It’s that time of the year again! Sure it’s the holiday season, but it’s also time to enroll your budding hockey star in Hockey Sensei’s annual Prospects Camp featuring the Power Edge Pro Ultimate On-Ice Training System and the assistance of some the best and brightest hockey professionals. The camp is from August 6th – August 10th at Gould’s Arena in Newfoundland.  Download a PDF of the above flyer for additional information. Space is limited, so enroll today.

Joe Quinn, the inventor of Power Edge, spent time at all camps and I worked directly with him as we trained players. The camps were on Prince Edward Island and in St. John’s, Newfoundland with players from all over Atlantic Canada.

Players from this area are known to be hard workers, The Power Edge Pro pushed them physically every day—and they met the challenge. Part of the reason was the challenge of the on ice training; part was the desire to get better. And a big part was the fact that it was fun for the players.

Check the system out at www.poweredgepro.com

This really is the ‘big next thing’ and it works—big time!

How did you prepare? Was there a well thought out program for physical training, supplemented by mental preparation that was executed over the off season? If so, tryouts were likely a pleasant experience and there was a positive outcome.

Let’s hope every tryout starts with team management being very clear about how to make the team;

…”this is the type of culture we want for our team…”

…”we want players who exhibit these overall characteristics of work ethic, discipline, …”

…”we will not tolerate any behavior that includes, disrespect of others, etc. …”

…” we need players to fill these specific roles…”

I had a chance to spend time over two days at the Dallas Stars training camp in Charlottetown, PEI. After the ice sessions I visited with head coach Marc Crawford, assistant coach Willie Desjardins, AHL head coach Glen Gulutzen, and Director of Minor League Operations Scott White.

Watching the players in the dressing room area, it was obvious all were serious about their physical preparation. Most players looked like they were in great shape as they prepared their post-practice sport drinks and snacks. Coach Crawford noted how this part of the game had come a long way since his playing days.

Also talked with Frank Hubley, a high school hockey head coach in Halifax, NS, about his tryout process. He added points like looking for more from a returning player, the need to have balance between grades 10, 11, and 12, and being clear to participants about team goals for the season.

Wally Bray is the head coach at the AAA midget level in St. John’s, NL. His coaching staff and manager Tim Power have to build a team that will be capable of hosting the Telus Cup, the national championship for this level. Players here get on the team by performance by a series of competitive scrimmage sessions. The camp was fun to watch as layers competed to make the team.

At the end of tryouts, hopefully there are some common positive results:

…players feel they had a fair opportunity to show how they can play the game

…all had a fair chance to make the team

…there was an environment where players will leave being at least a little better for the experience

…even though the tryouts were challenging, it was a fun experience

Now, let the season begin…

Using insight from world class defenseman Rob Blake, the writer highlights a catch phrase that virtually all coaches try to drill into their defensemen. “Move the puck!”

Chris Pronger, Adam Foote, and Rob Blake have formed the backbone of Canada’s defence through three Olympic Games.

They are the only three defencemen to play on every Canadian Olympic team since NHL players began participating in the Games in 1998, yet only one of them – Pronger – is back in contention for a fourth Olympics this February in Vancouver.

Neither Foote, nor Blake, were invited to Hockey Canada’s summer orientation camp in Calgary, and while Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman has said that non-invitees could play their way onto the team, Blake isn’t kidding himself and said his days of manning the country’s blueline are over.

“I understand the situation,” said Blake, a San Jose Sharks defenceman who turned back the clock in 2008-09 and produced a 45-point season. “If you’re not clearly in the top six, they’re not going to bring you to the orientation camp when you’re almost 40. There’s not much place for an older guy, and it’s not like they’re going to bring you in to get you experience.”

So, given his experience and new-found objectivity, The Globe and Mail asked Blake to pick the Canadian defence for 2010.

He held to one governing principle when making his selections: “You have to have guys who are going to move the puck.”

Blake said the 2006 Olympic team, which finished seventh in Turin, sorely missed Scott Niedermayer, a one-man trap breaker who could skate the puck end-to-end. Barring similarly skilled defencemen, Blake said the next best thing was a player who could move the puck with his stick.

