Ice Hockey Coaching Tips & Drills
FROM BEHIND THE BENCH – Giving Back by Joe Curry
Head coach Joe Curry was honoured at the 2017 Ontario Minor Hockey Association AGM this year when a player from his Norwood Hornets novice team wrote a grand prize winning essay. The topic: “My hockey coach teaches me…” Sheldon Bolton wrote, “My hockey coaches teaches me teamwork. This means we work together and support each […]
Oli Finlay & Hockey Recovery Strategies: The Best Way to Prepare
How are you feeling today? This is a question that comes up often in hockey dressing rooms all over the world. Every day, probably. Why? Because coaches know the best performances come from hockey players who are feelin’ it. The energy of a team that’s buzzing is a huge contrast to the output of a […]
A Hockey Coach’s 4 Step Secret to Surviving September
At some point in the last decade I severely overvalued how important I was to the process of building a hockey team. Sure, I was the head coach of a bantam AAA squad that had been spinning its wheels for years trying to reclaim some of the prominence it had experienced in the late 90’s, […]
How to Handle Your Releases with Tact
“Ok, it’s time for the easiest part of any coach’s job. The cuts.” Classic Homer Simpson. But what was a hilariously simplified process in the mid-90’s for a fictional parent football coach is anything but a fifth of the way into the 21st century. These days coaches agonize over releasing kids for a variety of reasons. […]
Mike Snee of College Hockey Inc: The Value of Home Grown Talent
For Mike Snee, the Executive Director of College Hockey Inc., academic success in post secondary hockey institutions starts much earlier than you might think, and it doesn’t actually happen for the reasons we might assume. What am I talking about? Well, first let’s agree on one thing – the state of college hockey in the […]
Tyler Kuntz: Life is Just Hockey in a Different Arena
Did you make your bed this morning? Why not? Is it because you were rushed this morning? Did you stay up too late? Were you unwinding watching TV or scrolling through your phone? Tyler Kuntz has been coaching elite hockey players since he stepped off the ice for the last time as a player. Actually, […]
A Simple Jedi Mind Trick to Keep Yourself Honest During Tryouts
A Simple Jedi Mind Trick to Keep Yourself Honest During Tryouts If you’ve spent any time at all coaching minor hockey then chances are you’ve had some less than positive experiences created because of tryouts. Ever been accused of being paid to take a player? Ever been threatened to keep a player by a member […]
Simplifying the Game of Ice Hockey
You often hear coaches talk about “working an opening” in many fluid sports. Soccer teams will probe down the right, through the middle, on the left, or through half-spaces in order to create advantageous situations for an attack. Basketball teams will run screens, pick-and-rolls, weaves, and other plays to get an open look for a […]
JOB POSTING: DIRECTOR OF HOCKEY – South Delta Minor Hockey
South Delta Minor Hockey Association is a community-based, non-profit organization that provides a complete minor hockey program. The association is made up of over 800 players, male and female, residing in Ladner & Tsawwassen, British Columbia. SDMHA is committed to the development of every player in the association, ensuring the development of individual skills, team […]
From Frantz Jean to You: Evaluating Goalies is Hard
Have you ever caught yourself staring intently while evaluating goalies during training camp or tryouts and thought to yourself “I have no idea what I’m doing?” Welcome to the club. A goaltender can be lights-out stand-on-his-head incredible one night and the second coming of Red Light Racicot the next. But we all know that if […]
