?  To my way of thinking, this is one of those areas that gets bombarded by wives’ tales.

I mean, I’ve heard or read that a hockey player should measure his or her stick to the nose, the chin, the mouth, the whatever.  And, like Sandy, I’ve also discovered various authorities(?) suggesting these measurements be taken when the player is either wearing or not wearing skates.  Hmmmm…

Did I suggest these are all wives’ tales?

Just for the heck of it, does holding the stick upright to measure it take into account a player’s unique stance?  And, does it bring into the equation the “lie” of the stick?  (The lie of the stick is the angle at which the stick’s blade and shaft meet, and this varies from stick to stick.)  Oh, in the event you weren’t able to answer those two questions, I’ll give you the answers:  No!  No!

Now, before finishing here, let me say that I spent quite a bit of time searching for a video that might show advanced level players holding their sticks in an upright position.  The best I’ve ever found for doing this is to scan an NHL bench while players are standing for their national anthem.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find many videos that stayed focused on a bench area for very long.  However, I’m hoping the following one will accomplish what I’m aiming for…

Okay, as I said earlier, there weren’t any great views of a bench area, or prolonged shots where we could really study ALL of the players.  Actually, the players I spotted in the above video ran the gamut in the ways they cut their sticks…  A few were up near the chin, while a few were much lower.  And, while we wouldn’t be able to find each team’s “stickhandler”, I assure you they’d be leaning on sticks that came to about the middle of their logos.

Anyway, Sandy ultimately closed with:

Can you clarify or do you suggest a different method?

Thanks and have a great New Year!

Sandy N________

What I did was to send her to a video that shows and tells the viewer just about everything he or she would need to know about a stick — from selecting one to measuring it to eventually doctoring it in various ways.  That video:  “YOUR Stick“.  Within that short film, I explain a simple way to measure a hockey stick that takes into account the player’s unique stance, and the lie of his or her stick.

Oh, in closing, I hope I’ve inspired you to ask me questions.  I love fielding them, and helping you always makes me feel kinda good.