5 Takeaways for Line Matching in Hockey

Jyrki Aho
"I like to send my best offensive line after an icing, an important OZFO, or when their worst defensive line is on the ice. And as with a lot of things, timing is key."
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For my first season as a Head Coach of Sollentuna HC J20, I spent the first week at the job thinking that I had everything under control. I had all my notes, clips, and presentations ready, had spoken with a solid number of coaches from every level, and thought that I left no stone unturned.

And then reality knocked on my door. You can do all the research in the world, but nothing will teach you more about coaching than standing on the bench during a very humbling 12-2 defeat for your first game. Same goes for running a power play practice when nothing goes as planned.

After our practices or games, I spend a lot of time reflecting, questioning my methods and what I can do differently, or better. I have a lot of questions to ask more experienced coaches.

That is why I decided to share all those questions with the readers of The Coaches Site and get them answered by coaches with more experience and time spent on the bench than myself.

Line matching – Why, how & when should it be done?  

"I like to send my best offensive line after an icing, an important OZFO, or when their worst defensive line is on the ice. And as with a lot of things, timing is key . . .

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Leo Girod

Leo Girod is the Head Coach of the Sollentuna U20 in the Swedish J20 region league and a former video coach with Lausanne and Bern in the Swiss National League.

He is also the founder of gotmyteam, the online platform connecting players, coaches, staff members and agents with teams. Check it out at gotmyteam.com!

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