One might not think a hockey team’s performance can be broken down into a simple equation, but Matt McIlvane, Head Coach of Red Bull Salzburg, has one in mind.
He believes a team’s performance, the way they end up playing on the ice, is the team’s talent x how it works, how it acts and how it thinks. Essentially, performance = capability x behaviour.
Very interesting, indeed.
McIlvane is a native of Chicago, Illinois, and has been at the helm of Red Bull Salzburg since 2019. In early 2022, McIlvane coached Red Bull to an EBEL Championship, capping off an incredible season where Red Bull captured the regular season title and qualified for the Champions League.
Previously McIlvane was an Assistant Coach under Don Jackson with Red Bull Munich in Germany’s top professional league and was highly successful, capturing three consecutive league Championships. McIlvane has also twice been a member of the coaching staff of Germany’s National team at both the 2018 Olympic Games and 2021 World Championships.
Matt McIlvane is viewed as one of hockey’s brightest up and coming coaches and his presentation at TCS Live was proof of that.
During his 26-minute talk, McIlvane discusses the line between winning and losing and what those terms should actually mean to your team, his pyramid of success, what “above the line” thinking is, and why “on task, next task” is one of the most important terms you can have as a coach.
This video is available exclusively to members of The Coaches Site. Become a member today!
Learn more about McIlvane’s coaching journey on this episode of the Glass & Out Podcast.
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Matthew McIlvane
Following a playing career in the minors, McIlvane began his coaching career at just 26-years old with the Danville Dashers of the now defunct Federal Hockey League. The following season, he would join Drake Berehowsky’s staff in Orlando of the ECHL for one season.
His first opportunity with EC Red Bull would come when his former coach, Don Jackson, invited him to Salzburg. After one season, both coaches would move to Red Bull’s sister franchise in Munich of the DEL, where they built a dynasty that would capture 3 consecutive league titles.
Then in 2019, at the age of 33, McIlvane would move back to Salzburg to become the head coach of EC Red Bull.
In addition to his club duties, he was a member of Germany’s coaching staff during their cinderella run at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where they captured a Silver medal. He was also recently a part of Germany’s entry at the 2021 World Hockey Championships, where Germany advanced to the final four.
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Really appreciate Matt’s insight here. I had a reason to follow his team last year and he always struck me as a great hockey mind and someone I can learn from to incorporate into my own coaching style.