“I really think we missed Niedermayer a lot the last time out,” he said.
“At the Olympics, your forwards are so dominant across all four lines. Because your forwards are so dominant, you just need to get them the puck as quickly as you can. Look at Danny Boyle’s style. That’s what you need.”

Boyle, Blake’s teammate in San Jose, is more noted for his offensive ability than his defensive prowess, but his older teammate said he would be perfect for the Olympic team because “he’s as good as it gets in our league in terms of getting the puck out of your zone.

“He’s a one-man breakout, but he’s not a high-risk guy,” Blake added.
“He has the puck all the time, and when it comes out of our zone, it comes out fast, and it comes out tape-to-tape.”

Blake said that Canada’s management should endeavour to have a puck-moving defenceman on every Olympic pairing, and his selections also suggest that familiarity is important. Blake picked three Calgary Flames rearguards, as well as two Chicago Blackhawks and the defensive pair – Pronger and Niedermayer – who helped the Anaheim Ducks win the Stanley Cup in 2007.

Running drills in practice sessions and constant positive reinforcement quick puck movement should be a daily task for the coach. Getting the puck off your stick an on to the stick of an attacking forward should always be the immediate task of every defenseman.

As repetitive as it may be for coaches to say, and as likely annoying for defensemen to hear, “Move the puck!” will be part of our hockey vocabulary for quite some time to come.

I had the pleasure of coaching Graeme in the AHL. He was known as a team player and a heart and soul type; he was not known for his skating. Graeme has changed that.

He is the skating coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs and was in the same capacity with the San Jose Sharks. Graeme also played in the NHL with the Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, and Ottawa Senators.

We had Graeme, and his chief instructor Adam Nicholas, take over a team practice a couple of weeks ago. They demonstrated unique skating techniques that Graeme has perfected and uses with his NHL players.

It was a great session. Graeme and Adam had the full attention of our Quebec major junior players as they were worked through drills teaching different game specific skating techniques.

The session had a valuable motivational component as well. Graeme explained how he personally grew as a player and how these techniques he was presenting have helped others.

Our players were left with practical drills to take away from the session that they have enthusiastically incorporated into our daily practice sessions.

We are definitely having Graeme and Adam back to work with our players. We highly endorse Graeme and encourage you to do something special for yourself, or your team, and have Graeme become a part of what you do.

Go to www.thestridedoctor.com and check out the different camps that Graeme has available. This might be just the thing for you or your team. Here is more contact information:

Graeme Townsend- graeme@thestridedoctor.com or call 978.360.4244

Joe Hearn- joe@thestridedoctor.com or call 207.577.0622

In the past I have used inexpensive ways to bring the team together and work on building the chemistry, leadership and culture of the team. Here are a few:

• Habitat for Humanity work day
• Museum visits
• NASCAR  shop visits
• Cookouts
• Snowmobile parties
• Sightseeing tours

I asked some of my coaching friends to tell us what they do.

Danny Brooks, assistant coach with the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey league, had an extensive list of events that included rappelling 80 feet down the side of a building, working with ropes 60 feet up in trees, sport psychology sessions, and paintball. The team also uses ‘work ethic’ and ‘self esteem’ charts.

In our team building we jumped off the building, we climbed up the trees etc. Players want to know you are going to war with them. We are leaders who lead the charge not stand back and yell and give orders. If we ask our players to jump we jump first. Team building is critical in the success of the team both in short term events i.e. world juniors and in an 80 game season.

At the high school level coach Frank Hubley keeps it simple. His players already have full schedules with school and other activities.

With team building we use our off-ice sessions. We break the team into groups of 5-6 and work out in the weight room and run the stairs. We also have team meetings with the players.

At Ohio State assistant coach Jason Lammers talks about a neat team building exercise that the team just did.

We have really tried to focus on our team. Today we did a great one! We made a spider web and each of the guys had to fit through one of the holes in the web. It was great!

We are really trying to educate our leaders with articles, talks, and actions to show them how to be more effective.

Lots of coaches are using creative team building events to improve their teams and players. Most would agree that this can lead to greater individual and team success. It can be a lot of fun too!

Teams use different strategies to pick a captain. The process can take many forms:

• Players vote for the team captains
• Coach picks the best player as captain
• Th most senior players fill the captain roles
• Rotate the ‘C’ through the lineup over the course of the season
• By committee, where everyone gets a say
• Management selects the captains

Danny Brooks, assistant coach with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL had this to say about what is done with his major junior team.

The three most important aspects to our organization are: 1. work ethic, 2. attitude, 3. discipline.  The captain and assistant captains must have those attributes first and foremost. The captain represents what we want everyday. Our captain is not our best player, but he brings those attributes everyday. He pushes the best players to adopt those attributes. Leadership is something that is groomed. We do something very unique here in Drummondville; we change our assistant captains every month. We reward players for hard work, discipline and attitude. Each player is also a leader in his own right. A player can be a leader in a particular aspect of the game. For example, if you are a banger, you might be the leader of the bangers. In each case all players have ownership in the team. Players are held accountable for the aspect they lead the team in.

Frank Hubley, coaching at the high school level in Nova Scotia, tells us how he selects his captains

I choose the captains. At times I have asked a number of players who they think would make good captains. I ask them ‘why’ and if there are any reasons why any of their choices may not be a good captain for the team.

I have done it where I ask no questions and I pick the captains myself. I have never allowed the players pick the captains. For me it is too much of a popularity contest. Also, I may speak about leadership to the team then ask for 3-4 names of people they think would be good captains. I  have not made up my mind on that way yet.

Jason Lammers, assistant coach with Ohio State, gives us another perspective on the process.

This year we had the guys fill out a questionnaire asking for more information about teammates. For example we asked; who would you want in your foxhole, who is the most committed on and off the ice, and who has the best work ethic. We added up the scores and then decided if we agreed with what the guys thought. It seemed to work really well!

There is no sure-fire way to ensure your team selects the best person as captain. That shouldn’t stop you from doing everything possible to try to make this happen anyway. The right leader could make or break your season.

If you have any suggestion on how to pick captains, please comment on this post,

How do you get your tryouts started?  Do you just give out the dates and times and then have players show up for the first ice session?  There are many ways that coaches do the tryout process and it varies between age groups.

Here is one way that I use and find to be very effective.

I have a player meeting prior to going on the ice, typically 5-7 days in advance.  This gives the players and parents some time to think about the things I have said.  At this meeting:

• players are given the ice times for tryouts.
• no guarantee anyone a position on the team.
• I then provide them with an overview of my expectations for them, if they make the team.
• Players are given a brochure to take home for their parents to read, along with a permission slip.  Why do I do this? The brochure gives the players and parents information on practice times, tournaments, off ice, finances and fundraising.
• Parents are asked to attend a meeting prior to tryouts.  This meeting is typically 2-3 days prior to the first tryout.

When the parents come to their meeting they now have information on which they can ask questions – if they wish. The brochure serves as a very valuable information tool for me.

At the parent meeting I inform the parents:

• that ice time is not something I will discuss
• I am not there to please them but to coach their son
• they will all contribute to the fundraising projects and that
• I am the coach- I run the show.

I believe it to be very important for parents to know my philosophy and how the team will be run prior to allowing their son to tryout for the team.  Could you imagine a parent not knowing the cost of playing hockey and their son makes the team and they can’t afford it!

Having a meeting prior to tryouts and gets rid of many problems.  You lay out your beliefs and philosophy.  If they agree, then you have them. If not, then you get the people who want and believe in what you are doing.  As I tell them, 38 students have signed up to try out for the team.  If you as a parent do not like what I say and only 20 players show up on the ice, then I only have to release one player.

Over time I have found this to be a good way of approaching the tryout process.  Everyone knows up front how the ship is going to sail and who is the captain.  I believe this to be very important.

Once the tryouts are finished I have another meeting with the parents whose sons made the team and lay out plans for the year.

Not every league or team can do this but at the High School where I coach this is the way I do it and it works for me.

My suggestion is be up front and firm and things will fall in place.